Back-to-back exploitation of a Constitutional power for a personal purpose — back-to-back indeed. As in 20 minutes before the one president left office and on the very first day that the another president assumed office.
We shall not argue whose pardons represented the worst abuse of power — Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons or Donald Trump’s pardons of violent criminals. Both were wrong.
The power of the pardon was designed to be an instrument of justice. True, enough, at least since Bill Clinton, it has devolved into an instrument of favoritism, at least in part. But to pardon criminals convicted of violent crimes, as Trump did? This was not justice; this was Trump’s last fling at claiming he won the 2020 election.
To pardon people who haven’t even been charged with a crime, as Biden did? This was not justice; this was Biden’s last fling at placing his family and friends above the law, and what a long list of family it was. This pardon is the final evidence of Biden’s disingenuousness in his assertion that no one is above the law.
All around, a tawdry picture, a diminution of presidential stature and of the constitution.
What message does Trump’s pardon of criminals who attacked the Capitol police send? Surely not respect for the police. It is particularly galling to see those who put their lives on the line for each one of us undermined. Indeed, Trump’s pardons undermine a fundamental institution of democracy.
What message does Biden’s pardon of the likes of Dr. Fauci and Sen. Adam Schiff send? Perhaps just the opposite of what he intended. Not subject to prosecution, Schiff and the other Congresspeople whom Biden pardoned may find themselves unable to take the Fifth if called on to testify in congressional probes of the Biden administration.
Not in every case, but it is clear in certain cases that the acceptance of a pardon is tantamount to an admission of guilt. Perhaps the most notable presidential pardon was President Gerald Ford’s pardon of President Nixon after he resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment. This was a wise pardon. It was designed to enable the country to move past the country’s Nixon obsession. It was a highly controversial pardon, prompting Congress to summon Ford. That was an astonishing move. More astonishing, Ford consented immediately. Many in Congress were aghast at Ford’s pardon of Nixon. When asked in Congress whether Ford thought Nixon’s acceptance of the pardon was tantamount to an admission of guilt, Ford said he did. With that, the matter was put to rest.
Some of Trump’s pardons and Biden’s pardons serve no such high civic purpose.
Biden’s last-minute family-based and Congress-based pardons are particularly galling, coming as they did close on the heals of Biden unjustified pardon of his son, which Biden granted on the grounds that his son was unfairly convicted. Indeed, Biden’s pardons, too, undermined a fundamental institution of democracy.
Back-to-back: These tawdry pardons undermined confidence in our democratic system.
© IJN 2025
