Biden considering blanket preemptive pardons for perceived enemies of Trump
President Joe Biden is considering sweeping preemptive pardons for prominent critics of President-elect Donald Trump from both parties to protect them from possible “retaliation” or legal prosecution by the incoming administration.
Multiple people familiar with the ongoing discussions told CBS News that the president has debated the possibility of issuing preemptive pardons with senior White House aides but has not yet formally recommended a specific person to him. The concept of preemptive pardons, and the names of those who could benefit from them, have been discussed more rigorously among administration officials expected to help Biden make his final decision, including Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients and the White House Ed Siskel, Legal Counsel.
Among those who may be eligible for preemptive legal relief are high-profile figures who were at the center of many of the most hostile moments of the first Trump administration, many of whom remain targets of his public wrath.
The list includes Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helped coordinate the nation’s COVID-19 response and later served as Mr. Biden’s top scientific adviser; Retired Gen. Mark A. MilleyThe former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called Trump a “fascist” and provided information for multiple books and news reports detailing the former president’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Event; Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and other Democratic and Republican lawmakers who are leading two impeachment cases against Trump may serve as reviewers on Jan. 6 House committee members on the Japan attacks, including former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who was actively involved Campaign against Trump This past fall.
Fauci, Milley and Cheney were not immediately available for comment. In an interview with NPR in late NovemberSchiff said he doesn’t think preemptive pardons are a good idea because “I think the courts are strong enough to withstand” the threats Trump has made.
“Frankly, I think it’s unbelievable and not worthy of much consideration,” Schiff said. “I urge the president not to do this. I think it seems defensive and unnecessary.”
Sources say Biden is considering preemptive pardons Politico first reported this week. The White House won’t initially discuss the topic this week, but after President’s sweeping pardon for his son Hunter Bidenshielding him from all potential criminal activity for 11 years.
The pardon, issued on Sunday after Trump announced his nomination, is the first time a U.S. president has issued a pardon to one of his children. Pam Bondi to be Attorney General and Kash Patel to lead FBI. Bondi, Patel and others who served in Trump’s second administration have spent years discussing plans to seek retribution against Trump’s critics or take steps to silence those perceived to be critical or critical of the president-elect. Hostile news media.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., publicly suggested for the first time this week that Biden should issue preemptive pardons.
“Trump has made it clear that he is more focused on settling personal scores than on protecting the American people or upholding the rule of law,” he said in a statement about Trump’s plan to nominate Patel to lead the FBI.
In addition to offering pre-emptive protections to Trump’s political opponents, Biden is also preparing in the coming weeks to grant more traditional “… Criminal Justice Pardons.” The president pardoned him, according to a person familiar with his plans.
The White House has received hundreds of such requests for pardons or clemency, including one from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who wrote to the president this week asking for clemency His son, former Illinois Democratic Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., and his daughter-in-law, former Chicago City Councilmember Sandy Jackson. This week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggested that Biden “pardon, on a case-by-case basis, working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been marred by unjustly aggressive prosecutions of non-violent crimes.” “Destroy”.
