Joe Biden just gave his son his Christmas present — a 10-year “get out of jail free” card. And apparently, he’s still caught up in spirit of giving. Politico reports that Joe is considering a raft of pardons for a rogue’s gallery of federal miscreants. It seems our “nobody is above the law” chief executive realizes that those who have undermined our Constitution in service to the Democrat party may need a bit of legal protection from the incoming Trump administration.
The list of pardon candidates includes such “public servants” as
A move by Joe Biden to pardon such bad actors would be highly destructive to the rule of law in general and the political fortunes of the Democrat party in particular. Not that the latter troubles me.
To be accurate, Politico says this is currently only “a vigorous debate.” But as Joe himself would say, “C’mon, man!” We’re talking about Joseph Robinette Biden. It would be shockingly out of character for him to do anything that’s in the best interest of the country. Of course he’ll do it.
According to Pew Research, nearly 80 percent of Americans no longer trust the federal government to do the right thing. A big contributor to that distrust is the weaponization of federal law enforcement, which was overseen by Joe Biden and his head of the secret police, Merrick Garland. Donald Trump’s standing with the public went up each time Garland’s lawfare practitioners indicted him. That’s because each attack drew more attention to the extent of DoJ corruption.
That we now have a two-tiered justice system is no longer an allegation. It is an observable fact. A Biden pre-emptive pardon package of his henchmen would amount to a presidential declaration and endorsement of a system that applies the law based on political affiliation. It would be a presidential middle finger to the those gullible enough to believe that the federal government is still a force for justice. For those who have harmed the country to escape accountability, it would be highly corrosive to the confidence in our institutions, and it would ultimately undermine the ability of those institutions to function.
However, there is something far more important than having Anthony Fauci spend time behind bars, performing domestic duties for his cellmate. It’s important that the thousands of other federal miscreants know they are being watched and are at risk of real consequences. Pre-emptive pardoning of their leaders would shine a spotlight on their activities and leave them wondering if they have the name recognition necessary to garner “the big guy’s” mercy. Given human nature, pre-emptive pardons might trigger a flood of whistleblowers, seeking to point fingers in any direction but their own.
Politically speaking, pre-emptive pardons would also be a huge assist to the Trump transition team. President-Elect Trump ran on a promise to attack government corruption, and he has nominated people to leadership positions to ruthlessly do just that. Just one month after receiving a mandate from the American public, senators from both parties are working to prevent him from fulfilling his promises by blocking his appointees. However, pre-emptive pardons from Biden would shine an uncomfortable light on the obstructionists. Blocking confirmation of Trump’s appointees could be perceived by the public as passivity in addressing the problem.
Within 24 hours of Joe Biden issuing any pre-emptive pardons, President-Elect Trump should address the nation hitting the following points:
When Joe Biden pardoned his son, he showed us that Democrat claims that “nobody is above the law” were always a cheap political lie. If he pre-emptively pardons those who have undermined our Constitution, he’ll be showing us that “equal justice under law” is similarly inoperative.
I have no doubt that Biden will use his remaining days in office to commit of any number of acts in service to himself rather than his country. He will then retire to his estate in Delaware — which was paid for by Russia, Ukraine, and China — safe from prosecution and without a care in the world about the damage he has done.
Any Republican candidate who fails to remind the public — for the next decade — what the closing days of Biden’s administration revealed about the Democrat party will be guilty of political malpractice. I suspect Joe’s actions will be seen by history as more damaging to a political party than any action by a politician in generations.
John Green is a retired engineer and political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He is a contributor to The American Spectator, and the American Free News Network. He can be reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.
Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.