Former president Joe Biden’s last minute pardons of family and favored cronies may not end up being the shield of justice that some are hoping it will be.

Especially since the U.S. Department of Justice sent a message to Jan 6 defendants informing them that accepting a pardon from President Donald Trump would be “a confession of guilt for their crimes.”

Back in December, federal prosecutors, arguing a Jan 6 case in front of U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, told the court that “[a] pardon at some unspecified date in the future … would not unring the bell of conviction,” adding, “In fact, quite the opposite. The defendant would first have to accept the pardon, which necessitates a confession of guilt.”

According to Politico, Trump has pledged to grant clemency to many of the more than 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 disturbance at the U.S. Capitol.

Investigative reporter Glenn Greenwald notes that Democrats and corporate media have long claimed that Trump would abuse the pardon power and destroy democracy and the rule of law in order to benefit his friends and family, when this is exactly what Biden has done.

U.S. case law has long held that a pardon is an act of grace but does not become effective until accepted by the person being pardoned.

Supreme Court Justice Joseph McKenna, writing the majority opinion in the case of Burdick v. United States (1915), stated that,”acceptance of a pardon implies an acknowledgement of guilt.”

Today, we are witnessing that “grace” at work for the politically well-connected Biden claque, including key J6 committee members,  but with a DOJ promise of renewed determination to go after J6 defendants if such grace is offered them.

The Trump administration has its work cut out for it.