Nominally, Vivek Ramaswamy is running for the Republican presidential nomination. Practically, he’s running interference for Donald Trump’s nomination bid. Don’t get me wrong. I like Vivek. I met him at a 2021 event Charlie has mentioned, ended up having a long conversation with him, found him smart, charming, and glib. But I incline to Charlie’s view, and to Jeff’s perception that there is both more and less to his campaign than meets the eye, and more about Trump positioning and less about Vivek’s prospects.
On that score, Ramaswamy made a splash today. Appearing at a Trump rally near the Miami federal courthouse where the former president was arraigned this afternoon on charges of illegally retaining national defense information and obstructing a grand-jury investigation of that retention, Ramaswamy vowed that, if elected, he would pardon Trump. What’s more, he challenged every other GOP 2024 candidate to join him in that commitment. And it looks like Nikki Haley is already onboard (only after first suggesting the Trump was reckless with national security).
In the coverage that I’ve seen thus far, some are saying Ramaswamy has thrown a real curveball to his competitors, forcing them into a vice between appearing to approve of Trump’s hording of top-secret intelligence or of condemning it and thus angering the notoriously rambunctious Trump base. Maybe I’m too focused on the law, and thus not correctly gauging the politics of all this, but I just don’t see it.
Oh I get it, the press is going to ask each candidate about Ramaswamy’s challenge. That, after all, is the real point of the Trump prosecutions by the Biden Justice Department and elected progressive Democratic prosecutors in New York and Georgia: They are confident the Democrats will win in 2024 if Trump is the nominee, so they are trying to make sure he is the nominee.
A big part of this is the churn of litigation in three or four different venues. With indictments, motions, hearings, trials, etc., something is happening weekly, even daily, in Trump’s travails. That means the other candidates are constantly asked about Trump. They can’t get traction for their own campaigns, which is exactly what the media-Democratic complex wants.
But if you’re a serious Republican candidate for the presidency, and you’re asked whether you agree with Vivek that Trump should be pardoned, it seems to me that there’s an easy answer:
Has former President Trump asked for a pardon?
A pardon is an act of clemency. Generally speaking, it is granted to a person who has committed some wrong and has asked to be excused, exhibiting sufficient remorse that the chief executive can be confident that the person will not return to criminality.
Other factors come into play, for sure. It matters, for example, whether injustice has been done in the investigation and prosecution, whether the government or the court has been heavy-handed or imposed costs and penalties that don’t fit the crime. As a bedrock matter, though, a pardon should be sought before it is granted. The burden is on the petitioner to explain why he rates one, not on the president to bestow it unbidden.
What’s more, a person who strongly believes he is not guilty of the charges usually does not ask for or want a pardon. That is because a pardon request is commonly understood as an admission of guilt; and a pardon grant is understood as forgiveness for a crime.
Recall that during the January 6 committee proceedings, the Democrat-dominated panel made much of the testimony that some of their pro-Trump Republican colleagues had sought pardons from then-President Trump. Of course, consciousness of guilt is not the only reason why people might seek pardons; it could be that they believe the system is rigged against them, that even if innocent they are likely to be found guilty. Still, the public is highly unlikely to see it that way. Most people conclude that if you’re asking for a pardon, the allegations against you must be true. Indeed, that’s exactly why the January 6 committee highlighted the matter.
In any event, if asked whether he or she would pardon Trump, I assume the other candidate should answer along these lines:
Has President Trump asked for a pardon? That would surprise me if he has. I have heard him say, in no uncertain terms, that he has done nothing wrong. If I offered him an unsolicited pardon, it would be as if I were telling people I believe that he’s guilty. But I believe in the Constitution. Under the Constitution, President Trump is presumed innocent, and he says he is innocent. I assume he wants his innocence established in court. I would not presume to deny him that.
Now, if there ever came a time that President Trump sought a pardon, I would certainly give his pardon application swift and careful attention. Under the last two Democratic administrations, a two-tiered justice system has been imposed on this country – one where Donald Trump gets charged, but Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden get a pass. That is not only unfair to President Trump; it leads Americans to question whether their government will give them the equal justice under the law that the Constitution requires.
We also have to remember the wise example of President Gerald Ford, who pardoned President Richard Nixon – knowing that a prosecution of the former would tear the country apart. That happened only after President Nixon resigned and expressed his regret to the nation. President Trump, by contrast, says he is innocent and will beat the Biden Justice Department’s allegations in court.
I’m going to presume him innocent. But if he asked for a pardon, I would certainly entertain that.