Pardons
Trump ended his first term by pardoning war criminals.
Biden ended his only term by pardoning a decorated military General.
After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.
Trump pardoned people who lied to cover up his Russian exposure.
Biden pardoned a guy who tried to tell the truth to save millions of lives, while working for Trump.
Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me. The fact is, however, that the mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family. For these reasons, I acknowledge and appreciate the action that President Biden has taken today on my behalf.
Update: I should have linked the post I did in December, explaining how preemptive pardons aren’t going to work (though I said then, and reiterate now, I think Milley is a special case).
I was dismayed to see this, for the reasons you have laid out in this space previously.
Leonard Peltier will die in prison.
This. Peltier’s trial and conviction and now decades long imprisonment is yet one more stain on the integrity of a nation, a nation, we are told, that fashions itself as “great”, or on the cusp of “greatness again”. These stains have left trails of blood spilled in a calico pattern across the entire nation. Leonard Peltier is condemned now to die in prison through Biden’s inaction, and our collective inaction since at least 1977. Yet on Pine Ridge, home to the Catholic missionary, Father Joseph Gill, child molestor extraordinaire, today is just another day, like all the others since at least 1868, filled with the frigid cold of bitter, helpless despair.
The history of the U.S. government’s treatment of Native Americans is not evidence of Leonard Peltier’s innocence.
I don’t believe he is innocent. There are misrepresentations of the presented evidence that are used to create his martyrdom. I haven’t read the trial transcripts but the transcripts of the appeal are clear.
Biden just granted him clemency.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-leonard-peltier-clemency_n_67608b04e4b0d06419ec6367?ds
No, he won’t. Biden just commuted his sentence to home confinement.
That an institutionalist like Biden would feel the need to do this speaks volumes of where we are now at. It is now time to begin. If we make it through the next four years intact, maybe it’s time to rethink this whole pardon thing.
No. We need to rethink allowing felons to become president.
Rethinking the whole pardon thing = constitutional amendment. We can’t even ensure all Americans have the same rights based on the last attempted amendment and you want to aim for changing pardons? *eye roll*
What’s to stop Trump from preemptively pardoning all his cronies later this afternoon? Probably only his ADHD. Preemptive pardons should not be allowed. I get why Biden did it but it still doesn’t sit right.
Agree.
FOTUS, Felon of the United States in the White House and two civil claims – sexual assault and defamation.
Look at what we are teaching our children. UGH!
This should be a project encompassing legislatures in all blue states: a uniform state law which spells out disqualification for candidacy based on convictions for state or federal charges.
I’ve thought a pardon for innocent people would be a bad thing for the same reasons you’ve outlined. I think I might have changed my mind.
Trump’s targets, no matter the guilt or innocence will get flamed by the Ring Wing press and social media. Biden’s ability to wave a magic wand over them so it’s less painless and less frightening and less destructive is actually a good thing. Trump’s coming into office with an enemies list. These are not normal times. It’s a tough call.
It’s not at all a close call. Norms are gone, the talk of fascism during the election wasn’t hyperbole, and who actually gives a shit what whiny Republicans say about the pardons. Its here, it looks like it’s going to be worse than expected, and to care about Biden getting “flamed” will be forgotten with the first J6er pardoned and the first American to seek and receive political asylum makes no sense anymore. Get prepared to battle with metaphorical shivs and then we’ll come back to Queensbury rules someday. Just not today
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn is also grateful for his pardon:
https://bsky.app/profile/brandibuchman.bsky.social/post/3lg6gzpsbis2q
January 20, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Agree these preemptive pardons are discouraging and seem unhelpful, as laid out in other emptywheel posts.
Recipients however do sound grateful.
Wondering if these pardons are truly effective against the harassment, intimidation, conspiracy theory driven wackiness, etc. Is there a pardon that prevents vigilante “check ups” on imaginary pizza parlor basement child trafficking rings? I doubt it.
Or am I totally off base and preventing frivolous prosecution alone is the urgent goal?
Pardons can act like checkpoint inhibitors (e.g. PD-L1) granting future immunity from spurious legal targeting. Or they can cloak tumor cells and allow invasion and metastasis. The former for a true patriot…the latter for a ratfucker.
DUNN [from the screenshot]:
The person who is left vulnerable is Michael Cohen.
We’ve already seen what Trump did to him and now he’s left vulnerable for a second time for having put Trump on a platter to Congress and the justice system.
To me it is time to take Trump seriously. Deadly seriously. I am worried about what this means for 4 years from now. But, I am much more concerned about today.
“I will Make Americans Wealthy Again!”
https://finance.yahoo.com/m/4401a006-a041-3a2c-afbd-4dabb50a693f/donald-trump-launches-trump.html
The $TRUMP coin skyrocketed to just above $75 early Sunday but is currently near $51 amid big price swings. The market cap is now $10.1 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com. But the fully diluted valuation is roughly $50.6 billion.
The $TRUMP website says 80% of the meme coin is held by Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital, and a CIC co-owned entity called Fight Fight Fight.
Separately, the president-elect’s wife, Melania Trump, launched her own $MELANIA meme coin on Sunday afternoon. Though off Sunday’s peak exceeding $13, it’s near $8 with an $7.9 billion valuation.
Also, DJT Trump Media market cap is $8.6 billion with 53% held by insiders.
There. Don’t you feel wealthier already?
/s
Is there a link to Biden’s full statement, as well as to the actual pardon document? I’ve been reading media accounts that talk about Biden pardoning Milley, Fauci, and the J6 committee and staffers, but then it also talks about Michael Fanone being happy that he received one of these protective pardons. And of course they never link to the source documents.
I’m trying to see if this protective pardon also included those like Cassidy Hutchinson who gave testimony to the J6 committee.
Found the WH statement from Biden about the pardons.
Curiously, this did not show up by searching for “pardon” on the WH site. Instead, I had to dig into the statements from the Briefing Room section of site. Very odd.
“That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2025/01/20/statement-from-president-joe-biden-15/
It does not.
Here’s the final paragraph of Biden’s statement on the pardons:
I wonder what other public servants who testified before the J6 committee who are not DC or Capitol Police officers think of this. I’m thinking specifically about Cassidy Hutchinson and other low-to-midlevel staffers like her who came forward to testify.
I’ve been wondering the same. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to locate information on this, to no avail.
One of the disadvantages of preemptive pardons is that the legal process of appeals that could potentially reach the SCOTUS, if they decided to ultimately accept such a case or cases, is truncated enough to make it a bit easier for this rendition of SCOTUS to avoid accepting said case or cases.
For the sake of the country, I would have preferred to see Trump actually attempt to prosecute Milley or Fauci and let the legal process play out, potentially putting a Milley or Fauci appeal decision in the hands of the SCOTUS.
Trump, however, believes a president has the authority to issue preemptive pardons; consequently, I don’t expect him to legally contest these pardons.
Sometime in the future, a president who doesn’t believe in preemptive pardons will try to get a SCOTUS to rule against such pardons.
Trump is a notorious bluffer. He bluffs by talking SMACK and bullying people, hoping the individuals he targets will give up before the legal, financial or political battle or battles begin.
I am saddened. Does anyone think these so-called “pre-exemptive pardons” will stop Trump from persecuting the people pardoned? He’s a criminal. Criminals have no respect for the law. His minions will conjure up new federal crimes these people supposedly committed, have corrupt state AGs like Ken Paxton charge them with conjured state crimes, or do like Nazis did and simply take them into “protective custody” (screw habeas corpus).
And all these pardons will do is help FauxNews substantiate false narratives of criminality.
My advice is these people should go into voluntary exile in countries that won’t honor extradition treaties they might have with the U.S. for clearly political prosecutions and that they should already be across the border by noon Eastern today.
God save us all.
Chip Roy is already gearing up to continue the harassment. From Politico, with emphasis in the original:
There should be crowdfunding for expenses related to these unwarranted attacks on these pardoned individuals. Ridiculous that they should have to pay a cent for anything related to this sustained persecution.
More pardons and commutations just announced. From the WH Briefing Room:
More background at the link.