Cal Thomas: Biden’s preemptive pardons

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 12th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. President Joe Biden’s term is drawing to a close. Rumors are swirling about who else he may pardon before leaving office. WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says that power must be wielded carefully.

CAL THOMAS: Media reports say President Biden is about to issue a slew of preemptive pardons for people associated with his administration. Reportedly he hopes to thwart any “revenge” the incoming Trump administration might take against them.

While the Founders intended presidential power to be nearly unlimited, their intent was quite different from its use by modern presidents.

Colleen Shogan of the Rubenstein Center writes: “While the pardon power is robust, there are … important limitations,” among them is that “a crime must have been committed for a pardon to be issued.”

If reports are true, President Biden will ignore that limitation and pardon people who have not been indicted, convicted, or sentenced for any illegal acts.

Biden has ignored many laws during his presidency. Two examples include his lax border enforcement and his proposed student loan forgiveness nixed by the Supreme Court. So what is to restrain him now from bypassing constitutional mandates in the matter of pardons?

Will these rumored pardons resemble the one he gave to his son, Hunter…the pardon that protects him from past, present and future violations of the law? Or will they be only issued for those favored by the president who have been criticized by Donald Trump? Either way will violate the text of the Constitution.

Speculation is swirling around D.C. The most prominent people considered possible beneficiaries of blanket presidential pardons include former White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci—who according to a 500-plus page report by a House committee—turned out to be wrong when issuing unnecessary restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19. Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Democrat Senator-elect Adam Schiff from California, both were a thorn in Trump’s side as members of the January 6 Committee.

Asked about the possibility of preemptive pardons, Schiff told CBS News: “I think this is frankly so implausible as not to be worthy of much consideration. I would urge the president not to do that. I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary.”

He’s right.

The most famous pardon of modern presidents was the one given to Richard Nixon by Gerald Ford. The pardon came after Nixon left office but before he could be impeached for his role in the Watergate affair.

There have been plenty of controversial pardons. Nixon pardoned Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, who served only five years of a 13-year sentence for jury tampering, attempted bribery, conspiracy and mail and wire fraud.

Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger—though he had already served an entire prison sentence a decade earlier. Clinton also issued a pardon to Hillary’s brother, Hugh Rodham, who represented Roger. Among the most publicized pardons was the one Clinton gave to fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich. Rich’s ex-wife, Denise, had been a major donor to the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Clinton library foundation. In all, Bill Clinton issued 456 pardons and clemencies, including to some not convicted of any crime.

The way to fix inequities in the nearly unrestricted power of a president to pardon anyone for nearly any reason is for Congress to pass a constitutional amendment. Sadly, that is unlikely to happen.

If Biden issues preemptive pardons it will only add to the public’s disapproval of his administration, as expressed by a majority of voters in last month’s election. A poll conducted for the Daily Mail of 1,006 registered U.S. voters asked them to rank the nine elected presidents from the last 55 years in order from best to worst. Biden…came in last.

Clinton pollster James Carville recently called Biden: “The most tragic figure in American politics in my lifetime.”

If William Shakespeare were alive, no better topic for a tragedy could be found. And we’ll see if history can grant President Biden a pardon. I doubt it.

I’m Cal Thomas.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.