‘Broad New Precedent’: Biden Issuing Preemptive Pardons To Trump Opponents Would Be Big Expansion Of Power

 

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 8: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the latest developments in Syria from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on December 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. Syrian rebel fighters entered Syria's capital city Damascus on Sunday. President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly fled the country, ending more than five decades of his family's rule. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

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resident Joe Biden is reportedly considering issuing preemptive pardons to Trump opponents, which would set new precedent as a vast expansion of presidential pardon power.

While there is not a full list, the president and senior aides are mulling pardons for allies like Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to several reports.

While there is not a full list, the president and senior aides are mulling pardons for allies like Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci

“It is very rare to issue a pardon for conduct not yet charged,” South Texas College of Law Houston professor Josh Blackman told the DCNF. “Moreover, it is even rarer to give a blanket pardon for all offenses that a person may have committed during a particular period of time. But the Hunter Biden ‘Get out of jail free’ card has set a broad new precedent.”

Biden pardoned his son last week after repeatedly saying he would let the jury decision stand. The pardon covered any offenses Hunter Biden “has committed or may have committed” beginning in 2014, not just the gun and tax charges he actually faced.

Biden said he believed politics infected the process and “led to a miscarriage of justice.” The judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case wrote later that the president has broad authority to grant pardons but not to “rewrite history,” noting two federal judges already rejected the argument that Hunter Biden was prosecuted because of his family ties.