President Joe Biden is under pressure to start doling out pardons to Democratic, and some Republican, allies who don’t share his last name. In addition to reported concerns that the threat of prison time would push his son Hunter Biden back into the throes of addiction, the president’s blanket pardon covering a decade of possible wrongdoing shielded him from a lawfare campaign against him by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
How effective that will be is up for debate, but there is a long list of public figures who have defied Trump and made his enemies list. A sweeping pardon like the one Hunter got might help them stay out of hot water with the Trump administration, though it’s not clear who else is going to benefit from the president’s most kinglike power.
Democrats, who have been tearing into Biden for his decision to protect his son, are skeptical he should do any more meddling with pardons for overtly political reasons, our politics team wrote for us this morning.
“Some Democrats conveyed their concerns regarding Biden issuing blanket pardons, days after members of his own party disparaged the president for his unprecedented pardon of son Hunter in which he echoed Trump’s complaints of a politicized justice system,” our politics team wrote.
Democratic strategists who spoke with the Washington Examiner said names such as Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have been discussed, but they’re doubtful any legal reprieve is coming for them.
Skepticism about blanket pardons for political actors is due for more reasons than the fact that Biden has had to endure a brutal public relations week. His surprise announcement came on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, hours before he was scheduled to leave the country on a multiday trip to Africa.
At least with his son, he could point to specific instances of crimes that were committed, though the full and unconditional pardon included historically inclusive protections for offenses Hunter “has committed or may have committed or taken part in.” The other names floated haven’t been accused of any criminal action per se, beyond offending Trump and his allies.
Using the power of the presidency to thwart Trump’s ability to enact “revenge” on his foes might feel good for resistance-minded Democrats, but it will also undermine later critiques if Trump, as he is expected, hands out mass pardons for people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“My guess is the president-elect is going to pardon many of the terrorists who were convicted of grand sacking and invading the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and, if Joe Biden starts issuing blanket pardons, that will undermine our opposition to the Trump pardon, so I think that’s a bad idea,” Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, told our team.
There is also the problem that, implicit in accepting a pardon, someone is admitting he or she has committed a crime or some kind of wrongdoing.
“Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who was the chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack, told the Washington Examiner that he ‘wouldn’t object to’ receiving a preemptive pardon from Biden, but that he was ‘not sure what I would need a pardon for,’” the team wrote.
Then, there are the optics of powerful people protecting their powerful friends, while less well-known people are ignored.
“Are you only committed to protecting your rich, powerful political insider people who have defended you or are you also going to extend pardons and clemencies to thousands of people whose names are backlogged in front of your administration and who have not gotten the look because you’ve been too busy pardoning your deadbeat son?” one person told the Washington Examiner. “That’s what I would probably f***ing say if I was advising Joe Biden. That whole situation makes me so angry.”
Biden stuck his neck and legacy out to protect his son in the waning days of his presidency. His memory in Democratic history will already be tarnished by his decision to remain in the 2024 contest, possibly paving the way for Trump to return to the White House. It’s not clear he’s going to give his critics another reason to question whether his presidency was marred by more bad decisions than good.
Click here to read more about the fight about preemptive pardons.
The Ron and Don legacy
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has run a varied race in his relationship with Trump. He started out as a Trump-surrogate success story. He morphed into a soft skeptic and hard rival. Eventually, he came back around to standing in line with the leader of the GOP.
Trump’s distaste for disloyalty can’t always be cleansed from his palate when a former rebel offers up a mea culpa. DeSantis, however, appears to be on track to recover his position toward the front of the line for being the inheritor of the MAGA mantle, White House Reporter Christian Datoc wrote for us this morning.
With another of Trump’s Cabinet nominees on the rocks with Senate Republicans, reports are growing that the president-elect is looking at DeSantis to run the Department of Defense if Pete Hegseth can’t overcome a Pentagon-sized obstacle in his path.
The rumors of DeSantis’s welcoming back into the fold are an abrupt change from how Trump was talking about him just a year ago.
“The problem with Ron DeSanctimonious is that he needs a personality transplant, and those are not yet available,” Trump said in late 2023, Christian reminded us. “Almost all congressmen and women that served with him and knew him well supported me, some of them surprisingly so because of their relationship with Ron.”
But the two patched over their differences in April after DeSantis bowed out of the contest challenging Trump and got back in line behind him. At the time, it looked as though he might have lost his chance at being a serious presidential challenger.
It’s not a guarantee DeSantis could make the leap from the secretary of defense to the White House, leapfrogging Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the process — not to mention a possible entrance into the political area proper by first son Donald Trump Jr.
Term limits will put an end to DeSantis’s governorship in two years. A transition to the Trump administration now would keep him relevant, in good standing with the GOP, and his political skills sharp.
However, there is another close Trump ally who could cause an even bigger problem for DeSantis than Vance or the first son, Christian wrote.
“Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff and co-campaign manager, has her own history with DeSantis,” he wrote.
“Wiles, a longtime Florida-based Republican operative herself, helped usher DeSantis onto the national stage but was banished from his inner circle during his first term in Tallahassee on suspicion of leaking to the media. DeSantis’s crusade against Wiles resulted in the loss of her lobbying job with Ballard Partners but didn’t prevent Trump from hiring her for his 2020 and 2024 campaigns.”
Click here to read more about how the Trump-DeSantis partnership is making a comeback.
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For your radar
Biden will speak at a performance honoring veterans and their families on the eve of the 83rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor from the White House at 6 p.m.
Harris has nothing on her public schedule.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will speak with reporters at 2 p.m.