Monday was a big day for presidential clemency, but that does not mean it was a good day. Both outgoing President Joe Biden and incoming President Donald Trump used that power in self-interested, short-sighted ways, sacrificing the public interest to benefit political allies and, in Biden's case, family members.
Biden granted preemptive pardons to five relatives, former COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, and the members of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Those pardons were necessary, he argued, to prevent his successor from pursuing "baseless and politically motivated prosecutions."
Even if such prosecutions were ultimately unsuccessful, Biden noted, they would impose financial and emotional costs on Trump's targets. But critics of the move, including at least two members of the January 6 committee, noted that the pardons entailed an implicit admission of guilt and set a dangerous precedent that is apt to undermine the rule of law and the accountability of federal officials.
