The erstwhile President Joe Biden concluded his term in office with blatant pardons for lawmakers and his family members, a stark contrast to his successor President Donald Trump, who instead chose to pardon ardent supporters involved in the Capitol unrest four years prior. The difference between the two, in terms of beneficiaries and impact, is glaring. A grand exhibition of executive power revealed Biden’s unjust influence over the ‘so-called’ rule of law and Trump’s skepticism of his predecessor. Both men used their pardoning power to send messages to their supporters that underlined their distrust in each other’s administration.
Biden, in one of his last acts in power, attempted to play the victim card by pardoning his siblings and their partners, alleging relentless threats and attacks against them. Biden’s persistent cries of victimhood were further buttressed by the pardoning of his son, Hunter Biden, for gun and tax crimes, despite his previous assertions to the contrary. It seems clear, Biden’s promises were mere words in the wind.
In a further display of unabashed bias, President Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House committee probed over the Jan 6 Capitol attack. This came notwithstanding any public evidence of criminal wrongdoing. It is plain to see that shielding potential targets from future investigation under President Trump’s administration was the sole motive behind these maneuverings.
Biden’s reckless disregard for the rule of law did not stop there however. Ignoring the advice of former FBI Director Christopher Wray, Biden granted clemency to Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous activist, who spent nearly half a century behind bars for the murder of two FBI agents in 1975. This move angered those in law enforcement and served to further widen the constantly evolving chasm between justice and politics.
Optimistically, Biden expressed faith in the rule of law, banking on our legal institutions to prevail over political machinations. However, it is abundantly clear that his faith was biased and conveniently served his immediate political ends.
Biden’s belief in the criminal justice system under his successor might be an attempt to sway the American public’s opinion, as many have shown unequal confidence in established legal institutions. As recent polls suggest, about half are skeptical, with a minority being ‘fairly’ confident and a smaller number being ‘very’ confident in these institutions remaining impartial under Trump’s second term.
The alarming, underlying assumption in these actions is the deep-seated belief held by the outgoing Democrat that his Republican successor could not be trusted to protect his own relatives let alone his partisan confederates. This narrative feeds the already rampant political paranoia, only to fester and grow.
Adding fuel to this raging fire, President Trump, in his inaugural act, strayed far from his predecessor’s narrow pardons and commuted prison sentences for over 1500 persons charged in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. This was in stark contrast to the cautious predictions offered by other officials from the Trump administration.
Trump’s pardons served to wipe the slate clean of the most comprehensive investigation in the history of the Justice Department. Not surprisingly, the beneficiaries included Trump supporters who made headlines with their violent attack on police officers during the riots, and key figures of far-right extremist groups convicted for politically motivated plots.
Unmistakably, Trump hailed the rioters as ‘patriots’ — a term incongruous with the vast evidence gathered by prosecutors implicating them in the violent attacks. This further cements the belief that Trump operates outside the concepts of law and order, choosing to bend them to serve his whims.
As Trump battles for confirmation of his Attorney General nominee, who declared she would not succumb to political pressures, critics have raised concerns about faith in the justice system. With both past and present administrations using pardons as political tools, the public’s already fragile trust in the justice system grows shakier.
For adversaries of the pardon plan, the clemency simply feeds into the misguided notion that the legal system, far from being transparent and fair, is indeed ‘rigged’. In the wake of these startling revelations, it is of little surprise that the trust in this system is rapidly deteriorating.
In conclusion, the recent pardons by both Biden and Trump are politically motivated, a use of presidential power that deviates far from the original intent of the Founding Fathers. Such ploys only serve to undermine the rule of law and further erode public trust in what is supposed to be a fair and balanced justice system.