“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
That old adage failed to take account of the crimes of those on the correct side of the political aisle. The days of personal accountability are all but a memory for those with ties to the American president. Today, the adage might more accurately read, “Do the crime, and a pardon will come in time.”
During his first day back in the White House, President Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences of, or dismissed the cases of all 1,500-plus Capital riot participants from Jan. 6, 2021.
These pardoned individuals were not political prisoners, hostages, warriors or whatever other revisionist term Trump and his ilk have called them. Make no mistake: A large number of the charged individuals were people who had committed acts of violence, causing nearly $3 million in damages that will likely never will be repaid.
There has arguably not been such a distasteful use of the presidential pardon power since President Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned disgraced President Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal in 1974. Letting these people walk free and clear of punishment spits in the face of the deterrent effect of criminal justice and in the face of every officer of the D.C. Police, Capital Police and the civil servants who were jeopardized and harmed by these rioters’ actions.
Republicans will be quick to point out that, in the waning minutes of his term, former President Joe Biden provided preemptive pardons for five members of his family, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the Jan. 6 investigation committee. He also provided a pardon to his son Hunter Biden in late 2024, after previously vowing that he would not do so.
But the distinctions between the Trump and Biden pardons are clear. While Biden’s pardons set a troublesome precedent that will likely lead to Trump and other presidents pardoning their entire families and friends at the end of their terms, none of the individuals whom Biden pardoned have committed violent crimes against the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump’s broad clemency to all Jan. 6 rioters included at least 600 people charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement; of those, at least 170 were accused of using a deadly weapon. An additional 80 rioters were charged with destruction of government property, 60 were charged with theft of government property and six were charged with both.
Most disappointing is that 10 of those charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy had their sentences commuted and were released from prison.
For those not blinded by partisan politics, there is an obvious difference between Biden’s preemptive pardons and these Trump pardons. Even Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) has broken ranks and taken issue with them.
From a big-picture standpoint, Biden’s last-minute pardons serve an obvious purpose: to protect innocent people from vindictive prosecution. The track record of Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is a cause for concern, as he complied a list of his “enemies,” including Biden himself, Vice President Kamala Harris and Hilary Clinton, to name a few. Even before winning the 2024 election, Trump vowed to get “revenge” on Biden and the Democratic Party.
If we have learned anything about Trump, it is that his threats cannot be taken lightly. Biden likely saw the writing on the wall for these pardoned individuals and acted to shield them from an incoming flurry of attacks that Trump and Patel would have certainly brought their way. One just has to look at Trump pulling Fauci’s security detail during his first week in office to see this was never going to be a benevolent presidency towards the political opposition.
While the enacted pardons are irrevocable, there is one thing the public should rally behind: reforming the presidential pardon power. Biden and Trump’s specific uses of this executive authority have compromised the integrity of the American justice system and the legitimacy of criminal proceedings.
Preemptive pardons, like those granted by Biden, create a precedent and environment in which a president can give key assurances to allies to act with impunity, direct the Justice Department not to pursue them, and then offer blanket pardons to them on the way out, so that the next administration cannot prosecute them or even start a criminal investigation. It doesn’t take much imagination to envision the corruption this could bring about.
On the other side, Trump’s pardons have signaled to fervent political groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers that no matter how illegal or destructive the actions they take in furtherance of Trump’s agenda or against his “enemies,” they can depend on presidential protection for displays of loyalty.
While the presidential pardon can be a powerful tool for enacting justified and welcomed pardons, these recent developments have gone far and beyond the original intent of what the Framers of the Constitution had in mind. We are witnessing an affront to justice and a mockery of law and order — one that Congress must limit before it cements the idea that fairness is contingent on power, not principle.
Addison J. Hosner is the chief operating officer of Young Voices, based in Washington, D.C., and is a licensed Florida attorney.
