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The other day, writing about Hunter Biden’s pardon, I speculated that Biden would go on a pardon spree to protect some of the political dirty tricks operatives who helped orchestrate the takedown of Donald Trump and the destruction of the American Constitutional order.
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And right on cue, POLITICO writes that the Biden administration is doing precisely that.
Column: The Biden White House is discussing preemptive pardons for current and former officials in Trump’s crosshairs, writes @jmart. https://t.co/3XqsNgCqCx
— POLITICO (@politico) December 4, 2024
The issue is being framed as being an extraordinary consideration because Trump is such a dangerous authoritarian hell-bent on revenge that these poor, innocent, God-fearing public servants need protection from him lest they be victims of an unfair witch hunt.
resident Joe Biden’s senior aides are conducting a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to senior Democrats familiar with the discussions.
Biden’s aides are deeply concerned about a range of current and former officials who could find themselves facing inquiries and even indictments, a sense of alarm which has only accelerated since Trump last weekend announced the appointment of Kash Patel to lead the FBI. Patel has publicly vowed to pursue Trump’s critics.
The White House officials, however, are carefully weighing the extraordinary step of handing out blanket pardons to those who’ve committed no crimes, both because it could suggest impropriety, only fueling Trump’s criticisms, and because those offered preemptive pardons may reject them.
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While I am sure that many in the administration have favorites they want to protect and want to signal to future conspirators that their backsides will be covered, my own suspicion is that one of the main reasons this story is being floated and so many names are being tossed out there is that Biden needs to protect one man especially: Alejandro Mayorkas.
The White House is facing contradictory pressures from Capitol Hill. Some longtime Democratic lawmakers, like Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), have talked favorably about the precedent of former President Gerald Ford’s preemptive pardon of Richard Nixon, issued before any charges were filed against the disgraced former president.
“If it’s clear by January 19 that [revenge] is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that’s really what our country is going to need next year,” Markey said on WGBH last week.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Penn.), a close Biden ally who hosted the president in his district shortly before the election, issued a plea Wednesday for Biden to offer blanket pardons.
“This is no hypothetical threat,” Boyle said in a statement, adding: “The time for cautious restraint is over. We must act with urgency to push back against these threats and prevent Trump from abusing his power.”
Other lawmakers, I’m told, have been just as emphatic in private with Biden’s aides in calling for preemptive pardons.
However, some congressional Democrats, including those who may be in Trump’s political crosshairs, are uneasy about the idea of being granted a pardon they’re not seeking.
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You see the framing: as with the Hunter Biden pardon, Biden may be forced to do this because Donald Trump is such a horrible and vindictive man that he is determined to go after his political enemies!
And there it is
Biden is considering pardoning Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to Politico.
Biden’s White House is reportedly discussing preemptive pardons to protect certain people from being “targetted” by President-elect Donald Trump.
Names on the list may include Dr. Fauci,… https://t.co/5bsfRZC9ze
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 4, 2024
Democrats would never do that! They would never hound a president or his allies after he left office in order to bankrupt them, toss them in jail, ruin their reputations, or harm their political futures. It’s LITERALLY HITLER who would do THAT!
Mayorkas’ name doesn’t come up in the article, but I have little doubt that it is Mayorkas who is the real prize they are trying to protect. He has been at the center of so much evil in this administration. Homeland Security runs the border, FEMA, the Secret Service, and so much more.
And Homeland Security is where the worst scandals are.
Biden can’t just pardon Mayorkas without burying his name in the midst of many others. It would be too obvious. So the idea is being floated out there to soften the blow, and by putting it out there with Fauci as the lead beneficiary you provide a shiny object to distract from the real beneficiary.
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Not that Fauci doesn’t merit investigation and perhaps a prosecution for, at the very least, perjury and FOIA violations, But Mayorkas has almost certainly committed many crimes, from perjury to abuses of power executing the policies of the president that he needs protection. If he doesn’t get it, he will certainly name names to protect himself.
No doubt others have been expecting something like this. All it requires is the necessary cynicism to see how Washington really works and how the current crop of Democrats abuse their power.
Expect Mayorkas to be pardoned, and for his name to be one of many.