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Showing Original Post only (View all)A case for Biden pardoning Trump [View all]
Okay, I can't believe I'm even saying this, since my gut is so invested in the other direction, but with the talk of not just Manchin but even Clyburn also saying he could support Biden pardoning Trump, I had to give it some more thought, and here's what I realized:
A Biden pardon is irrelevant to Trump's legal issues. So then the question is whether there is any benefit--to Biden, the Democrats, or the country--to have Biden pardon him.
The reason I say a Biden pardon is irrelevant to Trump's legal issues is that the Federal cases (the only ones Biden can pardon him for) are going to go away regardless. Either he'll get his DOJ people to drop them, or he will pardon himself, or if all else somehow failed to sufficiently close the door, he'd resign the presidency near the very end of of his term (perhaps for "health reasons" ) and have Vance pardon him a la Ford. (Heck, he probably wouldn't even have to resign, merely create some time when Vance would be "acting president" via 25th amendment, section 3.) I think it is realistic to say that the federal cases are NOT going to happen, period.
That being the case, what good does a Biden pardon do for Trump? Not much. Save him a little effort maybe. Or maybe he'd find a way to score some rhetorical points off of it. But in the end, it provides no actual change to Trump's legal status. Therefore, I think the remaining question is what advantages it might have for Biden, the Dems, or the country. And with Trump's legal status not truly being at issue, I think the answer to that balance of advantages vs. drawbacks is not entirely clear, and could at least be worthy of further thought and analysis.
It has been said by many, for a long time, that the fact that the federal cases go away may have been the the over-riding reason Trump ran for another term in the first place. Since he did win, his federal legal jeopardy is essentially over, and a Biden pardon is moot from his perspective. So the remaining question is whether there might be some benefit from our perspective, and I"m not sure what the answer is. I'm keeping an open mind.
