Biden Should Pardon Everybody on the Trump and Patel Enemies Lists

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On Tuesday I argued that the controversy around President Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden should not obscure the larger truth that the Biden administration is one of the most ethical in history, with no indictments or convictions of any political appointees.

However, that perfect record could change once a vengeful Donald Trump moves back in to the White House. Over the past few years, Trump named more than 70 people whom he baselessly deemed deserving of prosecution and imprisonment.

Biden can prevent the possibility of politicized prosecutions by using his pardon power, in the same manner that he did for his son, and mitigate concerns that Hunter got preferential treatment.

But first, here’s what’s leading the Washington Monthly website:

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Justin Trudeau Is Blowing It: My criticism of how the Canadian prime minister is handling Trump’s tariff threats. Click here for the full story.

The Trouble With Trump’s Pick to Run the FDA: Merrill Goozner, publisher of the GoozNews health care newsletter, raises concerns with Marty Makary’s habit of cherry-picking scientific evidence to support his positions. Click here for the full story.

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Trump may not be the only person in his administration with an enemies list in his pocket. His nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, once said, “We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out … We’re actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have.”

Patel also published a book in which he called the “Deep State” a “cabal of unelected tyrants” and listed the names of 60 people—mostly different than those publicly fingered Trump—whom he considered members. (Politico collected all of the political and media figures that Trump has claimed broke the law. The New Republic compiled the names of Patel’s list.)

This week Politico reported that Biden’s top aides are debating whether the president should issue preemptive pardons to protect those threatened by political prosecutions.

This shouldn’t be a debate. Just as with Covid-19, anyone with a remote chance of being infected by a weaponized Justice Department deserves inoculation.

The counterargument raised in the Politico story–”it could suggest impropriety, only fueling Trump’s criticisms”–collapses on its own weight. Trump’s (fictional) criticisms are already maximally fueled by his election. Blanket pardons don’t suggest impropriety by the recipients, but by Trump and his lackeys who have openly talked about retribution.

In pardoning his son, Biden said, “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here.” Nor should we assume it would stop to spare anyone on the Trump and Patel enemies lists. They deserve the same protection from Biden that his son got.

Best,

Bill

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