Pardon Me. Pardon Everyone.
One of the latest parlor games is to guess who will be next to get a presidential pardon. Last week, it was General Michael Flynn. A few days ago came a news story that personal attorney to the president Rudy Giuliani had talked with President Trump about getting a pre-emptive pardon before Trump leaves office.
President Trump will do like many of his predecessors…and issue a blizzard of pardons on his way out the door. Again, not uncommon at all.
Various sources have documented that in the final hours of the Clinton presidency, all you needed was to make a call and someone would write your name and town on a slip of paper…no details were included in the pardon, it just came if you knew who to call. Clinton pardoned family members. It happens.
The end of the Obama presidency came with a number of pardons, too…some for well-connected folks, some to make political statements about decriminalizing marijuana and such.
So no one should be surprised if, especially given the hyper-partisan political climate, Trump gives pre-emptive blanket pardons to members of his family, his Administration, his friends, and yes, even himself. They may say “full pardon for all crimes that may have been committed” but are of limited or no value in a state court. Regardless, they’ll come and heads will explode among those on the left.
Again, this is not a Democrat or a Republican thing, it’s a swamp thing. And again, it may well be taken to a new level within the next 45 days. But no one should act surprised, appalled, or triggered.
