Biden Pardons Dr. Fauci, General Milley, Liz Cheney & The January 6th Committee & Witnesses

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In his final hours as President of the United States, Joe Biden has issued preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley as well as former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney along with the rest of the January 6th committee and its witnesses.

I wish he had not done so.

Consider what I wrote last month when word came out that President Biden was contemplating such acts.

I think Biden should resist any temptation to issue such pardons.

First, by doing so, Biden would create the public perception that Cheney, Fauci and Schiff and anyone in receipt of such a pardon had actually committed crimes. People would think, "Gee, Biden pardoned Cheney. She must have done something real bad."

Second, Biden would also be basically telling us that if Cheney, Fauci and Schiff and others should not expect a fair trial with an impartial judge and jury. This certainly sends a bad message.

Third, let us not forget that President-elect Trump called for the "termination" of the U.S. Constitution. Trump could do that and render Biden's pardons moot. Absent the U.S. Constitution (including the 5th and 14th Amendments), the law would be whatever Trump says it is leaving him free to go after Cheney, Fauci, Schiff and anyone else he perceived as an enemy. 

Preemptive pardons are an easy answer. But easy answers are invariably the wrong answers.

I would add the following. Not only do I think that Trump will countermand Biden's pardons, but that he might go as far as to issue preemptive pardons to Vice-President-elect Vance, his cabinet, staff and political appointees. They would effectively enjoy the same immunity as Trump will now enjoy.

Now one could argue that Trump might have done something like this whether Biden issued the pardons or didn't issue them. But the fact that Biden has issued these pardons gives Trump the political space to use his pardon power far more nefariously than he has done previously. 

President Biden may have good intentions with these pardons especially with a January 6th witness like Cassidy Hutchinson. To paraphrase the old adage, Donald Trump is going to take the United States down the road to hell and President Biden has helped him pave it.

UPDATE: Biden's pardons of his relatives don't help matters either.