WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is weighing whether to issue blanket pardons to officials and allies the White House says could be unfairly targeted by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, a preemptive measure that would be a new and risky use of the president’s power. extraordinary constitutional power.
So far, the deliberations are largely at the level of White House lawyers. But Biden himself has discussed the topic with some senior aides, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss the sensitive topic. No decision has been made, the people said, and it is possible that Biden will choose to do nothing at all.
Pardons are historically granted to people accused of specific crimes — and usually to those who have already been convicted of a misdemeanor — but Biden’s team is considering granting them to those who haven’t even been convicted of a misdemeanor. ‘an investigation, and even fewer accusations. They fear that Trump and his allies, who boast of having enemy lists and demanding “retaliation,” could launch investigations that would be reputationally and financially costly for their targets, even if they do not do not result in prosecutions.
While the president’s pardon power is absolute, Biden’s use of it in this way would mark a significant expansion of how they are deployed, and some Biden aides fear it could lay the groundwork for even more drastic use from Trump. They also fear that granting pardons could fuel claims by Trump and his allies that the individuals committed acts that required immunity.
WATCH: The precedent Biden’s pardon of his son could set for future presidents
Recipients could include infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was instrumental in combating the coronavirus pandemic and who has become a pariah for conservatives angry over mask mandates and vaccines. Others include witnesses in Trump’s criminal or civil trials and Biden administration officials who have drawn the ire of the new president and his allies.
Some fearful former officials have reached out to the Biden White House preemptively to ask for some sort of protection from the incoming Trump administration, one of the people said.
This follows Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter — not just for his convictions for federal gun and tax violations, but for any potential federal offenses committed over an 11-year period, as the president feared Trump’s allies would seek to prosecute his son for others infractions. This could serve as a model for other pardons Biden could grant to those who might find themselves in legal jeopardy under Trump.
Biden is not the first to consider such pardons — Trump aides have considered them for him and his supporters involved in his unsuccessful effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in a violent riot at the Capitol on January 6 2021. But he could be the first to grant them since Trump’s pardons never materialized before he left office nearly four years ago.
Gerald Ford granted a “full, free and absolute pardon” in 1974 to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, following the Watergate scandal. He believed that a possible trial “would provoke a prolonged and divisive debate over the advisability of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of renouncing the highest elective office in the United States- United,” as the proclamation of grace indicates.
Politico was first to report that Biden was exploring the use of preemptive pardons.
During the election campaign, Trump made no secret of his desire to take revenge on those who sued or upset him.
WATCH: In the final hours of Trump’s term, a wave of pardons and commutations
Trump spoke of “enemies within” and released social media posts calling for the imprisonment of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence and Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. He also focused on former Rep. Liz Cheney, a conservative Republican who campaigned for Harris and helped investigate Jan. 6, and he promoted a social media post suggesting that he wanted military tribunals for alleged treason.
Kash Patel, whom Trump announced as his nominee for FBI director, listed dozens of former government officials he wanted to “follow.”
Richard Painter, a Trump critic who served as a top ethics lawyer in the White House under President George W. Bush, said he reluctantly supports Biden issuing sweeping pardons to people who could be targeted by the Trump administration. He said he hoped it would “make a clean slate” for the new president and encourage him to focus on governing rather than punishing his political allies.
“It’s not an ideal situation at all,” Painter said. “We are faced with many bad options at this point. »
While the Supreme Court ruled this year that the president has broad immunity from prosecution for what could be considered official acts, his aides and allies enjoy no such protection. Some worry that Trump could use the promise of a blanket pardon to encourage his allies to take actions they might otherwise resist, for fear of breaking the law.
“There could be blatant illegal conduct over the next four years, and he can go and forgive his people before he leaves office,” Painter said. “But if he has to do this, he will do it anyway, no matter what Biden does.”
More conventional pardons from Biden, such as those for sentencing disparities for people convicted of federal crimes, are expected before the end of the year, the White House said.