President Joe Biden’s aides are reportedly discussing preemptive pardons for several government officials.
White House officials are “carefully weighing the extraordinary step of handing out blanket pardons to those who’ve committed no crimes, both because it could suggest impropriety, only fueling Trump’s criticisms, and because those offered preemptive pardons may reject them,” according to a report from Politico.
Those considered for pardons include officials “currently in office, elected and appointed, as well as former officials.”
Politico listed Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Discussions for possible pardons have been led by White House counsel Ed Siskel, the report noted, and have also involved chief of staff Jeff Zients.
President-elect Donald Trump suggested in June that he is not seeking political retribution. “We can’t have this stuff go on,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “Because you know what? When Biden goes out and everyone says, ‘Bye bye,’ and then he gets indicted two days later — the country doesn’t want that.”
“I want to bring the country together,” Trump added.
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), however, insisted that Trump is “going to try to act in a dictatorial way, in a fascistic way, in a revengeful [way his] first year… towards individuals who he believes harmed him.”
“If it’s clear by January 19th that [revenge] is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that’s really what our country is going to need next year,” Markey said.
Rep. Brendan Boyle similarly said, “This is no hypothetical threat,” adding, “The time for cautious restraint is over. We must act with urgency to push back against these threats and prevent Trump from abusing his power.”
