I didn’t want to believe he would.
During his first day of mandate, President Trump pardoned nearly 1,300 accused found in crimes related to Capitol Riot of January 6, 2021. He granted complete and unconditional forgiveness to almost all, including hundreds who were found guilty of aggression against agents of application of the law, obstruction of justice and other crimes. He also ordered the Ministry of Justice to drop around 300 prosecution of January 6 which have not yet been tried or sentenced, also granting these defendants.
Trump also commissioned the sentences of 14 members of the far -right militia groups Oath And proud Boys (the Trump group sadly responsible for “taking a step back and standing” during a debate in 2020). These defendants were found guilty of the most serious crimes, including a seditious conspiracy for having violently tried to overthrow the government and received some of the longest sentences. The switches mean that they will be released from prison, but they will remain sentenced criminals and their civil rights will not be restored.
Trump had spoken during the campaign to forgive the defendants of January 6, who, according to him, were “hostages” which had been treated unfairly. But he and his allies, including Vice-president VanceAlso discussed the adoption of an approach on a case -by -case basis and the suggested violent criminals should not be pardoned.
I thought Trump could end up forgiving only people who are guilty of crimes, such as an illegal entry on the Capitol field, but not violent criminals. Because the ballot shows that the pardons are politically unpopular, even among the Republicans, I even thought that there was a chance that he could move away from his forgiveness promises once he had been elected.
But no. Trump granted general mercy to all those who participated in the riot and sought to reverse the elections he lost. There was no consideration on a case -by -case basis. And he made it an absolute priority, acting only a few hours after having sworn, once again, to protect and defend the constitution of the United States.
This is another first for Trump: never before a new president has violated his oath so quickly and thoroughly.
Trump’s action puts a brutal end to the greatest criminal investigation in the history of the Ministry of Justice. It is an unprecedented slap in the face of the judicial system and the judges, prosecutors and agents responsible for the application of laws that have worked in the past four years to see that those responsible for this aggression against our country have been brought to justice. This is part of Trump’s continuous effort to rewrite history and Whitewash which happened on January 6.
And it is the most dangerous abuse of power of Trump to date.
Trump has taken many controversial measures during his first day in power, issuing decrees that seek to cancel many programs and priorities of the Biden administration. But these pardons are in a completely different category.
Changing politicians is one thing. For the most part, they are not permanent. Many Trump decrees can and will be challenged in court; Some proceedings have already been filed. Others are largely symbolic and cannot be easily implemented or applied. Some, such as pretending to put an end to the citizenship of the right of birth (which is guaranteed by the 14th amendment) or to take over the Panama canal, will generate a lot of breathtaking press cover but will not go almost nowhere. Other policies can be changed again when there is a new administration with different priorities.
The pardons are different. They cannot be canceled or disputed in court. The presidential power is absolute, which is one of the reasons why Trump loved it so much. There are no checks and sales at work here. The criminals who have committed a violent assault against our democracy are forever released from any legal responsibility – but not from moral responsibility. The damage caused by Trump to the justice system here cannot be canceled.
The Republicans describe themselves without danger as the Party of the Act and the Order which defends and supports the police. Trump’s actions prove the opposite.
Hundreds of police officers were violently attacked on January 6. About 140 were injured. These men and women bring their lives into play to defend our country and the members of the Congress who were huddled with fear inside the Capitol. The rioters attacked them with baseball bats, batons, flag posts, pepper spray and other weapons, while shouting curses and racial epithets and threatening to kill them. Five police officers died because of their injuries or followed their lives, and others have suffered permanent injuries.
With these pardons, Trump deeply dishoners their sacrifice. He said the real patriots and heroes are not the police officers who defended the Capitol but those who attacked them. Trump summoned the crowd to Washington and sent them to the Capitol, then watched the riot take place for three hours while doing nothing to stop it. The rioters attacked the police while acting on behalf of Trump. Now he has released them.
In Another executive decree Trump asked his prosecutor general on Monday to continue the death penalty for anyone found guilty of having killed a police officer. This is probably supposed to point out that the Trump administration will support these officers and hardly treat those who hurt them. But these pardons reveal the truth: you can attack an agent of the police on behalf of Trump and you will not be kept criminally responsible at all – even if the officer dies later.
Hypocrisy is not new to Washington, but it takes him to a new, breathtaking level. I cannot understand how an agent, an agency or an organization of the police could support Trump after having pardoned those who attacked their comrades on his behalf – although I have no doubt that Many of them will do it again.
Another aspect of Trump’s order will draw less attention but is also extremely disturbing. He ordered the Ministry of Justice to reject the several hundred proceedings on January 6 which are currently pending.
This is an unprecedented violation of the historic independence of the Ministry of Justice. The president does not say to Doj who continued or not – for good and obvious reasons. But standards such as the rule of law and independence from the Ministry of Justice do not mean anything for Trump.
Assuming that it is confirmed, this administration will include a general prosecutor, Pam Bondi, who has shown himself as a loyalist of Trump. She echoes false claims that the 2020 elections were stolen and refused to disavow these complaints during its confirmation hearing. And the president will clearly have no qualms about ordering his attorney general to continue business against political opponents or to drop business against his allies.
In the first Trump administration, there were railing in place. There were people at the Ministry of Justice and the White House who still recognized the importance of keeping politics outside the criminal proceedings and who resisted Trump. It is not clear that such railing will exist during the second Trump administration, where loyalty to Trump seems to be required above all. Bondi promised during her hearing that she would not pursue business for political reasons, but with Trump in charge, there are reasons for concern.
Trump supporters will undoubtedly respond to the criticisms of the pardons by saying that President Biden has also abused the power of forgiveness. In his last days in power, Biden granted preventive pardons to members of the January 6 chamber committee, members of his own family and others against whom Trump promised to request reprisals. These people have not been credible with any crime, much less charged or condemned. Biden forgiveness to trigger unjustified criminal affairs against them, which could be paralyzing financially and emotionally even if they had no factual basis.
These preventive pardons are also unprecedented. I don’t like them, even if I understand why Biden thought they were necessary. I fear that we are starting a road where each outgoing president grants a cover of preventive forgiveness to all the members of his administration for all the actions they have taken during their mandate – just to be safe. It would have been unthinkable and unnecessary in the pre-trump era, but that’s where we are now.
But Biden’s preemptive pardons are not in the same moral or legal universe as Trump’s January 6 pardons. It should be obvious that a president protecting innocent people against threatened and unjust reprisals is not the same as president forgiving the defendants who have been sentenced to having committed violent crimes on his behalf.
This “Whatboutism” is part of the public waste effort by suggesting that Trump simply does what all politicians do. It is not true from a distance. Like a peaceful demonstration outside the Capitol is not equivalent to the riot of January 6, a preemptive grace to protect an innocent person is not equivalent to the January 6 pardons of convicted criminals.
These pardons are morally wrong because they seek to erase the responsibility of those who have committed crimes on behalf of the president who granted them. But what they preserve for the new administration is even more worrying.
There were reports during Trump’s first mandate by saying to the aid that they should simply conduct questionable policies and, if they were in trouble, he would forgive them. Now he sent a clear signal on the first day of his new administration: if you commit crimes on my behalf, my back.
When you combine this with the new presidential immunity Created by the Supreme Court last summer, the perspectives are dark. Trump, a man who has repeatedly shown that he had no qualms about violating the law, knows that he can commit crimes with impunity while they can be characterized as official acts. And those who work for him can be assured that if he orders them to commit crimes and that they give follow -up, he will not hesitate to forgive them.
This is a plan for an administration without law which knows that it will not be held responsible for criminal acts. This would, of course include crimes determined to interfere with the next presidential election to allow the party, if not Trump himself, to stay in power. Trump’s team came very close to overthrowing the 2020 elections. Without doubt, they learned certain lessons and will not repeat the same mistakes.
These pardons are deeply disturbing. What they report on what could happen over the next four years is even worse.
