The amnesty debate is spiraling out of control: individuals, groups, partisans, pre-emptive attacks.
Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden's repeated assertions about Hunter in a “Meet the Press” interview, saying, “I'm not going to pardon my son. I'm not going to pardon him under any circumstances. “I will not give any,” he said. I watched this and always thought he would probably grant me a pardon. ”
In a portion of the interview that was not broadcast but posted online, the president-elect complained to Kristen Welker:
“The press was clearly unfair to me. The press, no president has ever been treated the way I was treated by the press.”
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Why did he appear on “Meet the Press”? “You're very hostile,” Trump said. Her response was, “Well, I hope you think it was a fair interview. We covered a lot of policy ground.”
“It's only fair that you allowed me to say that. But, you know, the answer to the question is pretty damning. But, look, I'm not sure what you're saying to other people like Biden. I saw you interview him.”
Mr. Welker replied, “I have never interviewed President Biden.'' Trump said he was speaking “metaphorically.”
The pardon debate has been reinvigorated by President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter, despite repeated assurances to the contrary. (Reuters/Getty/AP Images)
“I've seen interviews with George Stephanopoulos, and he's a tough interviewer. This is the softest interview I've ever seen, a CNN interview. They give these softs, you know. What's your favorite ice cream? That's a whole other deal. I don't know why. ”
The strength of Mr. Welker's approach was that he asked for six follow-ups on key topics and generated more news. For example, when she asked him if he was actually going to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, as he always said on the campaign trail, he said yes, and for some reason a lot of news outlets reported on this. Ta. However, in a subsequent question, President Trump said he did not believe Dreamers should be expelled and would work with Democrats to resolve the issue.
As for Mr. Trump, he reminded me of a candidate I interviewed twice this year. He was sharp and serious, connecting on each pitch and committing several fouls. This candidate isn't talking about sharks at his rallies.
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In one major mistake, he insisted he was not seeking retribution and even walked back a campaign promise to appoint a special counsel to investigate Biden.
That blunder was such that President Trump couldn't stand it, telling members of the House committee on January 6, including Liz Cheney, “Honestly, they should go to jail for what they did.'' That was it.
The president added the caveat that he would leave that decision to the attorney general and FBI director, but this led to a media-driven push by Trump to keep his political opponents behind bars. In conclusion, there is no crime in a member of Congress holding a public hearing, and this business of withholding information seems to be quite unreasonable.
Now, back to the topic of amnesty. The tumultuous debate was apparently sparked by the president's repeated promises of a sweeping 10-year pardon for his 54-year-old convicted son.
But then, as Politico first reported, the Biden White House is debating whether to issue a slew of pre-emptive pardons to people deemed to be potential targets for President Trump's retaliation. I learned.
But the inconvenient truth is that anyone who accepts such a pardon is essentially admitting guilt. That's why Sen.-elect Adam Schiff says he doesn't want a pardon and has no intention of accepting one.
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However, many of these potential recipients do not even know that they are being considered for a full pardon, including everything they have done and not done.
This is a truly terrible idea, and both Biden and Trump agree that the Justice Department is engaged in unfair and selective prosecutions (in the case of the Republican, it increased his numbers), and that the The stage is set for revenge.
The first time I thought about the unlimited power of presidential pardons was when Bill Clinton granted a last-minute pardon to his ally, billionaire Marc Rich.
Former President Bill Clinton used his pardon power to free his ultra-wealthy ally Marc Rich. (Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images)
So it's time to listen to Alexander Hamilton, who forced it into the Constitution. Keep in mind that in the era of the horse and buggy, most law enforcement was done by the states, so there were very few federal crimes.
In Federalist No. 74, published in 1788, Hamilton wrote that a single man is better equipped than an unwieldy group, and that such decisions are widely applied to help those in need. said that it should be done.
“In seasons of rebellion and insurrection, there are often critical moments when a well-timed pardon of a rebel or rebel may restore peace to the Union,” the future Secretary of the Treasury wrote.
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Otherwise, it may be too late.
However, another founding father, George Mason, opposed the president, saying, “The president may frequently pardon crimes of which he has advised. That could happen if we had a president.” If we have the power to grant pardons before indictment or conviction, can we stop investigations and prevent them from being exploited? ”
It was a great debate, but Hamilton won.
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As Hamilton envisioned, George Washington granted the Whiskey Rebellion's leaders clemency in 1794 to calm the sticky situation.
Something suggests to me that Biden, Trump, and their allies are not familiar with the Federalist Papers. However, it is still extremely important to place overwhelming power in the hands of a single chief executive, and the only remedy is impeachment.
