[Senior Biden White House aides, administration officials and prominent defense attorneys in Washington, DC, are discussing potential preemptive pardons or legal aid for people who might be targeted for prosecution by President-elect Donald Trump after he retakes power, multiple sources told CNN.
Reports of these conversations have captured the attention of Trump’s legal advisers, who, according to a source familiar with their strategy, believe President Joe Biden would be setting a new precedent in terms of the scope of pardons that they could take advantage of, down the line, to help their own allies.
Biden’s senior aides inside the White House have been deliberating for weeks about the possibility of issuing preemptive pardons, according to the sources familiar with the discussions. The move, which would cover people who haven’t ever been formally accused of any crimes, would be an extraordinary step and shows the grave concerns many Democrats have that Trump will prosecute a range of figures that he considers to be his enemies.
Trump has publicly called for the jailing of people like Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney, who served as vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack, as well as special counsel Jack Smith, who brought federal criminal cases against Trump.
Additional discussions have centered on whether the White House or external organizations could establish legal funds to help support people facing potential legal expenses under Trump’s administration.
Furthermore, a source familiar with the discussions said it was an unusual move to suggest Trump would pardon individuals outside the realm of actual punishment as well as grant him leeway to prosecute other leaders without being scrutinized over potential political favor.
Experts, including Neil Eggleston, former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, have raised concerns over blanket pardons claiming “it’s just such a different use of the pardon power” that the actions would create the basis of a tit for tat process, where when the previous administration is over, those individuals would also provide clemency for some associates.
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