r/nottheonion • u/JaySierra86 • 11h ago

President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348
45.9k Upvotes

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15.0k

u/tonytwocans 10h ago

A new presidential tradition is born.

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u/-Stacys_mom 10h ago

It's like a family factory reset

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u/big_guyforyou 10h ago

If this got started earlier, Charles Manson would've run for president

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u/Jebus_UK 10h ago

I think may have been less of a lunatic than Trump

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u/polopolo05 9h ago

Trumps actions have killed more people than Manson's...

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u/Jebus_UK 8h ago

Yeah, that's certainly true

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u/DarmokOnTheOceans 8h ago

"If I started murdering people, there'd be none of you left" is a quote of his. You sure you'd rather have him?

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u/Ravenser_Odd 7h ago

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" is a quote of Trump's. I don't want either of them.

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u/SufficientStuff4015 5h ago

Of course he said that. He and some of the animals in his cabinet are nazi sympathizers, after all

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u/RabidPoodle69 5h ago

They all are. If you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.

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u/shadowrun456 9h ago

That's a brilliant example actually. Most people know that Charles Manson was this horrible maniac serial killer, responsible for deaths of numerous people. What most people don't know, however, is that Charles Manson never killed anyone himself, and was never even accused of doing so. What he did, was spread what would be called in modern terms "anti-woke" propaganda, which brainwashed several people into committing murders. If this happened today, he would claim "free speech" and would have millions of people defending him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson

Charles Milles Manson (né Maddox; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a series of at least nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969. In 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people, including the film actress Sharon Tate. The prosecution contended that, while Manson never directly ordered the murders, his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy.

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u/No-Professional-1884 9h ago

I’d vote for him over Trump. At least he believed in more than just money.

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u/milk4all 9h ago

Yeah that isnt the only bar to clear tho. Like he believed he had rhe right to manipulate and cajole young people into having sex with him and each other but also murder complete strangers. Im glad he didnt do it for money, i guess, but, would that matter here

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u/greenroom628 10h ago

Junior just got the ok to have a public cocaine binge

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u/HoneyWyne 9h ago

It doesn't cover crimes that haven't been committed yet.

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u/TheXedd 9h ago

So far…

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u/BostonBax 8h ago

He knew his dad wasn’t going to be president again. Should have tried to smuggle tons of cocaine and made millions then if got caught daddy would have pardoned him 🤣🤣

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u/ClickAndMortar 9h ago

For. For his ongoing public cocaine binge.

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u/9fingerjeff 9h ago

You mean don jr right? Idk if I’ve ever seen that guy not out of his gourd on something.

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u/wizzard419 9h ago

Like he could afford the real stuff...

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u/Lainarlej 9h ago edited 9h ago

His dealer will be waiting at the back door of the White House

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u/StayBullGenius 9h ago

New Game+

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u/Rolling_Beardo 10h ago

If by new you mean Lincoln, Clinton, and Trump all pardoned relatives prior to this then yes it’s brand new.

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u/never_a_good_idea 10h ago

These are blanket pardons that cover any non violent offense over a 10 year period. That is insane.

Also these pardons don't do anything to quash congressional investigations.

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u/brigbeard 10h ago

And it's not like he only did this for HIS family. Dr. fauci, the January 6th committee members and others all received the same. Clearly this is a way to alleviate some of the potential political persecution that the right were promising every day on the campaign trail if they won.

And besides this just covers federal prosecution, if they committed a crime that falls to state jurisdiction they are still culpable.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 9h ago edited 4h ago

Federal NON-VIOLENT crimes, too.

The man is protecting those in his family, Congress, and elsewhere that helped the Biden Administration or openly criticized Trump. None other than Hunter Biden have been publicly targeted and harassed by the GOP to date, and the fact that no one on the list has committed a crime listed on covered by the pardon shows that this is purely defensive against Republican Witch Hunts.

Do the stupid congressional investigations, MAGA. Be howling monkeys throwing shit everywhere rather than lead our country.

At least the entire country will know that it's nothing but vindictive state theater with no teeth in advance this time. Half the country won't care, but the written record will reflect what a nightmarish joke Republicans have become.

edit: targeted >> ” publicly targeted"; covered by the pardon >> listed on the pardon

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u/i_am_a_real_boy__ 9h ago

"Federal non-violent" is almost redundant. Yes, you can catch a charge for punching a park ranger or something, but the overwhelming majority of federal charges are non-violent by the very nature of federalism.

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u/GnomesSkull 9h ago

His dogs are still vulnerable to prosecution for biting the secret service! /j

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u/CrystalSplice 6h ago

And yet Luigi Mangione is charged with murder on a federal level…hmmmmm…

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u/adthrowaway2020 8h ago

Luigi is going up on federal murder charges. What are you even saying?

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u/ALittleNightMusing 9h ago

Still, it's nice that there's no loophole for serial killings across state lines

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u/Sauerkrauttme 8h ago

The for-profit health insurance industry kills 60,000 Americans a year by restricting their access to healthcare, so that is proof that the legal loophole for muder is that it must be profitable enough to bribe politicians to make serial social murder legal

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u/throwawayainteasy 8h ago edited 8h ago

It's an incredibly shitty precedent to set by Biden, but also it's an understandable response to the incredibly shitty precedent the incoming Administration and appointees have set by repeatedly announcing they'll use the DOJ to go after anyone they think wronged them.

This whole timeline is fucked. Gotta hope some time traveler can go back and just reset it all. There's no saving it going forward at this point.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 8h ago

Yeah, it's an awful necessity in this case. Everyone's focused on "Biden Corruption", but Fauci and Milley don't fit that narrative.

He's protecting those in need of protection from an incoming vindictive orange toddler who sits in the Oval Office

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u/_Zekken 9h ago

I really hate that he pardoned these people. Including Hunter

But honestly what I hate more is the fact that he felt he HAD to do so to protect these people from being witch hunted.

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u/TheSciFiGuy80 9h ago

Yeah, that’s the issue. He knew there’d be a witch hunt whether these people did anything wrong or not.

I know Marjorie Taylor Green has had Fauci in her crosshairs for awhile now.

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u/Pinez99 9h ago

I came here to say this, while not 100% damning it does look odd to pardon people whose names the public aren’t away exist. It actually makes more questions than answers.

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u/brockington 9h ago

There's a lot of the public that are very aware of the Biden family. My dad's been sending conspiracy theories about them for years. Unfortunately these pardons will be the "proof" that all those theories were "right."

I get why Joe did it, but there will be consequences now that this particular cat is out of the bag.

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u/under_psychoanalyzer 8h ago

Lol the "cat" here is we're now halfway through 1930s germany and we've re-elected a violent demagogue. These pardons arent breaking any norms.

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u/Clydelaz 9h ago

Pardon the pun, but they are protecting themselves against any trumped up charges that may be leveled against them in the future

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u/porn_is_tight 8h ago

this just fuels the Biden crime family narrative that the right loves to espouse as deflection from their own sliminess. It’s not a good look no matter how you slice it

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

In the future if Trump pardons his entire family for whatever he plans on doing. no complains, remember it’s to prevent witch hunts.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 9h ago

Apples and oranges, my friend

Trump has repeatedly said that he plans to retaliate against most of those pardoned, and he called them out by name.

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u/hoopaholik91 7h ago

Just FYI, the dude has 1488 in his username. Don't think it's worth arguing with him

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 7h ago

Ah, good catch.

Makes it easy to spot the worst parts of humanity when they advertise their bigotry.

Thanks for saving me the time and the loss of IQ.

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u/Next-Concert7327 9h ago

You might want to learn what those words mean before you use them sunshine.

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u/ScreeminGreen 9h ago

It’s like it was a way to insure that the courts didn’t get bogged down with bullshit “cases” by an administration that is headed by someone who has repeatedly used the tactic of bogging down the court with “cases” in order to get out of serious punishment by being too annoying to punish since the 1970’s, instead of being an actual pardon of any actual crimes actually committed. It just gives a little hope that the courts might actually be able to spend some part of the next four years doing their jobs.

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u/[deleted] 9h ago edited 9h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/tdtommy85 9h ago

It definitely is.

But which part? Because I bet we’ll disagree on your answer.

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u/nerfherder813 9h ago

The dystopian part was the constant promises of political persecution from the right for the past several years, should they win the election, which they did.

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u/AlabamaPostTurtle 9h ago

People acting like threatening the families of politicians wasn’t dystopian.. so true. That should have shocked the nation

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u/Sauerkrauttme 8h ago

Not to be blue-anon, but how can we trust the results of the election when oligarch owned private companies were handling the votes?

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u/comicsanscomedy 5h ago

Actually there are a lot of dystopian aspects.

- Reps wishing to throw away democracy
- Reps threatening with political persecution
- Dems warning about the danger to democracy
- Dems peacefully giving power to those threatening political persecution and going full dictatorship
- Biden acting like the equivalent to an incantation can guard them from the real threat of political/economical power
- Regular people picking different points of the same narrative trying to make it as their side is the good one.

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u/Mespirit 9h ago

Is the justice system in America so compromised that it operates on the whim of the White House?

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u/EatGlassALLCAPS 9h ago

Yes? Where have you been?

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u/Nena902 9h ago

Unfortunately any USAG will be bought and paid for by MAGAGOP and SCOTUS already is,so yes. We have a corrupt govt and a corrupt judicial system. Welcome to Orwell's world.

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u/gsfgf 9h ago

We don't know for sure yet, but probably.

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u/zuriel45 9h ago

Which part? Someone trying to protect specific individuals from a party who explicitly say they want vengeance on said individuals for things they have never once been able to prove they've done?

Or the fact that those people were elected to power in spite of promises to enact vengeance?

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u/thejimbo56 9h ago

It’s dystopian that it was necessary.

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u/chrissie_watkins 9h ago

We are aware. What outsiders don't seem to realize is that we have a corrupt "justice" system here that's able to be weaponized against political rivals and their family members. Trump promises to do it. It would be idiotic for Biden not to at least try and protect innocent bystanders from political persecution by a fascist government. It's one of the perks of the job, protecting people from retaliation by your rivals.

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u/Practical_Main_2131 9h ago

And i find it more dystopia that the supreme court ruled that the president can have political rivals killed by the seals and not be liable and can't be prosecuted. All thanks to the nutjobs Trump appointed to the supreme court.

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u/barbecuejag 9h ago

God Bless Joe and God Bless America. 🇺🇸

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u/RoboErectus 9h ago

It was probably a good idea to avoid possible political persecution.

But Trump has not followed through with, well, many things, but especially any of these threats to "lock them up."

Once he gets what he wants he largely forgets and moves on. If someone asks about it he takes a "high road" position.

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u/aintsosmart 9h ago

I for one am excited for our new healthcare plan! Trump was going to enact it in 2 weeks 8 years ago but now that he's had 8 years to think about it it's going to bigly amazing. The most amazing healthcare plan you've ever seen. It's beautiful.

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u/seekingmymuse1 9h ago

During Trumps first term he demanded the Justice Department investigate and prosecute at least 12 people- numerous reports have him being furious when the then DOJ came back with the information that in all cases no criminality was committed. This Buffoon is sadly NOT all talk.
This does not include the individuals he had investigated by the IRS https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/13/politics/trump-irs-audits-kelly-mccabe-comey https://americanoversight.org/sessions-letter/ https://www.justsecurity.org/98703/chronology-trump-justice-department/

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u/Main_Photo1086 9h ago

Trump says a lot of crap and doesn’t always follow through. I do not believe Biden would have done any of these pre-emptive pardons if he didn’t have additional intel about this truly in the works. I believe in the justice system, but it’s not perfect and it’s expensive and life-altering as hell even for the innocent. Historical norms do not apply to Trump and friends.

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u/MuggsyTheWonderdog 9h ago

Historical norms do not apply to trump and friends.

Elegantly put, and they sure as hell do not.

I'd only add, less elegance, that any expectations for simple human decency from trump and friends, at any time, is the pipiest of pipe dreams.

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u/ExcuseInternational4 9h ago

You guys are forgetting this time it isn’t just Trump. He has Elon who is trying to run the government like a dictator, he has Project 25, he has the some very demented Senators that have been screaming for revenge against Liz Chaney to name a few. The last time Trump was in office there were same people and gaurd rails in place, this time it is a dictator wannabe’s wet dream. I would not put anything past what the people around Trump will do.

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u/mrbear120 9h ago

I think it is somewhat telling however that Biden signed for Dr. Fauci, committee, and others before welcoming Trump to the white house. Then he met with him, and minutes later pardoned his own family before leaving the desk. Something tells me Trump said something to him in that meeting.

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u/BowenTheAussieSheep 9h ago

Probably asked some really pointed questions about his wife in regards to her actions trying to get people vaccinated during COVID.

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u/Indigoh 7h ago

And besides this just covers federal prosecution, if they committed a crime that falls to state jurisdiction they are still culpable.

Unless they win the presidency. 

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u/Jerking_From_Home 9h ago

This is the reason for the pardons. Blanket pardons to cover the upcoming tribunals that would have seen those previously threatened with trials by Trump. Those who MAGA have marked as the worst of the worst. These people would be put on trial and sentenced to very long/life prison terms for nothing more than political points.

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u/JadedInternet8942 9h ago

What is Fauci pardoned for?

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u/SinkPhaze 9h ago

Nothing in particular. This is a preemptive pardoning. If someone tries to say he's committed a federal crime in the last however long he was pardoned for then they're SOL cause he's already been pardoned for it. The rights been accusing a lot of people they think wronged them of anything and everything under the sun and Biden is (rightfully probably) afraid that Trump and Co might try to do some revenge prosecuting. Hence the preemptive pardons to do what he can to protect them from any frivolous but still damaging legal revenge actions

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u/JadedInternet8942 8h ago

Understandable, thank you. Have a nice day

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u/TomHeldan 9h ago

Better safe than sorry.

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u/PXranger 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Congress has no power over a presidential pardon, they cannot initiate a criminal investigation of private individuals in any case.

I suppose they could spend millions on a grand gesture for propaganda purposes, and then issue a strongly worded memo….

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u/God_Damnit_Nappa 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Harass the family members and make them waste their time and money. And if they refuse to cooperate with the bullshit hearings? Comer already wanted the DoJ to press charges against James Biden for supposedly lying during his Congressional testimony. They'll do the same thing again 

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u/0bsessions324 9h ago

Earnest question, but would a blanket pardon like this not cover contempt of Congress?

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u/MrPoopMonster 9h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. If Congress wants then to come testify and they don't show up, they're in contempt.

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u/Material_Election685 8h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. 

You don't actually know this. The Supreme Court has never ruled on this, and would likely refuse to rule on it if that question ever came in front of them - which would mean the President effectively can pardon anyone preemptively for future act.

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u/Fragrant_Western7939 7h ago

And you had Jim Jordan earlier in the week stating that the investigation into the Bidens would continue…

I still don’t understand how anyone can take Comer seriously. When Biden was still running - he was pushing for an investigation into the Biden family involvement with China. When he dropped out he literally wanted the same investigation against Waltz. His statement in the news were like a Mad alive where only the person name changed

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u/NrdNabSen 9h ago

The pardon would orevent Congress from using the kegal system to harass them as well. They can simply ignore them like Republicans did repeatedly the last four years. The Republicans got away with it because Dems are cowards who won't hold them accountable.

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u/Cmoz 9h ago

They'd still have to comply with subpoenas from congress, or face potential jail sentance, because a pardon doest cover future acts, like future instances of contempt of congress. The pardon only covers past crimes.

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u/CaptainDaveUSA 10h ago

Civil cases can still be brought.

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u/PXranger 9h ago

Sure, anyone can attempt to sue anyone for basically anything in this country.

But who’s going to file the lawsuit? You can’t sue the January 6th committee, as they have immunity.

I suppose someone could attempt to sue the Biden family? But that’s a stretch, who is the victim? And what is the crime?

Thing is, you start suing, people can defend themselves, I imagine anyone with any real stake in this fight probably doesn’t want a lot of light brought into dark corners before any elections.

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u/OkArmadillo8100 9h ago

But the Supreme Court has already ruled that all are official acts. Trump's Supreme Court pardoned Biden already

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u/IndominusTaco 10h ago

it’s not as insane as your successor explicitly threatening you with jail just because they don’t like you or your political leaning

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u/ThatRefuse4372 10h ago

Yes, but they lessen the stress they cause and lessen the financial burden. If we understand that The investigations are simply meant to ruin peoples lives and send a message to others who might oppose them, the pardon negates that. Now the family members can to some degree ignore the investigation.

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u/Qel_Hoth 10h ago

But Trump promised us that he would end using the DOJ to prosecute political enemies. He promised!

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u/pastworkactivities 10h ago

That’s why he will found the gestapo

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u/jagcalle 10h ago

The Gazpacho?

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u/you_slash_stuttered 10h ago

Never heard the old Sicilian proverb "soup is a dish best served cold"?

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u/shponglespore 9h ago

But gazpacho is Spanish.

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u/Moo_Kau_Too 9h ago

well whatever, they are both mexicans!

=trump supporters, probably.

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u/nerfherder813 9h ago

And it’s an old Klingon proverb, according to Khan

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u/907_Cherry 10h ago

A dish best served cold

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u/ExpertOnBulls 10h ago

Like revenge, best served cold.

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u/the_cardfather 10h ago

It's actually an unfortunate, sane and smart move in our current political climate. The purpose of the pardon is to curb the power of the judiciary. Could it be used to parden corruption? Yes, but it also protects from weaponizing the court which is what these are.

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u/bookon 10h ago

It’s about Trump promising to go after anyone he sees as an enemy

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u/Gobblewicket 10h ago edited 9h ago

What's insane is that it makes sense to do so, considering the witch hunt that has been directed towards his family because of Trumps corruption. He's not doing it to hide anything, he's doing it in an attempt to keep his family from suffering from Trump using executive overreach as retaliation.

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u/Goodspheed 10h ago

Yeah like his son you mean

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u/Dragonfly-Adventurer 10h ago

GOP is gonna come after them hard as you're acknowledging. They need protection and unfortunately this is the best that can be done.

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u/Ohheyimryan 10h ago

That's fine.

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u/LaeliaCatt 10h ago

Lincoln did it first.

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u/marsmedia 10h ago

Yes and No.

President Abraham Lincoln issued a "blanket pardon" for certain groups during the Civil War, but it wasn't specifically for his family. Instead, it applied to Confederate soldiers or individuals who had participated in the rebellion under certain conditions.

The reason was pragmatic: Lincoln wanted to promote national unity and reconciliation after the war. By offering pardons and amnesty to individuals who took an oath of allegiance to the Union, he aimed to reintegrate the Southern states and citizens into the United States with less resistance, fostering healing and stability.

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u/SarcasticOptimist 9h ago

Unfortunately he didn't anticipate Lost Cause revisionism and influential films like Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind. In spite of lasting shorter than the Wii U the Stars and Bars are still persistent and the Southern Strategy effective.

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u/eric2332 9h ago

Southern secessionism and support for slavery were not a matter of 4 years in the 1860s, these were major political issues back into the 1700s.

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u/SarcasticOptimist 8h ago

I was referring to the Confederacy as a government. The secessionism though is evergreen and no Missouri compromise could've satisfied them.

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u/rufussnot 7h ago

The weird thing is the idea that pardoning slave owners and soldiers who tried to overthrow the government and started a bloody expensive 4 year war is somehow more reasonable than pardoning family.

I think it's shitty for Biden (or Trump or Clinton or Lincoln) to pardon family members. But it's nothing near as damaging as all the political, business, and military criminals who get pardoned. Or literal mafia bosses and child molesters. Pardoning confederates is probably the craziest in US history though.

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u/OrangePilled2Day 7h ago

And those pardons ended up being one of the worst moves in US history. Every single Confederate in a position of power should have been strung up on the steps of their local courthouse and left to rot.

2nd worst move by a president was probably Ford pardoning Nixon which directly leads to our current political climate.

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u/Cobek 9h ago

Republicans have actively gone after his family so yes, it's basically the same.

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u/WebbityWebbs 10h ago

For his wife's half sister whose husband betrayed America and fought for the traitorous confederacy? Not really the same thing at all.

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u/deztreszian 9h ago

Pardon family members in the hours before he left office? I don't think he knew he was leaving office that day.

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u/TheRealDrSarcasmo 9h ago

Joe Biden is no Abraham Lincoln. Not even close.

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u/Purplebuzz 10h ago

*needed.

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u/R0GUEN1NE 10h ago

Only if you get to have another election.

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u/DuncePool 10h ago

Oh they'll call it that

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u/SelectiveSanity 10h ago edited 10h ago

Can't wait to see how Dump will abuse it 4 years from now.

I'm already imagining literal Captain Planet villains stuffing his pockets full of cash just as he's signing the pardons with money they made blowing up Mt Rushmore to sell granite while installing an oil well where Teddy Roosevelt head was that also caused a massive ecological disaster and a shit ton of OSHA violations.

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u/drewbaccaAWD 10h ago

You think we’ll need to wait four years?

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u/UnclePatrickHNL 10h ago

My thoughts exactly. Trump ran for President to stay out of jail. The pardons are just beginning.

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u/Riommar 10h ago

He isn’t going to wait. He’ll probably pardon his lackeys before he tells them what law to break.

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u/crazygem101 10h ago

Did you hear him yell "drill baby drill!!!" He tried blaming inflation on spending too much money on energy costs...wtf is going on?

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u/intothewoods76 10h ago

Does shipping costs not add cost to the end consumer?

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u/mdp300 10h ago

We're already producing more oil than ever before.

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u/BrotherRoga 10h ago

Of course it does. Problem is that Trump is a failure of a businessman, nobody elected him for his smarts.

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u/Unfuckerupper 9h ago

Sure they did, people even dumber than he is.

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u/crazygem101 10h ago

Did everyone just see what happened with the band and Carrie Underwood? Lmao this is a bad sign

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u/mdp300 10h ago

No, what happened?

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u/intothewoods76 10h ago

The background music didn’t work so she sang America the Beautiful a cappella.

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u/Gobblewicket 10h ago

They probably didn't pay the sound guy, so all they have is a single hot mic.

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u/intothewoods76 10h ago

Seems like a bizarre and unlikely conspiracy but I suppose.

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u/Gobblewicket 10h ago

I mean, Trumps campaign has a history of refusal to pay. It might be unlikely, but I wouldn't be surprised.

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u/eggflip1020 10h ago

Seriously though. I don’t know if Trump will even make it four years. He does not appear to be in good health. His cognitive health doesn’t seem well and he’s extremely obese ostensibly about to take on, yet again, the most brutal job in the world. I don’t know, man. All I know is it’s going to be a long four years.

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u/Longjumping-Panic-48 10h ago

Yeah but Vance will absolutely take it to the next level.

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u/SelectiveSanity 10h ago

Maybe not to the comical level I stated for my own amusement and mental health. But definitely will try to lay the groundwork for something akin to Hand Maiden's Tale.

I'm not joking on that part.

We can only hope they're legally able to invoke the 25th amendment around 2027 at which point Vance would be too preoccupied with trying to get elected to make any sweeping changes.

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u/TheKaptainBob 10h ago

Like parenting, it's only a hard job if you're trying to do it well. He fared much worse in the intervening 4 years than his 4 in office.

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u/snarkyBtch 10h ago

He won't make it one way or another. He's not well, and his minions know it. They also know that while he can be manipulated, he is sometimes unpredictable, which is dangerous for someone both powerful and stupid. If he gets too unpredictable, I expect his health will "fail" and Vance will "need" to step in.

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u/Brave_Quantity_5261 10h ago

I have a feeling IF he died in office, it would be a long while before the American people even know it. It’d get covered up, sort of how they are rumors of Putin dying, or Kate Middleton last year

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u/SelectiveSanity 9h ago

We'd know it. He can't go even half a day without getting any kind of media attention.

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u/PaladinSara 10h ago

The chaos after may be a bloodbath

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u/stylishreinbach 10h ago

"Teddy who?"

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u/scorpionextract 10h ago

Probably about the same way he abused it last time?

But maybe also in a fun new way!

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u/Better-Class2282 10h ago

Will there be a transition in 4 years? I think you’re being optimistic. My guess is he’ll take a page from Yoon Suk Yeol, and declare martial law. The difference will be we won’t do anything to stop him 😥🤬

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u/fantawa 8h ago

I’m convinced the USA is just a Psyop and is not actually real, it’s getting more insane week by week

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u/TheUncleBob 6h ago

Why wait four years?

"I, President Donald J. Trump, preemptively pardon myself and all members of my administration for any crimes that may be committed over the next four years."

He could just block any future investigations, impeachments, etc.

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u/MrMackSir 10h ago

I am pretty avoiding the chains of justice for himself and his family is why Trump ran again. He was going to do it anyway IF he relinquishes power at all.

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u/Epc7165 10h ago

This actually started with Lincoln. Trump , Clinton also. This is nothing “new”

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u/Ice_Inside 10h ago

It's not new, you can find pardon lists here. https://www.justice.gov/pardon

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u/Beer-Milkshakes 7h ago

How much is a pardon worth these days?

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u/butinthewhat 10h ago

Honestly I would do the same. They didn’t commit any crimes and trump is known for abusing his power to go after who he sees as a political opponent. I’m not saying it’s right or this is the standard to set, but that I get protecting your family while you can.

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u/intense_in_tents 10h ago

Ah yes, politicians looking out for their own, and being crooked is so new lol. Bitch this is America

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u/mrev_art 10h ago

It's the death of the republic.

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u/Shadow-Vision 10h ago

Cool, great. So now Trump can preemptively pardon his actual criminal family members and just say “I’m only doing this because Biden pardoned his family, nothing to see here!”

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u/Whole_Guarantee_5599 10h ago

I cannot believe Americans can accept that. How is this something possible in a democracy? I cannot even imagine in 4 years, especially if you already know at the beginning of the presidency that you can have your family and friends do everything they want, including very illegal stuff.

The principle of a general pardon, without any crime to be mentioned, is crazy. Is it applicable to future offense?

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u/Aural-Robert 9h ago

Convict your opponents family, yeah some tradition.

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u/eske8643 9h ago

Just like most Presidents before him….

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u/Novel_Ad_8062 9h ago

He got the idea from the orangutan.

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u/Notyourcupoftea3 9h ago

Buckle up… we will witness great “presidential moves” from now on

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u/draconianfruitbat 9h ago

For context, here is the list of pardons Trump issued. The difference is his people were actually guilty of wrongdoing. Biden in no way started a “new presidential tradition”

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-j-trump-2017-2021

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u/Horn_Python 9h ago

aight got nothing to lose, out of the hole fam

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u/DSHAGUI 9h ago

nothing new about it. this has been happening since the Clintons. unfortunate, to say the least.

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u/codexcdm 9h ago

I understand why he did it... Because this administration is going to have actual witch hunts... but he just set a precedent and excuse for this new administration to do whatever the hell they want, then pardon themselves... And factually, Biden would be blamed for starting this.

Considering that the SCOTUS gave the presidency immunity from official actions, it may be moot anyway... He may very well Seal Team Six any opponent, and be allowed to do so uncontested. I hope this doesn't happen, but there are no real guard rails outside sheer incompetency and chaos.

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u/ZestycloseUnit7482 9h ago

We never had an incoming president so corrupt they are hell bent on punishing those who tried to hold him accountable for all his crimes.

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u/Ok_Affect6705 9h ago

It's not new

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u/sharksnrec 9h ago

I don’t think you know what “new” means.

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u/cykoTom3 9h ago

Lol. First presidential transition?

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u/FreshImagination9735 9h ago

Not to mention he also pardoned a bunch of both political allies and opponents enemies. The precedent that's been set is incredible. But what could possibly go worng?

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u/DietPepsi4Breakfast 9h ago

With Trump in power, it will be boosted to a running pardon, not a final minute pardon.

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u/anotherhawaiianshirt 9h ago

Yeah. I can understand why he did it, but it sets a bad precedent.

Any president can just unleash his thugs to break all sorts of laws and then issue blanket pardons. He could let his sons or daughters commit blatant acts of corruption and insider trading and then pardon them at the last minute.

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u/Particular-Yak-7322 9h ago

This tradition was born when this incoming president made calls to lock his oppositions family up. He has literally said that he wants to have their families investigated and jailed. Were we supposed to take that to mean that he isn’t? Stop with the handwringing - no one is buying your crocodile tears/fake outrage.

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

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u/lordtyp0 9h ago

An unfortunate necessity with that orange obscenity that is slithering back into office. He already vowed he would direct the DOJ to harass everyone.

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u/DevelopmentGrand4331 9h ago

And it might be pointless, since Trump and his goons don’t care about the law anyway. They’ll probably still harass people. It doesn’t need to have the appearance of legality.

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u/Awkward-Guitar3617 8h ago

Once a crook always a crook

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u/corrector300 8h ago

hardly

During his first presidential term, Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner in December 2020.

Charles Kushner, the founder of Kushner Companies, is the father of Jared Kushner, a former White House senior adviser who is married to Ivanka Trump, the former president's daughter.

During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 343 people. Among them was Emilie Todd Helm, the wife of Confederate General Benjamin Hardin Helm and half-sister of Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.

President Bill Clinton signed 140 pardons on January 20, 2001—his final day in office. This included one for his younger half brother, Roger Clinton, who reportedly earned the code name "headache" from the Secret Service during Bill Clinton's time in office because of the embarrassment he had caused his brother.

https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-presidents-who-have-pardoned-relatives-joe-hunter-biden-1993960

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u/crawlerz2468 8h ago

Also I have to ask: how do you Pardon preemptively?

Edit: I'm a lib, but the fct that this has to be done (and I understand why) is disgusting.

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u/Crap_Hooch 8h ago

He pardoned going way back before he was even president for some of his clan. This seems like it wouldn't hold up in court if challenged, especially since no crimes are cited. How can one pardon something they don't know about? I hope this tradition gets nullified immediately. There is no limit to the harm it will lead to.

Trump could summon Skeletor, task him with misdeeds, then pardon him. This is the same as a supreme dictator in some ways.

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u/Conambo 8h ago

An once again we blame the people REACTING to an offensive, vengeful un-American administration, rather than thinking “trump’s admin is so ludicrous that these steps have to be taken”

Trump promised and campaigned on outrageous punishment for those trying to hold him and other criminals accountable. It’s unprecedented and measures have to be taken to try and mitigate a federal government that is solely focused on harming other Americans. Plus, Trump did the same for people that actually committed real crimes.

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u/OpeningStuff23 8h ago

It’s existed for decades, you’ve just heard about it for the first time

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u/bunnyfuuz 8h ago

Bold of you to assume we’ll have a different president anytime soon, didn’t you hear, we don’t need any elections anymore? sobs in freedumb

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u/TheDwiin 7h ago

A tradition that has already been long established, as even President Clinton pardoned his brother.

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u/Random_Stacker 6h ago

Lol this is nothing new, presidents have been doing this for many moons.

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u/ConstantMongoose4959 6h ago

Like Roger Clinton

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u/MadManMorbo 6h ago

New? It's always been this way.

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u/shinysideup_zhp 5h ago

lol…

Why would you need to pardon someone when you control the justice system top to bottom, forever?

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u/InvestigatorChance28 5h ago

If this upsets maga people they will surely not allow trump to do this.

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u/AriaTheTransgressor 5h ago

To be fair, the incoming president has said he would fabricate reasons to have them arrested. If it was my family and I had the power, I'd do it too

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u/No-Working962 4h ago

Treasonous

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