Opinion - The parade of presidential pardons is a perversion of justice

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2 days ago

There are all sorts of checks and balances baked into the Constitution. But one power sits above the law, untouched by Congress, immune to the courts and utterly unaccountable: the presidential pardon. It is the kind of absolute authority you'd expect in a monarchy, not a democracy.
The Founding Fathers thought they were building a system of justice with a human touch — where a president, guided by conscience and compassion, could offer mercy to someone wrongfully convicted or genuinely reformed. The pardon was supposed to heal wounds, not reward political allies or well-heeled donors.
Nice idea. Too bad it hasn't always worked out that way.
Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon after Watergate to help the country move on. It was controversial, sure, but Ford was acting on principle, not personal gain.
Contrast that with Bill Clinton, who — on his way out the door — pardoned Marc Rich, a fugitive tax cheat whose ex-wife just happened to be a generous Clinton donor. That wasn't mercy. That was transactional politics.
Joe Biden used his final hours in office to pardon his son, Hunter, and other family members — along with a few preemptive pardons aimed at blunting potential charges from a future Trump administration. That's not justice. That's insurance.
And then there's Donald Trump. Where to begin?
Trump opened his second term — on the first day, no less — by pardoning about 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Among them were thugs who assaulted police officers.
Then came the pardon parade: Reality television fraudsters Todd and Julie Chrisley. Former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who lied on his taxes. A corrupt sheriff in Virginia. A Nevada politician who pocketed money meant for fallen police officers — and used it to pay for plastic surgery. A nursing home operator who stiffed the IRS out of $10 million.
Trump even tossed a pardon to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) — the same Blagojevich who tried to sell off Barack Obama's Senate seat like it was a used car on Craigslist. Blago, by the way, was also a contestant on Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice' show. Imagine that.
Trump's pardon lawyer — yes, he has one of those now — summed it up with a slogan that belongs on a bumper sticker: 'No MAGA left behind.' That's not a legal doctrine. That's a loyalty program.
When presidents start handing out pardons like party favors to friends, donors or political cronies, it's not only the opposite of what the Founding Fathers had it mind, but it also sends a very loud and dangerous message — that the law doesn't apply equally. That who you know matters more than what you did. That justice is just another game for the powerful to rig.
And when Biden pardons his own son and Trump pardons his loyal foot soldiers, what are we left with? A pardoning arms race, a perversion of justice that turns the most sacred executive power into a blunt instrument of politics and payback.
So why should we care? Because once the ideals put forth in the Constitution become tainted by raw politics — once they're bent, twisted and ignored by the very people sworn to uphold those ideals — the entire democratic experiment begins to buckle.
The presidential pardon was meant to show mercy, not mock the law. But in the hands of men more interested in self-preservation and political payback than in public service, it becomes just another tool for corruption.
And telling ourselves that 'both sides do it' doesn't make it any less sleazy.
Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him @BernardGoldberg.
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