Washington Post associate editor Ruth Marcus warned President Biden in a new column to ditch the idea of preemptively pardoning government officials who have gotten on President-elect Donald Trump’s bad side.
In the wake of the reports that the Biden White House is considering pardoning Trump’s political enemies so that the Department of Justice can’t go after them once he returns to office, Marcus urged the president to pump the brakes in a Washington Post column, saying the move will inspire future presidents to abuse their pardon power.
"[S]uch a step by Biden would set an unfortunate precedent, one likely to be repeated by some future presidents seeking to shield their allies from retribution," she wrote.
WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING?
After Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden from any crime he "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024, reports began swirling that the president was considering preemptively pardoning some of Trump’s prominent political foes.
Politico reported last week that the White House is currently discussing issuing pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
The outlet noted that White House counsel Ed Siskel is arranging discussions about the potential pardons with several other senior Biden aides, including chief of staff Jeff Zients, though Biden himself has not been a part of the conversations yet.
Marcus argued that despite the threat of Trump going after these and other individuals upon his return, it’s not worth the preemptive pardons.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. But not so desperate as having President Joe Biden issue preemptive pardons to government officials and others at risk of being prosecuted by the incoming Trump administration," she wrote.
Marcus expressed that Trump targeting his opponents is a "serious prospect" and that he could very well abuse pardon power himself, but she stressed that Biden should not bite.
"And yet, a broad grant of preemptive pardons, however tempting, would be a mistake," she advised, explaining that they would be some of the most sweeping pardons in U.S. history and only set the stage for further pardons down the road.
"Such pardons — issued well before any criminal charges have been filed — have few analogs in U.S. history, certainly not on the scale that would be involved in shielding officials from being prosecuted by the Trump administration," the associate editor added.
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Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
