Fox News legal contributor Jonathan Turley said Thursday on “Fox & Friends” that the idea of President Biden pre-emptively pardoning political opponents of President-elect Trump, such as former Rep. Liz Cheney, is a challenge for future administrations. He warned that it would set a “dangerous” precedent.
West Virginia Democrat says Biden's 'terrible' pardon choices are 'what we expected from Trump'
Jonathan Turley: I'm totally against it [to pardoning Liz Cheney.]. I think she'll probably get it, but these types of preemptive pardon It causes great damage to our system. There are people who are proposing that Joe Biden give up thousands of pardons, pre-emptive pardons that I call white knight pardons, some of which are actually for political purposes rather than legal purposes. planned for a purpose. While I do not believe Cheney is under serious threat of prosecution, we have a legal system that protects her rights and protects the interests of the American people. So if she was investigated, if they found something that we don't know about, there would probably be grounds for prosecution. But at this point I'm very skeptical. But such preemptive pardons would represent a dangerous shift in pardon power. We went through a very decisive period, a period of division. I mean, Thomas Jefferson called the Adams administration a witch's reign, but none of them worked on this kind of pre-emptive pardon. And that would be a big mistake for President Biden.
According to a recent report from Politico, the White House is currently discussing pardoning prominent Trump critics, including Dr. Anthony Fauci. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
A report released Tuesday by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, chairman of the House Executive Oversight Subcommittee, said Ms. Cheney had received complaints from Republican lawmakers related to her former role on a Jan. 6 House Select Committee. He is facing calls for an FBI investigation into “alleged criminal witness tampering.” , Rga.
Politico noted that White House Counsel Ed Siskel is coordinating discussions about a possible pardon with several other senior Biden aides, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. Biden himself has not yet participated in the talks.
FOX News' Gabriel Hayes and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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U.S. President Joe Biden hugs Hunter Biden during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The President recently announced a full pardon for Mr. Hunter, covering all his crimes against the United States. have committed or may have committed” (January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024). (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
