President-elect Donald Trump has said on multiple occasions that former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney should be prosecuted for her work as vice chair of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The New York Times and Politico are reporting that President Joe Biden is now considering wide-sweeping preemptive pardons for people he fears Trump may try to prosecute once taking office, including Cheney.
Cheney has been one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics. She lost her reelection bid in Wyoming by a landslide in 2022 to his endorsed candidate, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman.
The sweeping pardon proposal would preemptively extend clemency to a list of current and former government officials, and possibly others, for any possible crimes over a period of years, effectively shortcutting Trump’s ability to go after them.
No decisions have been made by Biden, nor has a formal proposal been submitted to the president, according to The Hill.
In White House meetings, Biden officials have discussed people who have been threatened by Trump over the years, and the White House has also received requests from people concerned that they could be targeted by Trump.
Politico reported that a White House spokesperson declined to comment on the topic but did not deny the discussions.
The Times reports White House officials are also concerned that such a move could fuel the impression that the people who receive a pardon have done something wrong.
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that’s exactly what would happen, calling the notion of preemptive pardons “ridiculous” and an abuse of the presidential pardon.
“It’s a presumption of guilt and it’s a presumption of guilt that boggles the mind,” she said while speaking from the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. “I just think it’s absolutely absurd.”
Lummis said she doesn’t expect Biden to issue the pardons because the proposal is “so absurd” and “ludicrous.”
“That just opens the door to standing the exercise of justice on its head,” she said. “Saying, ‘I want to be forgiven before I do anything wrong, so I can do things wrong with impunity?’”
A spokesperson for Sen. John Barrasso declined to comment, saying that, “We’re not going to comment on speculation at this time.”
Hageman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Context
Never before has a president preemptively issued mass pardons out of fear a successor might prosecute them for political reasons.
Last weekend, Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden to protect him from going to prison on federal gun and tax evasion charges he was about to be sentenced for, as well as any other charges dating back to 2014.
Trump has said on social media that Cheney “should be prosecuted for what she has done to our country” and that the whole Jan. 6 committee “should be prosecuted for their lies and, quite frankly, TREASON!”
Trump has also previously said Cheney “should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!”
It’s not clear exactly what legal prosecution Trump could take against Cheney.
The referral her committee made to the Department of Justice for criminal charges for his alleged role in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot was a recommendation and held no legal standing. She attempted to subpoena Trump to speak before the committee, but Trump sued to block that subpoena.
Another member of the Jan. 6 committee Biden is considering protecting with a pardon is Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-California.
Schiff himself has spoken against blanket pardons.
“I would urge the president not to do that,” he told National Public Radio recently. “I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary.”
Medical adviser Anthony Fauci could also receive a pardon, the Times reports. Fauci has been scorned by some Republicans like Hageman for his directives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hageman has called for Congressional hearings and investigations into Fauci’s service, claiming he lied about funding gain-of-function research, fought against blaming China for the virus and admitted he misled the public about mask use and contradicted himself on numerous occasions.
Jack Smith, the outgoing special counsel who prosecuted Trump, is also being considered for a pardon.
Payback?
Giving legitimacy to Biden’s considerations is that Trump has made vows of retribution for his political enemies, saying that Vice President Kamala Harris “should be impeached and prosecuted” and that he’ll “appoint a real prosecutor to go after” Biden and his family.
Trump also said that Gen. Mark Milley, his former joint chief of staff, deserved execution.
Lummis doesn’t believe Trump will seek retribution against his rivals once in office, although she does believe there was a weaponization of government against him. Instead, she believes he will take action through making substantial changes at the Department of Justice and FBI and overseeing a strong economy and strict immigration policies.
“We have to restore confidence in the Department of Justice and FBI that it’s not being used in a targeted way against Americans and that it’s not being used to lie and create false accusations against political rivals,” she said.
“Using the things he ran on and accomplishing them will be his best retribution- the success of the ideas he discussed during the campaign.”
Trump has nominated Kash Patel, a former Trump aide, to be director of the FBI. Patel has vowed to “come after” Trump’s opponents. He’s also published a list of about 60 people he considered “members of the executive branch deep state” as the appendix to a 2023 book.
Cheney was not on this list that included Biden, former First Lady Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence who has frequently criticized Trump, was legally threatened by one of Patel’s lawyers in a letter after she criticized Patel in a TV interview.
Trump has also nominated Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, one of his staunch supporters, to lead the Justice Department.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
