In the wake of President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden an increasing number of Democrats are calling upon him to extend executive clemency to President-elect Donald Trump.
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on Thursday became the latest Democrat to say a Trump pardon would be good for the country.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Mr. Fetterman said he agreed with Mr. Biden that the legal cases against Hunter Biden were “politically motivated” — adding that was all the more reason to pardon Mr. Trump, too.
He said that the same argument about politically motivated prosecution could be said about Mr. Trump’s conviction in New York, in which the president was found guilty on 34 counts of business fraud.
“And in both cases, I think a pardon is appropriate, and I really think, collectively, America’s confidence in these kinds of institutions has been damaged by these kinds of cases, and we cannot allow these kinds of institutions to be weaponized against our political opponents,” Mr. Fetterman said.
He added that it’s “very clear” that both the Trump and Hunter Biden trials were “politically motivated and weaponized” by the other side.
The idea of pardoning Mr. Trump has gained increased popularity among Democrats following Mr. Biden’s broad and sweeping pardon of his son. Mr. Biden’s pardon absolved Hunter Biden of the consequences following his conviction on federal gun charges and pleading guilty to tax evasion. It also blocks prosecutors from bringing charges against Hunter Biden for any crimes he may have committed since January 2014.
If Mr. Biden were to pardon Mr. Trump, it would be largely symbolic. Although Mr. Trump faced criminal charges for his handling of classified documents and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, neither case made it to trial before his election. Late last month, special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges against Mr. Trump, moved to drop both cases, citing a Justice Department policy that forbids criminally charging a sitting president.
Mr. Trump’s New York conviction was on state charges, and presidential pardons only apply to federal cases. Mr. Biden would be unable to grant clemency in that case.
Still, other Democrats have said the move, even symbolically, would be good for the nation.
Rep. James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, told CNN this week that he’d support the pardon of Mr. Trump, saying others who called for it “may be on to something.”
Outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a Democrat who recently switched to independent, also told the network that Mr. Biden should use his pardon power on the president-elect.
“What I would have done differently and my recommendation as a counsel would’ve been, ’Why don’t you go ahead and pardon Donald Trump for his charges,’” Mr. Manchin said when asked about the Hunter Biden pardon.
He said things would have “gone down a lot more balanced” if Mr. Biden had pardoned the president-elect alongside Hunter Biden.
In addition, Douglas Schoen, a longtime adviser to President Clinton and a Democrat pollster and Robert Green, a Democratic strategist, authored an op-ed for Fox News saying Mr. Trump should receive a pardon.
“Ending the cases involving the former and past president would put the country in a position to go forward and address more significant challenges such as the increasingly aggressive Russia-China-Iran axis, the Middle East, inflation here at home and more,” they wrote.
“This would also display a level of equality and parallelism that would suggest to the American people that our elected leaders are capable of cooperation and working in the country’s best interests, two qualities Americans deserve,” they wrote.
The White House and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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