Biden’s 11th Hour Pardons Ridicule the Rule of Law

Biden’s preemptive pardons won’t save Democracy™; they only strengthen corruption and shield politicians from accountability.

With Trump once again in the White House, media pundits and Democrats are sounding the alarm for what could not only be an opportunity for Trump to “destroy our Democracy,” but to also issue blanket pardons to any and all supporters convicted of crimes or investigated by the previous administration.

And yet, President Biden did exactly that, mere hours before the transfer of executive power on January 20, 2025.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Despite repeatedly promising that he would not issue preemptive, blank pardons while in office, Biden has once again gone back on his own word.

Adding to his already bloated record of over 8,000 presidential pardons, Biden has now pardoned additional Biden family members, members of his J6 Investigatory Committee, and Anthony Fauci, for crimes or wrongdoings they may or may not have committed since January 1, 2014.

Biden released a statement justifying his decision: “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But there are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong… and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”

Despite the fact that, for the past four years, Biden completely weaponized his Justice Department to prosecute peaceful protestors, raid political opponents, and provide preferential treatment, the now-former President claims there can be an exception to the rule of law, if it means protecting ‘innocent’ people—and a pardon would do just that.

Despite his idealism, the law would beg to differ.

Pardons Are For The Guilty

The law is clear: You can’t give pardons to innocent people.

In Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S 79 (1915), the Supreme Court held that a pardon, while an act of grace, does not go into effect until it is accepted by the recipient. Acceptance of a pardon implies an inherent acknowledgement of guilt. The Court also held that while a pardon removes any punishments, it does not outright erase the crime; the pardoned person may still be required to testify on the matter in court.

In other words, a pardon can only be accepted if the recipient acknowledges his or her guilt in a crime, whether that comes in the form of unconstitutionally imprisoning American citizens, conducting dangerous gain-of-function research, or abusing family connections for the purpose of self-enrichment.

Unfortunately for Biden, his Democrat allies agree with this sentiment—especially when it comes to critiquing Trump.

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) commented: “the seeking of pardons is powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble…”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) once declared that if Trump offered preemptive Presidential pardons to family members and associates, that would signal, “a gross abuse of the presidential pardon authority.”

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), when asked if he had ever heard of an innocent person receiving a blanket pardon for all crime, remarked: “No, it’s the President’s [Trump’s] own family—it’s people that had been covering up for the President in addition to his own family…” Schiff also admitted that the act of, “giving preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration […] is a precedent we don’t wanna set.”

Now-pardoned, former-representative Adam Kinzinger once claimed that he wouldn’t want a pardon as, “the second you take a pardon it looks like you’re guilty of something. I’m guilty of nothing…”

While giving pardons has always been a function of the Executive, Biden’s unprecedented blanket pardon scheme, preemptively pardoning individuals who are not even currently under investigation, doesn’t necessarily shout “innocent.” In fact, it establishes a horrible precedent.

In addition to being utterly hypocritical, preemptively pardoning individuals shows the world that a president can absolve his supporters of sin, even before they commit it. Much like the eastern bloc dictators of old, Biden has essentially told American citizens that his government officials are shielded from the rule of law, while everyone else must suffer the consequences. Rules for thee and not for me.

This naturally opens the door to a new problem: the weaponization of presidential pardons to effectively immunize political actors from the rule of law. While Democrats have been crying wolf of a Trump presidency ripping apart the fabric of “American Democracy,” it appears the totalitarians have been hiding in their own backyard all along.

We look to the next four years to see whether this new strain of lawfare will continue, or if our politicians will return to the Founders’ notion of equality under the law.