Day Two
From The Hill:
President-elect Trump told NBC it was disgraceful President Biden issued pardons to Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and other members of the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“It is disgraceful. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! DJT” Trump texted NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker.
Two folks at HuffPost didn't like the Biden's Pardons, either:
While these pardons may well save these people from months, if not years, of costly litigation for committing no crimes, they were a terrible idea. They create the appearance of corruption, even where none exists. To those marinating in the Trumpian conspiracy swamps, and even for those who do not closely follow politics, they look like a cover-up. Why pardon someone if they didn’t do something wrong? In feeding the conspiracy, they affirm Trump’s argument that politics is just an elite protection racket, so why shouldn’t he get to do the same?
That argument leaves out one little point. From NPR December, 2020:
President Trump issued dozens more pardons on Wednesday evening to many wealthy and well-connected convicts with ties to his innermost circles, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Republican operative Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, the father-in-law of Ivanka Trump.
And:
The case against Stone was brought by then-special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign.
Stone was indicted on charges of lying to Congress about what he and then-candidate Trump knew about Russian efforts to discredit Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, witness tampering and obstruction. The charges related to his efforts during the 2016 presidential race to act as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks.
But days before Stone, who is Trump's longtime friend and political confidant, was to report to prison in July, the president commuted the 40-month prison sentence.
Trump's already done it.
To their credit, I suppose, the HuffPost duo did acknowledge:
These [pardons] appear to be purely prophylactic pardons meant to protect these individuals from the threat of investigations launched by President Donald Trump, who had promised vengeance through investigation and prosecution against all of the pardoned individuals.
He was going to go after Fauci, et al, anyway.
In any event, here's some Day One news from the NYTimes:
President Donald J. Trump, in one of his first official acts, issued a sweeping grant of clemency on Monday to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, issuing pardons to most of the defendants and commuting the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Mr. Trump’s moves amounted to an extraordinary reversal for rioters accused of both low-level, nonviolent offenses and for those who had assaulted police officers.
And they effectively erased years of efforts by federal investigators to seek accountability for the mob assault on the peaceful transfer of presidential power after Mr. Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. As part of his pardon order, Mr. Trump also directed the Justice Department to dismiss “all pending indictments” that remained against people facing charges for Jan. 6.
He pardoned them or commuted the sentences of people who committed some MAJOR CRIMES, didn't he?
For example:
The pardons will also wipe the slate clean for violent offenders who went after the police on Jan. 6 with baseball bats, two-by-fours and bear spray and are serving prison terms, in some cases of more than a decade.
Moreover, Mr. Trump pardoned Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, who was serving a 22-year prison term after being convicted at trial of seditious conspiracy — a crime that requires prosecutors to prove that a defendant used violent force against the government.
Sure, but Biden's pardons absolutely reek of political corruption.
The riot of January 6, 2020 was an act of love simply because The Leader said so.
