The Peaceful Transfer of Lawlessness

On Inauguration Day, Biden and Trump put on a masterclass in undermining the rule of law.

On Monday, Donald Trump was inaugurated as our country’s 47th president. I didn’t watch any of the ceremony, but I assure you it wasn’t personal. I haven’t watched a presidential inauguration since… well, probably ever — at least not beyond some highlight clips. As I’ve shared before, I don’t have much of an interest in political ceremonies, nor formal readings of political speeches written by others.

I did however follow some other newsworthy items that day — rather dark ones, unfortunately, pertaining to the rule of law.

Biden Pardons More of His Family

Having already granted a number of controversial pardons in recent weeks, including one for his son Hunter, the Biden White House announced a few more… most notably for additional family members: James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. The pardon covered any non-violent crimes committed since January 1, 2014 — a span of over a decade.

James, President Biden’s brother, was the most prominent figure on the list. He had been under congressional investigation for influence peddling, and was recently referred to presumptive Attorney General Pam Bondi for prosecution over allegedly lying to Congress.

It was another egregious abuse of power by Joe Biden — lawless, arguably impeachable, and described even by his political allies as un-democratic. It also set a terrible precedent that Biden himself recognized back in 2020, when he was asked about Donald Trump considering preemptive pardons for his family members.

“It concerns me,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper at the time, “in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks at us as a nation of laws and justice…in terms of the pardons, you're not going to see, in our administration, that kind of approach to pardons.”

He struck a different tone on Monday, saying in statement, “I believe in the rule of law… But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”

It was the same rationale we began hearing from the Biden White House a few weeks ago, as the president considered preemptive pardons for other possible Trump targets, including Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the January 6 Committee. On Monday, those individuals indeed received pardons, and while I thought from the beginning that it was a bad idea, I also now suspect it was more of a smokescreen than an earnest concern on Biden’s part for those people’s well-being.

After all, a number of committee members had said on the record that they didn’t want a pardon. I’m not sure anyone in the group, including Fauci and Milley, actually asked for one. More likely, I think, Team Biden recognized that Trump’s threatening remarks toward those individuals (which ranged from prosecution to execution) were useful in shaping a defense he could conveniently extend to his own family.

Regardless, this move by Biden further eroded public trust in the U.S. presidency, adding to a long list of other efforts by him to circumvent the law.

Trump Pardons the January 6 Criminals

Just over a week ago, Vice President JD Vance offered assurances that individuals who committed violent offenses at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 would not be pardoned by Donald Trump. On Monday, in addition to instructing his AG to illegally ignore Congress’s TikTok ban, and announcing plans to unilaterally change the 14th Amendment, Trump pardoned nearly everyone charged with anything on January 6… including violent offenders.

This amounted to “full, complete and unconditional” pardons for roughly 1,500 people, about 600 of whom assaulted police officers (including the most brutal assaults), and pardons or commutations for 14 Oath Keepers and Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy (which included a 22-year sentence).

Former Capitol Police sergeant, Aquilino Gonell, who retired from the force due to injuries he suffered from dozens of assaults on January 6, responded, “One of the first things that [Trump] does is pardon the criminals who nearly took my life. It’s a desecration to our service and the sacrifices made to keep everyone safe. It’s a violation to our democracy and a disgrace to the title he holds once again."

“I have been betrayed by my country and I have been betrayed by those who supported Donald Trump,” said fellow former police-officer Michael Fanone. “Whether you voted for him because he promised these pardons, or for some other reason, you knew that this was coming.”

Indeed, Trump openly campaigned on doing exactly what he did Monday. And though I don’t believe most Trump voters wanted our new president to issue a sweeping pardon for almost every January 6 criminal, those voters clearly deemed this perversion of the law to be an acceptable trade-off for keeping Kamala Harris out of the Oval Office. What I doubt many considered is the message it would send (and has now sent) to others.

By pardoning his relatives, Joe Biden told the world that his family is above the law. By pardoning virtually everyone who committed a crime on January 6, Trump told the world that political violence in his name, even in the form of sedition against our country, is A-okay. That should scare the hell out of people.

I can’t think of a better argument for immediately working to curtail presidential pardon power than what Trump and Biden did on January 20, 2025. Sadly, our politics are so pathetically tribal right now that the chances of that happening anytime soon are roughly zero.