Commentary by Rich Corbett
Presidential pardons serve as a profound exercise of executive clemency, often reflecting the incumbent’s values and political commitments. Both President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have utilized this power in ways that caused most law-abiding citizens to question, “where does the power to pardon end?”
During his 2024 campaign, President Trump pledged openly that he would pardon individuals convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Fulfilling this promise, on January 20, 2025, he issued pardons for approximately 1,500 individuals involved in the events of that day. Many were peaceful protestors who likely merely trespassed the Capitol grounds, while others were convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers. The latter receiving the pardons were met with significant criticism from both political parties.
In contrast, President-elect Biden made a point when talking with CNN’s Jake Tapper about the possibility of then-President Trump making preemptive pardons for his adult children; “You’re not going to see our administration take that kind of approach to pardons.”
However, following the 2024 election, Biden issued a pardon for his son Hunter, after previously stating that he would not, and then in his final hours in office he issued preemptive pardons to several family members, including his siblings and their spouses, along with preemptive pardons for several high profile public figures who might be targets of prosecution.
President Trump’s mass pardons of January 6 participants underscored his allegiance to his supporter base, but attracted criticism from law enforcement and judicial figures. President Biden’s preemptive pardons of family members raise ethical questions about the appropriate use of executive clemency. Both presidents have many Americans, and hopefully their representatives, wondering if the pardon power is abuse of power, if broad preemptive pardons are even legal, or just how far-reaching a president’s power to pardon extends.