Dem
51
Ties
4
GOP
45
Many people are wondering if Donald Trump will pardon members of his administration (and himself) on the way out the door on Jan. 20, 2029. Now they can stop wondering. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump, when asked if he was "considering pardoning members of your administration prior to the end of your term," said: "Yeah, sure, I'd do that." He also noted that Biden "gave pardons to everyone."
Biden did not pardon "everyone," but he did pardon his son, Hunter Biden, his siblings and their spouses, and Dr. Anthony Fauci in January 2025. Here is a complete list of all the 80 pardons Biden granted. Most of them were routine pardons of common criminals where later evidence showed a miscarriage of justice. Here is the pardon count for recent presidents: Jimmy Carter (534), Ronald Reagan (393), George H.W. Bush (74), Bill Clinton (396), George W. Bush (189), Barack Obama (212), Donald Trump v1.0 (143), Joe Biden (80), and Donald Trump v2.0 (194, plus approximately 1,600 1/6 rioters). Carter also pardoned thousands of Vietnam draft dodgers en masse. Given this list, Biden does not stand out as someone who handed out pardons like candy.
It remains to be seen who Trump will pardon on Jan. 20, 2029. After all, pardons now cost money. A lot of money. It also remains to be seen how effective they will be. The Constitution says the president may pardon offenses against the United States, but it gives no details. For example, can the president grant someone a pardon and then ask them to commit a crime? What if the order is reversed—that is, first the president asks for the crime then immediately grants a pardon? What if the order is: ask for the crime, get the crime, grant the pardon? If the three acts (asking, getting, pardoning) all happen on the same day, is the order critical? Why? The Constitution is silent on this.
A future Democratic AG could easily take the position that a pardon is valid only for a specific crime and only after the pardonee has been duly convicted for that crime. The AG could say that he or she wants to test the validity of pardons granted in advance of indictments and convictions by indicting and trying pardonees, letting the legal process play out, and then seeing how the Supreme Court rules. The same applies to self-pardons.
If a future president really wants to test the limits on advance pardons, he or she could announce: "If anyone assassinates Supreme Court Justice X, Y, or Z, I will grant a pardon." That might get the justices to perk up their ears and see the problem with advance pardons. (V)