{"id":9217,"date":"2024-11-15T23:39:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T23:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohajone.press\/?p=9217"},"modified":"2024-11-15T23:39:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T23:39:11","slug":"biden-should-pardon-trump-on-his-way-out-op-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohajone.press\/?p=9217","title":{"rendered":"Biden Should Pardon Trump On His Way Out: Op-Ed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The executive editor of the National Review penned a column last week, a day after now-President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s resounding victory, calling on President Joe Biden to invite him to the White House and prepare a pardon for his successor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Biden did invite Trump, who arrived at the White House Wednesday morning, it\u2019s not clear whether a pardon is forthcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBiden should \u2026 move to use his constitutional authority to pardon Donald Trump of all pending federal charges, and relieve special counsel Jack Smith of his duties,\u201d Mark Antonio Wright noted<\/a>. \u201cHe should then ask New York governor Kathy Hochul to use her authority to pardon Trump for the crimes he was convicted of in New York State.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While going on to claim that Trump is at least partially responsible for the crimes he\u2019s been either charged with or convicted of, Wright noted that Trump\u2019s Electoral College and national majority victories are \u201ca definitive verdict on the subject delivered by the highest authority: the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWise or not, a majority of the public chose to reelect Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. He deserves to enter that term in January 2025 with the slate wiped clean of the controversies of the previous era,\u201d Wright noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo good at all will come of an American president fulfilling his constitutional duties at home and abroad under the cloud of pending criminal prosecutions. No good whatsoever will come of Trump himself ordering the Justice Department to drop the charges or by crossing the Rubicon in American life of \u2018self-pardoning,’\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoe Biden has not often spent his time in office acting much like a statesman. But a pardon now of Donald Trump would be statesmanlike. And such an act would go a long way toward ending the cycle of lawfare that, if left unchecked, will cause more harm and more damage to the body politic. Gerald Ford\u2019s pardon of Richard Nixon is the precedent here, and it\u2019s a good one,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonald Trump should accept such a pardon, if offered by Joe Biden. Trump should then find a way to, at least rhetorically, extend an olive branch to the outgoing president,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Counsel Jack Smith is likely<\/a> to step down from his position after ending his cases against President-elect Donald Trump, according to Wednesday reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Justice Department source told CNN that Smith is in talks with DOJ leaders about how best to wind down the Jan. 6 case as well as an appeal of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon\u2019s ruling over the summer to throw out his classified documents case against the soon-to-be 47th president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump has threatened to fire Smith, but Smith expects to be gone before Trump takes office,\u201d CNN reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe talks between Smith and DOJ leaders extend beyond Trump\u2019s criminal cases to questions about what to do with other defendants in the classified documents case as well as the special counsel\u2019s office and what happens to its budget and staff,\u201d the outlet continued<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith is required to submit a report on his work to Attorney General Merrick Garland. It remains unclear whether the timing of Smith\u2019s departure will be affected if the report needs to be reviewed and approved by the intelligence community, according to sources familiar with the discussions, CNN said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith is working to finalize the report before Trump takes office, as Garland will need to approve it and decide whether any part of it will be released publicly, one source said. The New York Times<\/em> was the first to report<\/a> Smith\u2019s plans to resign from his post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before his departure, Smith will need to determine how to resolve the two criminal cases he initiated against Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Florida, Smith has appealed Cannon\u2019s decision to dismiss the classified documents case, which found that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed as special counsel and that the funding for his office also violated the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Washington, D.C., Smith\u2019s team is moving forward with the criminal case accusing Trump of orchestrating a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election following the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on presidential immunity, CNN noted.<\/p>\n

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