Can’t blame Biden for bad pardons Trump already granted—and will again

Politico declared Biden’s pardon “a rich gift to those who want to blow up the justice system as we know it,” while The New York Times said Biden’s act “will inevitably muddy the political waters as Mr. Trump prepares to take office with plans to use the Justice Department and F.B.I. to pursue ‘retribution’ against his political adversaries.”

Indeed, Trump is already trying to use Biden’s pardon as an excuse to make his own controversial pardons when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday night, suggesting he’ll use the Hunter Biden pardon to justify releasing hundreds of people who broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to stop the certification of Biden’s victory. (Trump campaigned on pardoning Jan. 6 insurrectionists, so he’s already justified the decision in his mind.)

But Trump didn’t need Biden’s pardon to excuse his inevitably awful future pardons. 

Trump already has a history of abusing his clemency power, pardoning unrepentant felons simply because they were his supporters, allies, or family members.

In fact, Trump even contemplated giving himself and his family a blanket pardon before he left the White House kicking and screaming in January 2021—something he ultimately decided against.

Here’s an exhaustive list of the terrible pardons Trump granted during his first term in office: