Legal expert warns Trump's pardons of election deniers meant to send 4-word message
The New York Times editorial board on Tuesday tore into President Donald Trump for his corrupt and rapid-fire use of pardons, breaking down the "crime spree" that his recipients have gone on and the "mayhem" they have created as a result.
In the past, despite some questionable instances, presidents have generally strained to be careful about their use of pardons, fearing the "backlash" that could occur if a pardoned individual reoffended. For that reason and others, they have generally waited until the end of their time in office to issue pardons, to mitigate their exposure to any blowback. All of these principles, however, have gone out the window under Trump.
"President Trump has abandoned this approach. His self-serving pardons are so numerous that public attention cannot keep up with them," the NYT board explained. "It is a version of the strategy that his former adviser Steve Bannon has described as 'flood the zone': Do so much so fast that people cannot follow the consequences. He has created a veritable pardon industry, in which people with White House connections accept payments from wealthy convicts. Among those on whom he has bestowed freedom are dozens of people convicted of fraud."
Worst among this onslaught of pardons, the board argued, was Trump's blanket pardons for everyone who took part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the results of which "have been disastrous."
"At least 12 of the pardoned rioters have since been charged with other serious crimes, including child molestation, assault, harassment, murder plots and charges related to a vicious dog attack," the board explained. "The outcome was predictable. Critics, including this board, had warned that Mr. Trump’s pardons would embolden the rioters by signaling that crime has no consequences. One does not have to be a criminologist to predict that people who commit a violent act and are absolved of any punishment might become repeat offenders."
The board broke down the crimes committed by each newly charged recipients of a Trump pardon, singling out four in particular who were already in prison or jail at the time the pardons came down.
Andrew Paul Johnson of Florida, for example, was sentenced to life in prison after molesting two 12-year-old children, reportedly offering them part of a potential Jan. 6 restitution payment in exchange for their silence. Jake Lang, meanwhile, was charged after destroying an ice sculpture outside the Minnesota state capitol and organizing an anti-Muslim rally in New York City "that turned violent," both within the last two months. Zachary Alam, "among the first to enter the Capitol building from its west lawn" during the Jan. 6 attack, was arrested and charged after allegedly breaking into a Virginina home to steal a diamond necklace and tablet computer.
Finally, Enrique Tario, founder of the far-right group, The Proud Boys, "scuffled with protesters at a news conference and was briefly detained on assault charges, a month after Mr. Trump freed him from a 22-year prison sentence." Tario's was among the harshest sentences connected to Jan. 6, given the part he played in organizing it.
The NYT concluded with a plea for Trump and the GOP to be held accountable for these pardons in the upcoming midterms.
"The Jan. 6 pardons undermined the law, and they undermined public order," the board wrote. "They were an affront to police officers everywhere. Mr. Trump has a constitutional right to pardon whom he chooses. The rest of us have a right to hold him and his enablers responsible for their actions."