Comment by renewiltord
2 days ago
You're making an argument for why its use is defensible. I find it not unconvincing, especially since it's pretty much just Analects 13:18. But Trump can use the Biden Pardon (shorthand for broad large-period pre-emptive pardon) too, and he's pioneered the use of the Trump Pardon (shorthand for plausibly deniable pay-to-pardon). The combination of the two pardon techniques signals the end of Rule of Law for sufficiently well-connected individuals in the US. Plausibly Jeffrey Epstein was just caught a decade early. He wouldn't be in trouble today.
I find the notion that Trump would have used discretion if not for Biden’s pardons pretty curious. At no point has precedence or decorum stopped Trump. Biden’s actions had zero effect on how Trump uses his pardon power.
He had the same ability the first time and didn’t do it. But certainly one cannot live the counterfactual. Perhaps this technique had already struck him and he just hadn’t used it yet. Hard to tell.
I don’t see him or his administration as all knowing even if I think they have great disregard for the law.