It is not just the world that’s waiting with a degree of apprehension on the incoming President Donald J Trump. America, too, is watching with a sense of unease, of President Joe Biden leaving on January 20, 2025. For all those who were under the impression that Biden’s exit was going to be as unceremonious as that of President Jimmy Carter in 1981, there is a reason for re-think. Bizarre as it may sound, Biden is likely to leave behind a legacy not on domestic or foreign policies but on Presidential pardons, something that started with George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion.

Many Democrats are simply outraged that President went back on his word on pardoning his son Hunter Biden of any federal crimes he may have committed between 2014 and 2024. His decision to pardon Hunter Biden opened a Pandora’s box with civil rights groups slamming the President for not extending the pardon to hundreds, if not thousands, who are in jail for a number of reasons.

After all, President Carter had pardoned all those who had evaded the draft in the Vietnam War and Barack Obama freed hundreds convicted of non-violent drug offences. Pardoning Hunter Biden was not the only thing that upset Democrats and Biden allies. It was also in the rationale that was advanced: “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” the President said. And this is precisely what President-elect Trump has been saying for four years, especially as he was taken through Special Counsels — that he was a victim of politics.

Many targets

The unease in America today is not of Biden demitting office without a legacy. It is one of leaving the White House with an unease that administration officials may be toying with the idea of issuing pre-emptive pardons, given what Trump has said on “enemies”. Chants of “Lock Him Up” or “Lock Her Up” had been a mantra right through Trump’s political career — from the yesteryear of Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi to today’s Kamala Harris, they have been through the rants of Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) crowd.

The “foe” list is long for the President-elect and it could include top Democrats whom he has said should be in jail; sitting and former members of Congress; and administration officials of the Justice Department and investigative agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Some say that vaccine czars like Anthony Fauci could also be targeted. On the Republican side the notables would be former Congresswoman Liz Cheney. It is difficult to draw up a list for the “likes” of Trump could be counted in one hand, if not two, family included.

There is a bigger problem that Biden must be worried about other than making up that list of who is to be presumptively pardoned. The fact that a dossier is being prepared itself could be damaging enough to those who may not want to be considered potential wrongdoers, on criminal or civil litigations. For instance, former Democratic House Intelligence Committee chief and current Senator-elect Adam Schiff has asked Biden not to consider his name.

The biggest danger to issuing futuristic blanket pardon would come from the precedent it sets on the Presidency. The issue of Presidential pardons was one of those privileged powers of the Executive that came without any checks and balances. Now, if President Biden goes through with the idea, it opens up to calls for Congressional scrutiny, and with this another circus type environment in Washington DC.

The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and United Nations