There is actually an argument for American President Joe Biden to pardon his predecessor, Donald Trump.
And there is an argument for Trump accepting a pardon.
An FBI raid of Trump’s Florida home allegedly found unspecified classified government documents that the former president should not have had in his possession.
This search was part of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed documents when he left office in January 2021, after losing the presidential election to Biden.
The Justice Department is investigating violations of three laws, including a provision in the Espionage Act prohibiting the possession of national defence information and another statute that makes it a crime to knowingly destroy, conceal or falsify records with the intent to obstruct an investigation.
Trump has, of course, denied any wrongdoing.
None of the allegations against Trump have been tested nor proven in court.
But if we take seriously that no one is above the law in America, Trump could be charged in connection with his possession of these documents.
If convicted, he could spend time behind bars — although that seems unlikely for a former U.S. president.
But being convicted of a crime could seriously impair Trump’s ability to be re-elected president in 2024, not so much with his base of Republican supporters, but rather with the many American voters who could be on the fence about Biden, who has had a shaky presidency.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, however, has taken the unusual step of publicly moving to unseal the search warrant, two attachments and a redacted version of the receipt showing the items the FBI seized during its Aug. 8 search.
These records show the FBI seized boxes containing 11 sets of classified materials, some of which were labelled "top secret," which is the highest level of classification reserved for the most closely held American national security information.
Which brings us back to why Biden might pardon Trump, and why Trump might accept a pardon.
The former president’s logic is plain. These are serious allegations and carry serious consequences, both to Trump’s personal freedom and his political ambitions. A presidential pardon would wash all of them away.
For Biden, a pardon could avoid a long, very divisive trial in a nation that seems to be more divided every day.
And there is precedent for a pardon doing just that.
Many Americans believe President Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974 to avoid certain impeachment and removal from office. Late that July, the House Judiciary Committee passed three articles of impeachment against Nixon: obstruction of justice, abuse of power and defiance of subpoenas. All related, in whole or in part, to the Watergate scandal.
When it became apparent he would be impeached in the House, and convicted by the Senate, Nixon resigned the presidency Aug. 9, 1974.
President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon a month later, declaring the end of America’s nightmare, Watergate.
It was a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes Nixon might have committed against the United States as its president, relating to Watergate in particular.
A 1915 Supreme Court decision ruled that a pardon carried an "imputation of guilt" and accepting a pardon was "an admission of guilt." The implication was that Nixon accepted his Watergate guilt by accepting Ford’s pardon.
Would Trump accept a pardon if it carried an admission of guilt?
That’s probably a question Trump and Biden are pondering now.
The New York Times describes a pardon as "an executive power that acts as a check and balance on the federal criminal justice system, enabling a president to bestow mercy upon offenders."
The president can "grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment," the Constitution says. Sentences can be reduced or eliminated after conviction, called a commutation, or nullified of all legal consequences for an offence, which is a pardon.
Now Trump has already been impeached twice by the House of Representatives, but not convicted by the Senate.
And Biden wouldn’t pardon Trump as a mercy, at least not to The Donald.
But it could be a mercy to America, if it’s even one step toward ending Trump as a political force.
Bob Bruton is a staff reporter with BarrieToday.
