As we all knew would happen, Biden’s last act was to pardon every bad actor in his administration. This is hypocritical, to say the least, given his government’s vindictive pursuit of everyone in the Trump administration, including Trump himself. However, even worse than that, it sets a dangerous precedent that can destroy the American Constitution—and no, I’m not exaggerating.

So, here’s the top line from Fox News:

President Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and others who some speculated may have faced investigations under the incoming Trump administration on Monday.

Biden's pardons come just hours before he is set to depart the White House and President-elect Trump takes the oath of office once again. The pardon also applies to a litany of people involved in the January 6 select committee investigation.

In addition to the named individuals, the pardon applies to, “Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.”

Biden did not extend them to Jack Smith, Christopher Wray, or Merrick Garland. Smith and Garland can hide behind prosecutorial immunity. Biden’s passing over Wray is more inscrutable, but I would assume that Wray will hide behind national security concerns if questioned later.

Image by Magic Studio.

Naturally, Biden wrapped the pardons in language saying that the people pardoned would be unfairly persecuted:

Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy.

Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.

In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.

This is rich coming from an administration that, working on its own and in conjunction with corrupt state prosecutors and even corrupt bar associations, did everything possible to destroy anyone who was or worked for Trump. It’s also the same administration that has conducted a Soviet-style purge against almost 2,000 Americans for daring to assemble at the Capitol and, when the Capitol police opened the Capitol’s sealed doors, walking reverently through the building.

But aside from the disgusting hypocrisy and the problem of pardoning a military officer who could rightly be charged with treason for boasting that he would consult with the Chinese before following an order from his Commander-in-Chief, there’s a greater danger in what Biden did with his preemptive pardons.

Our nation is founded on the Rule of Law. Our Constitution is the bulwark for a government that is constrained by a contract with the People and the legal principles that flow from that contract. However, Biden created a new precedent that undercuts the rule of law entirely and unleashes the executive branch in a way that threatens to undermine the Constitution.

Why do I say this? Because, moving forward, future administrations can have their employees do anything and everything the administration wants. Then, the president can pardon all this illegal conduct because the next administration might prosecute the actors.

Of course, this die was cast when Biden took office. Until then, the American norm had been a peaceful transition of power that did not include the Ottoman habit of killing all political rivals (even if, so far, only figuratively). It was inevitable that, with Biden having opened this Pandora’s box, Trump would seek to follow suit, especially given that Biden’s administration was exceptionally lawless. Now, though, to protect his people, Biden has not only breached a norm, he has unleashed the whirlwind.

I don’t see how this can end well for America.

In the short term, though, every person whom Biden pardoned needs to be hauled before Congress to testify about those things he or she did that were illegal or unconstitutional, whether Fauci’s consistent lies to the people and Congress, Liz Cheney’s apparent destruction of evidence, or Milley’s seeming treason. All these people, thanks to the preemptive pardons, have lost their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. We need to hear about their sins from their own mouths, and if they deviate by even a comma from the truth, they need to be prosecuted for perjury and imprisoned.

One more thing: The last thing I would do is let congresspeople ask the questions because the politicians will just bloviate and bluster. Instead, Republicans need to find the sharpest, best prosecutors in America to make sure that Fauci, Cheney, Milley, et al. tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, with no hiding behind squirrely language or bad memories.