President Trump’s latest spate of pardons hits a new low in treachery and dereliction of duty. From the start, Trump’s pardons have been legally repugnant and, in some cases, patently corrupt. Now Trump’s pardons go a good ways toward closing the circle and permanently obscuring the facts of the Russian attack on the 2016 election. To the extent that the Department of Justice’s convictions repaired that damage, Trump’s indulgences wipes it out again. Trump’s pardons exemplify the abuse of power, and the worst of them go beyond caprice or even score-settling to the demolition of core Justice Department functions.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 24, 2020 21:33 UTC