On Tuesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Chief Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey gives some of the biggest takeaways from President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day. Trump’s new meme coin soars. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen breaks down Trump’s executive orders surrounding January 6 pardons, and the southern border. Trump Monday also signed an order on TikTok and removed the…
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 others in “the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history,” the White House announced Thursday. The amnesty will be extended to roughly 1,500 people who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic and 39 others who were convicted of…
The recent buzz around preemptive presidential pardons — especially considering President Joe Biden’s expansive pardon of his son Hunter — should alarm anyone who values justice and accountability. This month, Biden pardoned Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing after pleading guilty to federal tax and gun charges. The president also granted his son clemency for any…
There’s an age-old concept – in crisis, opportunity – that should be deployed as President Joe Biden winds down his administration by signing off on pardons, commutations and other acts of clemency. By now, you must have heard the cacophony of controversy after Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday, giving him a get-out-of-jail-free…
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing a backlash from fellow Democrats for his “full and unconditional” pardon of Hunter Biden after repeatedly promising he would not use his presidential authority to shield his son from federal charges. “He didn’t need to tell the American public, ‘I will not do this,’ and he did. And…
In a stunning reversal, President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted of three federal gun felonies and federal tax charges earlier this year. “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” the president said in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice…
For most of U.S. history, presidents since George Washington have been unwavering in the use of their clemency power. They understood their actions not only as a way to remedy overly harsh sentences but also to help restore public faith in the justice system. President Joe Biden now has a chance to use his clemency…