8k8 Should Biden Issue Pre-emptive Pardons?

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To the Editor:

Re “Trump’s F.B.I. Pick Has an Enemies List. Biden Should Pardon Everyone on It,” by Michelle Goldberg (column, nytimes.com, Dec. 6):

Ms. Goldberg’s suggestion of a pre-emptive pardon by President Biden for anyone who may be on Kash Patel’s retribution list (or Donald Trump’s list) is at best a stretch and at worst a touch of liberal hysteria. How big should this safe house for vulnerable Americans be? If you lined up everyone who has taken Mr. Trump on, you would need a football stadium.

We can’t Trump-proof the country from the consequences of a Trump administration. Elections have consequences, and we’re about to see how resilient our democracy is when a full stress test of another Trump term comes about.

If Americans want to limit an unrestrained Trump puppet like Kash Patel as potential F.B.I. director, then it is up to the Senate to deny confirmation. If it turns out that all of the Republicans are sycophants ready to rubber-stamp anyone Mr. Trump puts forward, then our democracy will have wandered into the territory of a banana republic.

If the Justice Department ventures into unconstitutional waters, then we’ll need to see if the Supreme Court is ready to make our president a king.

If it turns out that the judicial and legislative branches are unwilling to intercede whatsoever, then our country will have bigger problems than just Mr. Trump. It will signal that our democracy isn’t as resilient as our founders hoped.

Steven LutzerLos Angeles

To the Editor:

I could not agree more with Michelle Goldberg’s suggestion that President Biden pardon everyone on Kash Patel’s enemies list. Once the MAGA crowd takes over and the prosecutions of these so-called “gangsters” begins, there will be a lot of ineffectual Democratic hand-wringing and protest. It would be much better if Democrats started fighting this perversion of justice now by doing something boldly proactive.

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• Biden
• Should
• issue
• 8k8
• Pre-emptive