Just after midnight, Donald Trump took to social media to amplify a new conspiracy theory and declare void the pardons of members of the January 6 committee.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
Relying on a new conspiracy theory, Donald Trump took to his social media website in the wee hours of Monday to declare his predecessor’s preemptive pardons of members of the congressional committee that investigated his January 6 insurrection null and void.
Trump suggested that the grant of clemency issued to the committee members and their staff was not legal because it was signed by an autopen and without the knowledge of then-President Joe Biden.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump raged. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”
Biden had been mulling these preemptive pardons for weeks, so it’s unclear what Trump is basing his claims on. Of course, he is known for making stuff up and latching on to conspiracy theories, so this should hardly come as a surprise.
“[Biden] knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” he added. “Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”
All the evidence?
Trump may want to check out this website, which contains hundreds of documents and transcribed interviews with witnesses.
Finally, the president claimed, without presenting evidence, of course, that those receiving the preemptive pardons “were probably responsible” for the documents being signed.
More than anything, this latest unhinged rant shows that Trump continues to be consumed by revenge fantasies and a deep desire to rewrite the history of the day on which his supporters stormed Congress in a failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
It will apparently not be enough for Trump to “just” pardon all of the insurrectionists who took up arms against Capitol Police officers that day (or were convicted of other crimes related to the insurrection), as he did within hours of taking office.
And it won’t be enough to try to erase the evidence of what they did (it should be noted that, as per usual, Trump’s statement is pure projection).
No, to satisfy his compulsive need for vengeance, he has to punish those who were responsible for exposing what happened that day.
We were not fans of those preemptive pardons. They set a terrible precedent that Trump will certainly exploit.
In fact, some of the people who received them, like now-Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), feel the same way.
It would have been better to let Trump’s minions at DOJ go after lawmakers, staffers, and witnesses (including Capitol Police officers) to show Americans what politicized justice really looks like.
Of course, that is exactly what may happen now as the president keeps focusing on sideshows and personal grievances while neglecting to address the economy and other crises.
Let’s see how Americans, who overwhelmingly did not think Trump should have pardoned hundreds of his thugs, feel about that.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
