Joe Biden reportedly weighed the extraordinary possibility of issuing a presidential pardon for Donald Trump during the final stretch of his time in office, a revelation the White House argues underscores claims that Democrats had turned the Justice Department into a political weapon.
Before departing the presidency, Biden granted pardons to a number of high-profile figures close to him or connected to his administration, including his son Hunter Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 Capitol attack.
But Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a moderate Republican who did not endorse Trump until after the assassination attempt against him in Pennsylvania, said he was taken aback to hear that Biden had also been contemplating clemency for his predecessor.
Cox told The Atlantic that Biden raised the idea during an August 2023 phone call, well before the governor had thrown his support behind Trump. “You know, I’ve actually considered this for a while,” Cox recalled Biden saying.
According to Cox, Biden added that the subject had come up privately at home: “In fact, just this week as we were lying in bed, Jill and I had a long conversation about it.”
The Trump administration seized on the account, saying it demonstrated that Biden and his team understood Trump was facing unfair treatment but chose not to intervene.
“This shows President Biden knew he and his fellow extreme Democrats had weaponized the justice system against his political opponent, but did nothing to stop it,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Our News Outlet.
Bis then added a sharply sarcastic aside: “A real profile in courage.”
Joe Biden (pictured left) spent much of the late months of his presidency considering a presidential pardon for Donald Trump, including a bedroom conversation with First Lady Jill Biden (pictured center)
The Trump administration said this story proves that the Biden administration knew Trump was being treated unfairly and didn’t stop it
Cox believed that pardoning Trump from the criminal charges he faced in multiple states would help heal the nation and stop what he saw as a cycle of partisan revenge tactics.
Biden told Cox that he was going to seriously consider the pardon – which Cox phrased to the President as something that ‘might sound crazy’ – despite his base ‘demanding justice’ for Trump.
However, the clemency never came after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris following Biden’s decision to not seek reelection.
Cox said he ‘hoped [Biden] would choose mercy over escalation’ by offering forgiveness to Trump.
Similarly, he asked Trump to unite the country following the shooting in Butler in August of 2024 and ‘hoped he would choose unity over retaliation.’
‘In both cases, things didn’t turn out quite the way I’d hoped,’ Cox said.
Biden sparked fury on his way out the door by issuing preemptive pardons for his son Hunter, Dr Anthony Fauci and all nine members of the January 6 Committee.
The first pardon Biden issued after losing the 2024 presidential election to Trump was for Hunter, 54, who was convicted on felony tax charges as well as federal crimes for lying in 2018 about his drug use on a form to purchase a firearm.
This came to the ire of Democrats who felt it would give Trump permission to issue sweeping pardons without fear of being accused of hypocrisy.
Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox (pictured) – a moderate member of the GOP who only endorsed Trump following his assassination attempt in Pennsylvania – lobbied Biden for the pardon in 2023
Biden sparked fury on his way out the door by issuing preemptive pardons for his son Hunter, Dr Anthony Fauci and all nine members of the January 6 Committee
And the same day Biden pardoned his son, Trump announced he would pardon January 6 defendants who were charged with crimes related to the Capitol attack.
Biden wrote in his pardon announcement that the action was warranted because they are public servants who have ‘been threatened with criminal prosecutions.’
‘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,’ he noted.
The 82-year-old Democrat also used his final moments in the Oval Office to give blanket protection to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who Trump has said deserves to be executed.
In all, the Biden administration granted more than 1,500 individuals clemency during his final weeks in the White House.
Emails show Biden formally decided on issuing pre-emptive pardons for his family on January 19, 2024.
Among the most controversial of all Biden’s pardons so far is the protection of Fauci from federal prosecution.
He also got massive backlash for pardoning his own son from his federal crimes.
Biden wrote in a statement on the pardons: ‘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.’
