David Brewster
Consider: “As he left office, George Washington pardoned the men who had led the Whiskey Rebellion, an armed revolt against the federal government’s power to tax. President Andrew Johnson also issued thousands of pardons to ex-Confederates after the Civil War. A more modern example is President Jimmy Carter’s grant of amnesty for draft-evasion during the Vietnam War. The rationale has been to move forward and not remain mired in retrospective criminal proceedings.
“That attitude is not alien to President Obama. In two instances he has exhibited it. He resisted pressure to prosecute Bush Administration officials for war crimes or human rights abuses stemming from torture, and he resisted pressure to prosecute bankers for any unlawful activity relating to the 2008 financial collapse. In neither case did Obama use the pardon power, but the result in both instances was an effective pardon in an effort to move on.”
Stephen Schwartz A pardon actually would do nothing to prevent the Repugnant Republicans from continuing their attack.