Donald Trump could still have his political enemies prosecuted, despite President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons of the January 6 committee and other Trump foes, a legal expert has told Newsweek.
New York attorney Colleen Kerwick said that pro-Trump officials could sidestep the pardons and still indict Trump’s enemies in state court. A president’s pardon does not extend there, she said, so Trump’s enemies could still be prosecuted in state court.
Newsweek sought email comment from the Trump transition team and the White House on Monday.
Why It Matters
President Joe Biden has issued preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to the president; General Mark A. Milley, and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Biden said that they were “threatened with criminal prosecutions” and he wanted to protect them before Trump took office.
What You Should Know
On Sunday, Biden issued a statement that he was pardoning Trump enemies to protect them, not because they did anything wrong.
“I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the [January 6] Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.”
Milley has been a frequent critic of Trump, whom Milley believes to be mentally unstable.
Trump also became an enemy of Fauci because of disagreements about how to handle the COVID epidemic.
Trump also hated the January 6 committee for investigating Trump’s role in the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
In a statement on Monday, Biden wrote: “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.
“In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members and staff of the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol.”
What People Are Saying
New York attorney Colleen Kerwick told Newsweek that pro-Trump prosecutors could still indict Trump’s enemies in state court.
“It’s worth pointing out that a president’s pardon does not extend to state court, so Trump’s enemies could still be prosecuted in state court. Trump himself was indicted in state court in Georgia for election fraud charges, which stood on the books even after Trump’s federal election interference case was over,” Kerwick said.
She added that Trump has no control over the appointment of state court judges so he cannot guarantee that any of his indictments would be successful.
This differs sharply with federal court judges, who are nominated by presidents.
Donald Trump said on NBC‘s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he would punish members of the January 6 committee, namely co-chairs Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney.
“For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump said.
What Happens Next
Donald Trump will be sworn in as president on Monday. It is possible that he will seek the state court indictment of his enemies, or pro-Trump district attorneys will indict his enemies without being prompted by the president.
The post Can Donald Trump Get Around Biden’s Pardons? appeared first on Newsweek.
