CNN
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President Joe Biden said he had not made a decision about issuing preemptive pardons before leaving office, leaving the door open to an unprecedented move to protect some of his allies as he warned President-elect Donald Trump against trying to “settle scores.”
CNN has previously reported senior Biden White House aides, administration officials and prominent defense attorneys in Washington, DC, are discussing potential preemptive pardons or legal aid for people who might be targeted for prosecution by Trump after he retakes power, according to multiple sources.
In an interview with USA Today’s Susan Page published Wednesday, Biden confirmed that he was open to the idea but a decision had not been made.
Biden said he told Trump during their Oval Office meeting shortly after the president-elect’s November victory that “there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.”
Biden suggested that Trump did not offer a response one way or the other.
Pressed by Page on whether a decision had been made during the Sunday interview, Biden said, “No, I have not.”
The president also defended his decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, amid questions about the precedent the move sets for his successors.
“I meant what I said when I was asked whether I was going to pardon my son,” Biden told Page, referring to previous public comments that he would not do so.
Hunter Biden was granted clemency last month for the tax and gun offenses from his existing cases, plus any potential federal crimes that he may have committed “from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” according to the pardon.
President Biden said he was convinced to proceed with the pardon because of two factors: that his son “had paid all his taxes,” though he paid them late, and that “no one’s ever been tried” on the question of a document that is meant to prevent drug addicts from obtaining firearms that had led to his conviction.
Biden offered other implicit and explicit criticism of his predecessor and successor during the 55-minute exit interview.
The president expressed concern about misinformation, pointing to Trump blatantly misleading Americans in the aftermath of a pair of New Year’s Day attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas that had been established to have been committed by lone actors who were both American citizens.
“Yet the president comes along, soon-to-be president again, come along and says, ‘It’s clear. It’s an invasion from the South. All these immigrants are causing all this problem.’ … And I’ll bet you there’s 70% of people out there that read that and believe it. How do you deal with that?” he asked.
Biden continued, “It’s the nature of the change in the way information is transmitted. And the guy has not known for telling the truth, but to say something in light of this significant investigation by the entire intelligence community and defense establishment, that this would happen and proven. He says, ‘No, it’s not true.’”
Biden also said that Trump would “have a problem” if he attempted to reverse some of his signature legislative accomplishments, pointing to conservative support for some key provisions.
“I don’t know how he comes along and gets rid of these investments. Now, I think he could screw them up by insisting on focusing on more tax cuts for the wealthy,” he predicted.
Biden added that if Trump makes his planned moves on tax cuts and tariffs and does away with programs like the infrastructure bill or the climate, health care and tax law, “I think he’s just going to, you know, hurt himself, hurt the economy.”
“My single greatest fear is that he will try to, and maybe even succeed, in eliminating the elements of the climate law. That he’ll succeed in kicking back the restrictions on drug manufacturers,” Biden said, going on to lament potential cuts to infrastructure projects.