Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, associate editor at The Washington Post, David Maraniss severely attacked the newspaper for an op-ed it published on Tuesday about pardons signed by Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Maraniss aired his frustration on the social media platform BlueSky, saying, “The Washington Post editorial this morning essentially equating Biden’s questionable pardons with Trump’s outrageous Jan. 6 pardons was unconscionable. The newspaper I’ve been part of for 48 years has utterly lost its soul.”
As of 75, Maraniss has had a career that is quite distinguished: three Pulitzer Prize finalist nominations and a Pulitzer in 1992 for his coverage of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. In addition to books like a biography of Barack Obama, he has written several others.
The piece in question was an op-ed by Jason Willick, “The Biden-Trump pardons show collapsing executive restraint.” It compared how Trump and Biden used their pardon powers as president. “It’s debatable which president’s abuse of the pardon power on Monday — Joe Biden’s or Donald Trump’s — was more damaging,” Willick wrote, adding, “The root of the problem isn’t the scope of the pardon power; it’s the collapse of restraint on the exercise of executive power in general.”
Trump’s Pardons
Since taking office for his second presidential term on Monday, Trump had issued a succession of controversy-ridden pardons. These included full pardons for nearly 1,500 individuals connected to the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riots. He also pardoned 23 anti-abortion protesters, whom the White House claimed had been prosecuted during Joe Biden’s administration.Trump pardoned two police officers convicted in the 2020 death of a 20-year-old Black man during a car chase in Washington on Wednesday.
Experts claim that clemency to all people accused in relation to the Capitol Hill riots would encourage extremism and thus, a potential threat to political violence.
Pardons by Biden
In contrast, Biden has pardoned individuals ahead of being prosecuted by the Trump administration. Among them are Joe Biden’s lead Covid-19 advisor, former General Mark Milley, and his relatives. Those serving on the House committee and their employees investigating the Capitol Hill riots led by former President Trump supporters were also included in the pardons.
The contrast between the two pardon strategies pursued by Trump and Biden has touched off broad debates concerning the boundaries of and decency in executive power, even according to the standards of the editorial of the Washington Post Maraniss widely criticized, underlined.
