60 Minutes investigation exposing the corruption of the presidential pardon power should force Americans to confront an uncomfortable truth: both major political parties have weaponized pardons in ways that undermine the rule of law.
Republicans often point to Bill Clinton’s infamous pardon of fugitive billionaire Marc Rich—a man whose ex-wife was a major Democratic donor—as proof of Democratic corruption. Clinton also pardoned his own brother, Roger Clinton, for drug offenses, a clear act of personal favoritism. Presidents Obama and Carter issued highly controversial clemencies as well, including the commutations of Chelsea Manning and FALN leader Óscar López Rivera, and Carter’s blanket amnesty for Vietnam draft evaders—all criticized for bypassing traditional accountability.
But Republicans have committed even more brazen abuses. Donald Trump used the pardon power as a shield for political loyalists and criminal allies: Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Joe Arpaio, and corrupt congressmen Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins. Trump’s pardons to wealthy insiders with financial ties to his orbit—and his willingness to override the Justice Department’s review system—represent a particularly dangerous form of political and personal self-protection. George H.W. Bush’s Iran-Contra pardons similarly wiped away accountability for senior officials on the eve of trial.
The lesson is clear: when presidents use clemency to reward donors, protect allies, or erase crimes committed by the powerful, they convert a constitutional tool of mercy into a political weapon. This is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. It is a systemic threat to equal justice.
Congress must enact strict transparency requirements, restore the independence of the pardon attorney’s office, and ensure that no president—of either party—can turn clemency into a marketplace for influence. The integrity of our justice system depends on it.
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