Outgoing President Joe Biden showed his regard for the work of the Jan. 6 committee by recently bestowing one of the nation’s highest civilian medals on its two chairpersons.
Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming were deserving of the honor.
The pair capably led the bipartisan committee that investigated the early 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. That exhaustive probe rightly concluded that Donald Trump was responsible for sparking the violent assault and was derelict in his duties by waiting an inordinate amount of time before tamping the riot down.
The fact that Trump will be returning to the White House in days, with the concurrence of the majority of Americans, does not erase what happened four years ago, no matter how Trump and his supporters try to twist and fabricate the narrative.
His egotistical refusal to gracefully accept defeat produced the worst assault on Congress in our nation’s history. It was a day of disgrace, a betrayal of our nation’s long-revered tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. That Thompson and Cheney held Trump to account for this took guts, especially from Cheney, since the Republican’s refusal to buckle to the leading figure in her party spelled her political doom, costing her a seat in Congress.
Although Biden did well to honor Thompson and Cheney with the Presidential Citizens Medal, he should stop there. If he also issues them pre-emptive pardons, as has been suggested in recent weeks, it might legally shield the pair, but it would taint them with the presumption that they did something that actually required the protection.
Presidential pardons or commutations should be extended only to people deserving of mercy who have been convicted of crimes. Neither Thompson nor Cheney has been prosecuted, nor is it likely that they will be, for all of Trump’s bluster about exacting revenge on his political enemies, both real and perceived.
Should Trump actually carry through with that threat and get a compliant attorney general to do his bidding, it will be exposed for what it is — a grotesque abuse of power that America’s judicial system hopefully will not tolerate. Both Thompson and Cheney should be willing to stand up to such bullying and defend the independence of Congress, even in court if required.
Biden set a terrible precedent by bestowing a preemptive pardon on his son, Hunter. That mistake needs be a one-timer.
