US President Donald Trump had previously asserted that President Joe Biden’s pardons of some of his political adversaries are “void,” and there has been eye-raising within legal and political circles. Trump did not discuss the legal reasoning behind his argument, and constitutional scholars have remained in doubt as to whether what he said makes sense.
The U.S. Constitution gives the incumbent president vast powers of clemency, and it is accepted that an ex-president has no power to revoke or void presidential pardons. “There’s no precedent for this,” one legal commentator said, stating further that the assertion seems more political than plausible.
Trump’s remarks have fueled tensions in the lead-up to the next election season, with opponents claiming that Trump is undermining constitutional and democratic norms. Trump supporters claim that he is revealing what they perceive as dubious choices of the Biden administration.
The Biden administration has not yet officially reacted to Trump’s claim, but White House officials have privately rejected the comments as legally baseless. The controversy surrounding executive clemency authority, however, is now back in the limelight.
