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Trump Delegates Pardon Power to Subordinates

December 4, 2025 · 5:38 pm ET · Leave a Comment

“When Donald Trump issued a sweeping pardon for allies in his bid to subvert the 2020 election, he stretched the boundaries of the pardon power in unprecedented ways,” Politico reports.

“The pardon’s language is so vague and limitless that it could apply to thousands of people. And now Trump’s Justice Department says it’s up to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Pardon Attorney Ed Martin to decide who, and which possible crimes, Trump actually meant to cover.”

“There’s no modern precedent — and maybe no historical precedent, either — for a president to delegate his pardon power to subordinates on a pardon this vaguely worded.”

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Taegan Goddard

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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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