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(CNN) — Senior Biden White House aides, administration officials and prominent defense attorneys in Washington, DC, are discussing potential preemptive pardons or legal aid for people who might be targeted for prosecution by President-elect Donald Trump after he retakes power, multiple sources told CNN. Reports of these conversations have captured the attention of Trump’s legal advisers, who, according to a source familiar with their strategy, believe President Joe Biden would be setting a new precedent in terms of the scope of pardons that they could take advantage of, down the line, to help their own allies. Biden’s senior aides inside the White House have been deliberating for weeks about the possibility of issuing preemptive pardons, according to the sources familiar with the discussions. The move, which would cover people who haven’t ever been formally accused of any crimes, would be an extraordinary step and shows the grave concerns many Democrats have that Trump will prosecute a range of figures that he considers to be his enemies. Trump has publicly called for the jailing of people like Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney, who served as vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack, as well as special counsel Jack Smith , who brought federal criminal cases against Trump. One former senior White House official said aides inside the White House and across various federal agencies are intensely worried about the possibility that the incoming Trump administration will prosecute anyone deemed as having antagonized the president-elect. Additionally, several prominent white-collar lawyers across Washington have fielded calls in recent weeks from government officials, including investigators from Smith’s office, who are concerned they could be targeted by the incoming Trump administration. Biden and his top aides view Trump’s public threats – particularly against current and former government officials – as unprecedented, and some believe that it would be reckless and irresponsible for Biden to leave office without granting preemptive pardons. “You have got (an incoming) president that has basically said he’s going to go after all these people,” a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. “Why not do it?” A White House spokesperson declined to comment. According to Politico, which first reported on the internal debate, the discussions are being led by White House counsel Ed Siskel and other senior aides to the president, including chief of staff Jeff Zients . The former White House official who spoke to CNN, who is intimately familiar with the workings of the White House counsel’s office, said it would be typical for Siskel and his team to first put together a detailed memo to be presented to Biden. In that situation, that memo would include a list of individuals that Biden might consider pardoning preemptively, the context about any prior legal precedent, and a discussion of the wide range of potential ramifications if the president does move forward with these pardons. The calls among worried government officials and top white-collar defense lawyers in DC, appear, at this point, to be precautionary. One private attorney told CNN that they’re “feeling out what they should do if something happens” once Trump takes over. A spokesman for Smith’s special counsel office declined to comment on whether he would seek a preemptive pardon. CNN previously reported that Smith intends to step down before Trump takes office, instead of being fired, as the president-elect has pledged to do . As Democrats brace for the political and legal scrutiny that could come from the new president, his administration, and the GOP-run Congress , one significant concern for many current and former administration officials is the possibility of mounting legal bills. Multiple sources said there have been discussions about setting up legal funds to help support those who would not be able to afford thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees. Some of the private practice bar have discussed if influential white-collar practices could work together to help career Justice Department workers – and others who are exiting the federal workforce – to possibly provide them low-cost or pro-bono representation. And at least one progressive group is working on assembling resources – such as lawyers, security experts and communications professionals – who could help government officials placed under investigation during the Trump years, some of the people familiar with the discussions said. A source familiar with Trump legal strategy says his team believes Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter has set a new precedent for presidents to issue expansive pardons to their children – and this could be something Trump chooses to do before he leaves office. The Hunter Biden pardon was notable for not only forgiving the crimes in his tax and gun indictments, but also for protecting him from being charged with any offense he “may have committed or taken part in” between January 2014 and December 2024. There’s also the president’s brother James Biden, who hasn’t faced charges but whose overseas business dealings attracted intense scrutiny from congressional Republicans. Several GOP-run House committees urged the Justice Department to prosecute James Biden in connection with lying to Congress. (He denies all wrongdoing and declined to comment for this story.) If Biden goes even further and grants preemptive pardons to an expansive list of individuals, Trump’s team believes that move would also create a new precedent and give Trump political cover to do the same for his allies, according to the source. CNN reported in 2021 that before Trump left office during his first term, he considered – but did not grant – preemptive pardons for family members , political allies, his personal attorneys, and even for himself , including in the wake of the January 6 insurrection. Attorneys across the political spectrum have raised concerns about blanket pardons to protect against future investigations or prosecution. “It’s just such a different use of the pardon power,” said Neil Eggleston, former White House counsel to President Barack Obama. “You would create the beginning of a tit for tat where, when any administration is over, you just pardon everybody.” Presidential pardons protect against federal Justice Department prosecutions, but do not shield individuals from state-level criminal cases or congressional investigations. While Trump has publicly said he wants his Justice Department to go after his perceived adversaries, the system has built-in checks against abuses of power, such as judges that can throw out charges, grand juries that can refuse to indict, juries that can return “not guilty” verdicts, and other safeguards to protect against purely vindictive prosecutions. Some prominent former Justice Department officials have said they wouldn’t want a preemptive pardon from Biden, because it might imply they’re conceding there was wrongdoing during their work for the federal government, according to a source familiar with their thinking. Trump has a well-documented history of pushing – both publicly and privately – for investigations and prosecutions of his political opponents, almost always based on unproven, baseless and conspiracy-tinged allegations about their supposed activities. Many of his recent threats targeted prosecutors who charged him with crimes: Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. He has publicly called for investigations into prominent lawmakers: Cheney and the rest of the January 6 committee members (who he said “should go to jail”), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (for her supposed “ties to Russia”), Senator-elect Adam Schiff (for his role in the Trump-Ukraine impeachment saga) and a host of other Democratic lawmakers. Still, members of Congress have immunity from the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause” that offers such broad protections for their legislative work that even members of the defunct January 6 committee would be unlikely to take seriously any legal threats. Trump also has said Vice President Kamala Harris “should be ... prosecuted” for letting undocumented immigrants into the country. After the election, Trump called for probes of Iowa pollster Ann Selzer (for “election fraud,” by releasing a poll with Harris ahead), and into stock traders who spread “illegal rumors” about his investment in Truth Social. During his first term, some of Trump’s calls for probes were apparently heeded, leading to investigations into 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton , former FBI director James Comey , and former FBI deputy director Andy McCabe , now a CNN contributor. None of them were ever charged with crimes. Some of Trump’s longtime foes who worked on the Russia probe around the 2016 election may not have much legal exposure now because their government service ended so long ago and statutes of limitations may have lapsed. There are plenty of other figures that, despite Trump’s calls, weren’t investigated during his first term, but could be scrutinized when he returns to power: former President Barack Obama (for “treason”), former Secretary of State John Kerry (for his contacts with Iran), and even MSNBC host Joe Scarborough (based on a conspiracy theory that he was possibly able to “get away with murder” after one of his interns died in 2001). Attorneys who might defend top targets have their own fears, too. Representing Trump administration and political officials had largely gone out of fashion for large DC defense firms in recent years, with few willing to take on clients, especially after January 6. The view at Washington’s elite firms – which tend to lean liberal – may be shifting back toward getting involved, but it’s still not clear how much pushback the next Trump presidency may receive from the capital’s powerful law firms, several prominent attorneys told CNN this week. “There could well be a fear now by law firm leaders that if we take on those cases, could we ourselves be targeted?”one white-collar lawyer who regularly represents high-profile political figures told CNN on Thursday. Some liberal-leaning and criminal justice reform groups are pushing Biden to focus his final clemency efforts less on family members, political allies or Trump’s potential targets – and instead to help incarcerated Americans whom they believe deserve relief. One group, FWD.us , is airing TV ads in the Washington, DC, market, pressing Biden to “give people a second chance,” by granting clemency to Americans with “outdated” prison sentences that they argue would be shorter under today’s laws and policies. They’ve pointed to Obama’s record-setting commutations as a model. He reduced the punishments of more than 1,300 convicts, including 500 people serving life sentences. “The thousands of people serving disproportionately long and racially disparate sentences in federal prison have been waiting for relief long before the politics of this particular moment,” Zoë Towns, executive director of FWD.us , said in an email. “It is our hope that whatever comes next includes a robust clemency effort focused on them.” CNN’s Curt Devine contributed to this report. The-CNN-Wire TM & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Guest Opinion: Biden’s unpardonable clemency — Clearing son Hunter clouds father Joe’s legacyNeed to introspect INDIA bloc leaders on Maharashtra poll resultsWASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he has selected former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to serve as his ambassador to China, leaning on a former business executive turned politician to serve as the administration's envoy to America's most potent economic and military adversary. Trump said in a social media post that Perdue “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a 2022 primary against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor. During his time in the Senate, Perdue was labeled as “anti-China” in a 2019 Chinese think tank report. The former Georgia lawmaker advocated that the U.S. needed to build a more robust naval force to cope with threats, including from China. Before launching his political career, Perdue held a string of top executive positions, including at Sara Lee, Reebok and Dollar General. Get the latest breaking news as it happens. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy . Economic tensions will be a big part of the U.S.-China picture for the new administration. Trump has threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. Credit: AP/Allison Robbert The Chinese Embassy in Washington cautioned earlier this week that there will be losers on all sides if there is a trade war. “China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu posted on X. “No one will win a trade war or a #tariff war.” He added that China had taken steps in the last year to help stem drug trafficking. The embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening about Perdue's nomination. It is unclear whether Trump will actually go through with the threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. Credit: AP/Allison Robbert The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. Perdue, if confirmed, will have to negotiate a difficult set of issues that goes beyond trade. Washington and Beijing have long had deep differences on the support China has given to Russia during its war in Ukraine, human rights issues, technology and Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy that Beijing claims as its own. Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a meeting with outgoing President Joe Biden last month that Beijing stood “ready to work with a new U.S. administration." But Xi also warned that a stable China-U.S. relationship was critical not only to the two nations but to the “future and destiny of humanity.” “Make the wise choice,” Xi cautioned during his November meeting with Biden on the sidelines of an international summit in Peru. “Keep exploring the right way for two major countries to get along well with each other.” Trump’s relationship with Xi started out well during his first term before becoming strained over disputes about trade and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump seems particularly focused on using tariffs as a pressure point on Xi, even threatening he would use tariffs as a cudgel to pressure Beijing to crack down on the production of materials used in making fentanyl in Mexico that is illegally sold in the United States. A second Trump administration is expected to test U.S.-China relations even more than the Republican’s first term, when the U.S. imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion in Chinese products. That brought Beijing to the negotiating table, and in 2020, the two sides signed a trade deal in which China committed to improve intellectual property rights and buy an extra $200 billion of American goods. A couple years later, a research group showed that China had bought essentially none of the goods it had promised. Ahead of Trump's return to power, many American companies, including Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have been diversifying their sourcing away from China. Shoe brand Steve Madden says it plans to cut imports from China by as much as 45% next year. Trump also filled out more of his immigration team Thursday, as he promises mass deportations and border crackdowns. He said he’s nominating former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott to head U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Scott, a career official, was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020 and enthusiastically embraced then-President Trump’s policies, particularly on building a U.S.-Mexico border wall. He was forced out by the Biden administration. Trump also said he’d nominate Caleb Vitello as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that, among other things, arrests migrants in the U.S. illegally. Vitello is a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency and most recently has been the assistant director for the office of firearms and tactical programs. The president-elect named the head of the Border Patrol Union, Brandon Judd, as ambassador to Chile. Judd has been a longtime supporter of Trump’s, appearing with him during his visits to the U.S.-Mexico border, though he notably supported a Senate immigration bill championed by Biden that Trump sank in part because he didn’t want to give Democrats an election-year win on the issue. — AP writer Didi Tang contributed reporting.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins' playoff hopes are not in their hands, but they did their part with a gritty win over San Francisco on Sunday. Coach Mike McDaniel knows that's not enough, and his team will need to do it two more times to even have a shot at making the postseason for the third straight year. “I was just proud of this effort and proud of the guys’ effort in general,” McDaniel said. “And that gives you a chance to win December football. Regardless, unless you’re playing in February, you also have to get adept at experiencing that, going through that, having some momentum and then going back and applying it to the next opponent, because no one cares about one win in December or January realistically. It’s about accumulating those.” Miami (7-8) is on the bubble for a wild-card spot along with Indianapolis (7-8) and Cincinnati (7-8). Even if the Dolphins win their remaining two games, they'll need help from other teams to get in. In one scenario, Miami would make the playoffs with two wins and two losses each by Denver (9-6) and the Los Angeles Chargers (9-6). “This team, we know when we do it well, we can do it very well,” defensive tackle Calais Campbell said. “We know that our chances are slim, but there’s a lot of fight left. And if we have a chance, we’re going to fight for it.” Miami closed out Sunday's game with a strong fourth quarter in all three phases. The offense converted on all three of its third-down attempts. Running back De'Von Achane had 93 of his 190 scrimmage yards in the quarter, including a 50-yard rushing score that put the game out of reach. Jason Sanders nailed a 48-yard field goal just before the two-minute warning. And the defense intercepted Brock Purdy on one of the Niners' last-ditch efforts. “I think that was something that we needed to see as a team together,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “You could see in all three phases that we were able to play the complementary football that we said we wanted to play. The defense giving the offense opportunities to go put points on the board. Then when there were times where we didn’t do what we wanted to do offensively, the defense held.” With both of the Dolphins' final games on the road, they'll need to play better than they have in away games for much of the season. Miami is 5-3 at home, its fifth straight home winning record, but the Dolphins are 2-5 on the road. McDaniel expressed confidence that those home efforts can travel in this final stretch. “When you’re trying to play football so that in the inevitable situation that you face every season,” McDaniel said, “an elimination game, whether it’s to get in the playoffs or it’s in the playoffs, you want to be tooled with a team that can succeed or execute in those types of situations.” Miami's run game finally got going with 166 yards. It was the Dolphins' first time topping 100 yards rushing since Week 9. Achane led the charge with 120 yards. His 50-yard rushing score was Miami's longest run this season. The Dolphins moved the ball well but scored touchdowns on just one of three trips to the red zone. Sanders. He was 5 for 5 on field goals with a long of 54 yards, and 2 for 2 on extra points. Sanders has made 23 consecutive field goals and is 11 of 13 on kicks of 50-plus yards. He's one of two kickers, alongside Dallas' Brandon Aubrey, who have made a field goal in every game this season. WR Tyreek Hill. The All-Pro receiver caught just 3 of 7 targets for 29 yards and a touchdown. He had a third-down drop on the Dolphins' opening drive and dropped a potential touchdown later in the game. The NFL's receiving leader last year is averaging just 55.6 yards per game and has only two 100-plus yard receiving games this season. WR Jaylen Waddle missed the game because of a knee injury. ... CB Kendall Fuller (knee) and LB Jordyn Brookes (quad/knee) both went down late in the second half. 76 receptions, 802 yards — Both single-season Dolphins records for a tight end, which Jonnu Smith broke with six catches for 62 yards on Sunday. The Dolphins will continue their efforts to sneak into the playoffs when they play at Cleveland (3-12) on Sunday. They'll need to beat the Browns and the New York Jets (4-11) in their regular-season finale to give themselves a chance. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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Biden White House considering preemptive pardons for Trump’s perceived enemiesFREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Freiburg survived a late comeback to beat Wolfsburg 3-2 and move into fifth place in the Bundesliga on Friday. The sides started the day equal on points and Wolfsburg had won its last five games in the league and cup. But Lukas Kübler scored an opportunist opener three minutes before the break and added a second with his head six minutes into the second half to put Freiburg in the driving seat. Michael Gregoritsch added the third in the 62nd. Jonas Wind came off the bench to score his third goal in two games and Mattias Svanberg cut the deficit seven minutes from time as Wolfsburg desperately looked for a way into the game. But it was too late, and Freiburg moved above Wolfsburg to fifth place on the table and equal on points with Leipzig, which has a game in hand. The match was an important one for two teams vying for a Champions League place next year. Although Bayern Munich have a six-point advantage over second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, only eight points separate the next nine clubs. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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