On Thursday, Dec. 12, President Biden issued 39 pardons and commuted about 1,500 sentences. According to the White House, it was the largest single day of commutations in American history.
These pardons and commutations come after President Biden pardoned his son Hunter. The president’s pardons have spawned a $900,000 betting market for who else President Biden will pardon on the prediction platform Kalshi. The odds of a pardon for President Biden’s brother, James “Jim” Biden, rose from 43% to 56% on Dec. 12.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating Jim Biden for an influence peddling scheme. While the House Oversight Committee has referred charges to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the DOJ has not pursued charges against Jim Biden.
The political threats against his family led President Biden to pardon his son. Trump’s threats against other political enemies could lead Biden to pardon them, too.
Will Biden pardon Trump’s political enemies, too?
Biden’s generous number of pardons and commutations has raised questions about whether Biden will preemptively pardon Trump’s political enemies. In an interview with NBC News, Trump said that members of the January 6 committee should “go to jail.” Consequently, many of the likely pardon candidates played a role in the committee’s investigation.
Most of the options on Kalshi’s markets are people who have played prominent roles in investigations into Trump’s alleged crimes. Jack Smith brought the January 6 case and classified documents case against Trump. Alvin Bragg brought the Stormy Daniels hush money case against Trump in New York. Also in New York, Letitia James brought a civil fraud case against Trump.
Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney were the two Republicans on the January 6 Committee, and both have been demonized by the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.
Anthony Fauci has been at the center of conspiracies about government overreach during the pandemic. “Fire Fauci” has become a slogan among prominent right-wing figures. One new convert to the “Fire Fauci” movement is Elon Musk, who tweeted his pronouns were “Prosecute/Fauci” in December 2022. Similarly, Hillary Clinton is a long-time Republican boogeyman and target of conspiracies.
Given the vitriol from MAGA influencers against these names, It’s no coincidence that Biden’s potential pardon list is a near-perfect match of Trump’s enemies list.
