The latest Fox News poll shows 68 percent of Americans say President Obama should not pardon Hillary Clinton on his way out of the White House, and I agree. Donald Trump should do it.
One his very first day, with his very first pen, President Trump should sign his very first presidential proclamation: “We must put the politics of the past aside and unify our country. Therefore, for the many, many crimes and misdeeds she committed while Secretary of State, I hereby pardon Hillary Rodham Clinton.” The left will never forgive him.
It’s counterintuitive, I know. According to the poll, a paltry eight percent of Republicans want Hillary pardoned—but they’re just short-sighted. I would ask the 87 percent who oppose putting Hillary in the same company as Marc “Most Wanted” Rich and Richard Nixon: Who are the only people who need a pardon?
Answer: Guilty people.
According to the Washington Examiner, some Democrats have this figured out:
If Trump pardons Hillary Clinton, he’ll be doing two smart things: First, he’ll be putting an end to an investigation that, thanks to BleachBit and the Clinton code of omertà, is almost certain to go nowhere. The Clintons have millions of dollars to take care of Huma Abedin, the IT guys and anyone else who has definitive proof of criminal activity.
And as much as the talk-radio base may not want to admit it, most Americans are in “move on” mode. They’re hopeful about the future (the same Fox News poll finds 56 percent of Americans believe the economy will improve under Trump), and they’ve had enough of the seemingly endless Clinton investigations.
The second benefit of a Clinton pardon is that it gives the grassroots GOP base what it truly wants: A final, incontrovertible verdict of “guilty” for Hillary. Today’s pardon will be history’s acknowledgement that she’s the O.J. Simpson of politics: She’s guilty and got away with it.
The Clintons will absolutely hate a Trump pardon, but what’s Hillary going to do—reject it? Fine. Then President Trump can tweet: “Whatever you say, Mrs. Clinton—I’ll send the special prosecutor right over.” Rejecting a pardon means inviting an investigation. If that’s what the Democrats want, they can’t complain when Jim Jordan and Trey Gowdy spend the next 12 months grilling former Hillary staffers on C-SPAN 3.
A pardon would be a permanent—and well-deserved—stain on the Clinton legacy: “Impeached But Not Convicted” will be married to “Guilty But Pardoned.”
So do it, Donald. Then sit back and watch the fun.
