Because Trump can do it, doesn’t make it right
President Trump is a lame duck, but, until Inauguration Day, he retains all executive powers of American government. On Wednesday, Trump exercised one of those powers by pardoning Michael Flynn, his former National Security Adviser, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In pardoning Flynn, Trump was attacking the integrity of the FBI, but he did not abuse his constitutional powers because Article II clearly permits presidential pardons to people suspected, accused, even convicted of federal crimes. We probably can expect more pardons in coming weeks. In July, Trump commuted the sentence of Norwalk native Roger Stone, the longtime Republican political consultant who mentored Trump. Stone had been convicted of seven federal felonies for impeding a congressional inquiry.
These pardons, already issued and expected, should raise serious questions about Trump’s judgment, especially in his choice of associates. One reason Trump was elected four years ago was as part of a protest against a system often criticized by populists for being rigged in favor of elites. During the 20162017 transition and early in his presidency, Trump seemed to consciously avoid well-qualified men and women from the Republican establishment, preferring office-seekers with few qualifications for their jobs other than loyalty to Trump and his ideology. The Flynn appointment was disastrous, mitigated only by the fact he was forced to resign in less than a month.
In 1787, shortly after the Constitution was written, future president James Madison called for a new national government in which elected and appointed officials would be “enlightened statesmen.” However, Madison realistically recognized that people with superior qualifications, experience, and commitment to the public good would not always be at the helm.
Every president makes occasional bad choices, but that differs from persistently bad judgment. Abraham Lincoln, the greatest president, made mistakes, and a few appointments were awful, but Lincoln usually had the strength of character to dismiss incompetents and the corrupt, replacing them with better people. Lincoln’s appointees clearly improved during four years in office, and that was a certain sign of Lincoln’s greatness.
Pardoning a former White House official who admitted breaking federal law was, to borrow one of President Trump's favorite sour descriptions of events, sad.