President Trump signaled he is prepared to issue broad preemptive pardons to anyone who served in his administration if Democrats move ahead with plans to prosecute his allies and staff.
I would if I needed to. Sure, Trump told The Posts Miranda Devine in a Pod Force One interview. According to the New York Post, when pressed on whether that pledge extended to all who worked for him, the president did not hesitate.
Id do it, he said. I did it for J6.
Trump granted clemency to roughly 1,500 defendants tied to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol unrest on his first day back in office in 2025, a sweeping move that infuriated the left but underscored his commitment to those he believes were politically targeted. He contrasted his approach with that of Joe Biden, who used his final hours in the Oval Office to shield key allies and family members from future legal jeopardy.
Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, members and staff of the House Jan. 6 committee, and several relatives including his scandal-plagued son Hunter. Thats what Biden did. He gave everybody a pardon, Trump said.
He dismissed the Jan. 6 panel as the unselect committee and a corrupt committee, framing it as a partisan weapon rather than a legitimate investigative body. Democrats, meanwhile, are increasingly open about using prosecutorial power to intimidate conservatives out of public service.
Last month, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told an audience at the University of Chicago that a Democratic majority should bring signature cases against the people who enable Trump. The objective, she admitted, is to scare off the next generation of right-leaning professionals from joining the Trump administration.
I want that deterrence message sent, Slotkin said, openly endorsing a strategy of legal harassment as a political tool. Slotkin went even further in undercover footage recorded by Townhall, explaining that each congressional committee would pursue its own cases to hold people accountable starting in January.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), poised to chair the Judiciary Committee if Democrats seize the House, has vowed to dig into what he labels the administrations systemic corruption. Some progressives are pushing an even more radical agenda that blends ideological retribution with economic control.
Robert Reich, the 4-foot-11-inch former labor secretary, has urged Democrats to lay the groundwork for nationalizing SpaceX, while others have floated targeting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers such as Edward Coristine, known as Big Balls. When Devine raised the notion that this crusade could extend to arresting Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, Trump did not flinch.
It wont happen. Its talk, he said. But if it is talk, well have to protect them.
Even so, legal experts note that pardons are not a cure-all, as they apply only to federal offenses and cannot block state prosecutions, civil litigation, or impeachment efforts. Asked whether he personally expects to be in Democrats legal crosshairs, Trump was candid about the uncertainty.
Well, I dont know about me, he said. Polls currently suggest Democrats are favored to flip the House, but Trump dismissed those surveys as rigged and pointed instead to the massive crowds at his rallies as evidence that Republicans are stronger than the political class admits.
Well know on Tuesday night, he said. For conservatives watching an opposition openly discuss criminalizing policy differences and punishing political service, the stakes extend far beyond one election cycle and cut to the heart of whether the rule of law will remain neutral or become just another partisan weapon.
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