Philip Allen Lacovara writes:

After the final tumultuous months of the Nixon presidency, Gerald R. Ford decided to end the “long national nightmare” that was Watergate by pardoning his predecessor, thus sparing Richard M. Nixon from the dock where his senior aides awaited trial. Because I considered Ford’s pardon a serious mistake, I resigned in protest as the counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor. I hope that when President-elect Joe Biden assumes office, he will not repeat the same mistake.

Biden’s natural instinct is to let bygones be bygones. He demonstrated this when he brushed off attacks from Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) during the primary debates and chose her to be his running mate. Biden and some of his advisers may believe that the best way to close the book on the Trump presidency, with all of its corruption, abuse and mendacity, is simply to forget the past four years. In virtually any other presidential succession, this course might be prudent and consistent with our history of peaceful transitions without recrimination, vindictiveness or rummaging around for criminality.

But one need not embark on a malicious hunt to identify serious criminal abuses by Trump and many of his closest aides. Their conduct has revealed a pattern of disregard for the normal standards of public order, including those embedded in federal criminal statutes. The issue, therefore, is whether it is sound public policy to ignore these offenses to try to avoid further political rancor. There are three reasons why I think we cannot ignore them. [Continue reading…]