House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a press release on Wednesday calling for President Joe Biden to issue additional pardons.
The request follows Biden's heavily criticized decision to grant an extensive pardon to his son Hunter. Despite previous and repeated pledges to refrain from such action, Biden this week pardoned Hunter for any offenses he may have committed over the span of a decade.
'Liberty and justice for all.'
Amid the ongoing bipartisan backlash, Jeffries made a unique request: Grant more pardons.
Jeffries wrote, "Throughout his life, President Joe Biden has fought to improve the plight of hardworking Americans struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. Many of these people have been aggressively prosecuted and harshly sentenced for nonviolent offenses, often without the benefit of adequate legal representation."
"Countless lives, families and communities have been adversely impacted, particularly in parts of Appalachia, Urban America and the Heartland," he continued.
"During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses," Jeffries stated.
He argued that such an action by the president would uphold "liberty and justice for all."
Blaze News contacted Jeffries' office for comment, specifically inquiring whether he would support Biden extending pardons to Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro.
A spokesperson for Jeffries responded, "The leader's statement speaks for itself."
Both men were targeted under the current administration's costly and relentless lawfare and were not accused of committing any violent crimes.
Navarro spent approximately four months in federal detention after he was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress. On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Navarro to serve as his senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.
Trump stated in his announcement that Navarro "was treated horribly by the Deep State."
Bannon was previously convicted on the same charges and released from federal prison in late October after serving a four-month sentence.
He stated upon his release, "The four months in federal prison, not only didn't break me, it empowered me. I am more energized and more focused than I've ever been in my entire life."
Bannon is also facing a separate case in New York for allegedly defrauding donors in a fundraising campaign. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of money laundering in the second degree, one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree, scheme to defraud in the first degree, and conspiracy in the fifth degree.
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The Biden-Harris administration reportedly spent at least $50 million in taxpayer funds to go after President-elect Donald Trump in two federal criminal cases.
Fox News Digital reviewed Department of Justice expenditure reports, indicating that the Special Counsel Office, led by Jack Smith, incurred costs of $9.25 million from November 2022 to March 2023. A subsequent report showed an additional $14.66 million spent over the next six months. From October 2023 to March 2024, there was another $11.84 million in expenses. The expenditures from April 2024 to September 2024 have not yet been reported, but based on the average of the previous reported periods, it is estimated to be approximately $12 million.
'Empty and lawless.'
Therefore, since Smith's appointment in late 2022, the office has reportedly spent an estimated total of approximately $47.5 million.
The news outlet stated that the expenditures included both direct and indirect costs related to the two federal indictments overseen by Smith.
Newsweek reported earlier this month that the total is likely "well past" $50 million when including expenditures from September 30 onward.
Ultimately, the Biden administration's relentless lawfare against Trump came to a screeching halt following the outcome of the presidential election.
In the summer, Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida dismissed one of Smith's federal cases against Trump, where the president-elect was accused of mishandling classified documents. In her dismissal, Cannon ruled that Smith's appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional. Smith filed an appeal but moved to place that request on hold earlier this month.
On Monday, Smith requested to dismiss the other federal case against Trump, which alleged that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Smith cited a longstanding DOJ policy that prevents the agency from filing criminal charges against a sitting president. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan approved Smith's motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, thereby allowing the option to reinstate the charges in the future.
However, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig explained on Tuesday why he believes the federal cases will not be revived after Trump's presidency despite being dismissed without prejudice.
"Yes, technically the cases were dismissed without prejudice, which means technically someone could come back in four years and reinstitute these charges," Honig said. "It's not mathematically eliminated. That's not gonna happen for a lot of reasons. First of all, four years from now is an eternity. Whoever the next president is in 2029, the next attorney general is gonna have no appetite in bringing this case back."
Honig also stated that "there are moves Donald Trump's DOJ could make" to eliminate that possibility.
"They can go back to the court and say, 'We want to switch this from without prejudice to with prejudice,' meaning it cannot be brought back. Who knows, Donald Trump may try to issue himself a pardon, something we've never seen before," he continued. "So I wouldn't hold out any expectation that this case ever gets charged in 2029."
Trump now faces only two state-level indictments, one in New York and the other in Georgia. However, the judge overseeing his New York criminal case, where he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, has agreed to review the defense's request to dismiss the case. The Georgia case remains tied up in the courts, with some speculating it may also be thrown out over Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' potential disqualification.
On Monday, Trump posted a statement on Truth Social responding to the recent case dismissal.
"These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party's fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before," he wrote.
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