After Carlson asked for an explanation, Taibbi said that according to legal experts he has spoken with, the pardons would not, for instance, allow the recipients to plead the Fifth Amendment if Congress called them to testify.
“Now, once the pardon’s delivered, the person can’t plead the Fifth. If they are brought before a grand jury, they can’t take the Fifth anymore, or if they’re brought before a congressional committee, they can’t evoke their right against self-incrimination, so they have to say something,” the journalist explained.
“And this is what’s so interesting because I’ve been talking to criminal defense attorneys, people who are former Senate investigators, some current Senate investigators, and they all kind of said the same thing,” he said. “It’s so illogical to give somebody a pardon if you’re trying to cover up things that the only reason you would really do it is if there are very serious crimes involved, right?
Advertisement
“So that’s a red flag for us. When we see somebody getting a pardon, we think, well, why would they do that unless there’s something really bad there, right?” Taibbi said. “So either it’s a mistake where they just stupidly made It easier for everybody to investigate, or there’s something we don’t know about [and] that is interesting.”
WATCH
Taibbi isn’t alone in predicting that the preemptive pardons for Fauci, Cheney, and members of Joe Biden’s family might not protect them from all future legal actions.
Federal litigation attorney Jesse Binnall pointed out earlier this month that Biden’s pardons do not shield them from consequences if they lie under oath, should the GOP-controlled Congress subpoena them to testify. In his words, the pardons could be “great news” for anyone seeking to see the two prosecuted.
“The pardons are actually great news. No one who was just pardoned will be able to refuse to testify in a civil, criminal, or congressional proceeding based upon the 5th Amendment,” Binnall wrote on X, before dropping another truth bomb.
“And let’s just be realistic. Most of these disgusting individuals would probably have to be charged in Washington, DC, which doesn’t convict partisan leftists,” Binnall, also a former attorney for President Donald Trump, wrote.
Other X users offered a potential solution to the problem of liberal bias in DC, including retired U.S. Army officer, lawyer, and author Kurt Schlichter.
“This is key – the depositions and the actual testimony must take place outside of Washington DC. Washington DC is a biased venue that will not convict Democrats when they commit perjury. Accordingly, take this show on the road,” he wrote.
Others who received Sunday night pardons were former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Army Gen. Mark Milley, who later criticized Trump during his first term and all other members of the J6 committee.
Trump specifically addressed Biden’s pardon of Cheney while he was signing executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday in between inauguration day functions.
“I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political folks,” he told assembled reporters, referring to the Jan. 6 panel.
“Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley? Why are we helping Liz Cheney?” he asked. “I mean, Liz Cheney is a disaster. She’s a crying lunatic and crying, crying.”
