A pardon and a crisis.

Thoughts on Hunter and Kash Patel.

One thing can be bad. Another thing can be much worse.

Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter is bad. Kash Patel for FBI director is worse.

Hunter Biden Pardon:

Yes, Biden’s pardon of Hunter was perfectly legal and well within the presidency's power. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

Joe Biden ran as the defender of institutions—the protector of our political norms. This is why he rejected calls to expand the Supreme Court, grant statehood to Puerto Rico and D.C., pressure Merrick Garland to fast-track investigations into Donald Trump, and go after Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito for their clear ethics violations. All things that would have made it easier for Democrats to make life better for all Americans, but would have further eroded our institutions.

I’m personally very disappointed by this pardon. Joe Biden asked us to trust him and believe that institutions and norms are more important than one person and one presidency. Then, for personal reasons, he acted against that.

Now let me be very clear here: Anyone who has supported Donald Trump, voted for him, or publicly flirted with supporting him, have no credibility on this issue. The pardon of Hunter Biden pales in comparison to the litany of crimes and norm-shattering that Donald Trump has committed.

Let me just run through a quick list of things the Hunter Biden pardon does NOT do:

• It will not embolden Trump to break more norms or commit more crimes.

• It will not make defending said crimes easier for Trump’s defenders.

• It will not contribute to further norm-breaking by politician X looking to do their best Trump impersonation.

Trump is going to do what Trump does, and his pathetic defenders are going to find a way to brush it off. Pardon or not, Trump was going to Trump. This doesn’t make it any easier for them.

The Hunter Biden pardon was bad. It should not have happened, but it needs to be put into proper perspective because there are much worse things.

Kash Patel as Director of the FBI

Donald Trump plans to fire FBI director Christopher Wray and appoint an extreme loyalist, Kash Patel.

This should send a shudder down the spine of all Americans. An incoming president firing the head of the FBI is taking a nuke to our norms.

To prevent the FBI from being politicized, FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms. This position is shielded from presidential appointments to ensure that the director is not a loyalist. Before Trump, the only other time this happened was when incoming President Bill Clinton fired William Sessions following a Justice Department report of ethics “lapses” the previous Bush administration issued.

And despite the bi-partisan concerns, Clinton faced huge backlash.

If Donald Trump follows through on his plan, he will have fired both FBI directors when entering office. This alone is a crisis.

Trump’s replacement for Christopher Wray is Kash Patel. This is what Bill Barr wrote in his book about his reaction the Kash Patel being floated for Deputy Director of the FBI:

I categorically opposed making Patel deputy FBI director. I told Mark Meadows it would happen “over my dead body.” “Furthermore, Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency.”

Elaina Plott Calabro wrote a detailed profile of Kash Patel in the Atlantic in which Patel is described as:

It wasn’t a question of ideology. He wasn’t a zealot like Stephen Miller, trying to make the bureaucracy yield to his agenda. Rather, Patel appeared singularly focused on pleasing Trump. Even in an administration full of loyalists, Patel was exceptional in his devotion.

What wouldn’t a person like that do, if asked?

In short, Patel is a devoted loyalist of Donald Trump. His appointment as head of the FBI is a clear sign that Trump plans to use the Department of Justice as an extension of his power.

So what does a loyalist to Trump as head of the FBI look like? Well, Kash Patel has openly talked about going after the media.

In his book, he published a list of deep-state individuals who need to be targeted. Some of the names on that list are:

• Lloyd Austin - Secretary of Defense under President Biden

• John Bolton - Former National Security Advisor under Trump

• Joe Biden

• Hilary Clinton

• James Comey - Former FBI Director

• Alyssa Farah - Former Director of Strategic Communication under President Trump

• Kamala Harris

So, for those keeping notes. Kash Patel is a blind loyalist of Donald Trump, with no qualifying experience to run the FBI, who has openly discussed prosecuting the media and has a list of Trump dissidents that he wants to target.

This is who Trump wants to run the FBI.

Senators, do your job.