A Pardon as a Conspiracy — The Public Isn’t Buying the Deal

A Pardon as a Conspiracy — The Public Isn’t Buying the Deal

Granting the state relief from the burden of its government is the duty of the moment — not a tailor-made pardon designed to fit the accused who stands at its head.

Public trust has already been damaged. The rule of law will suffer a severe blow, and a partial democracy, still in the making, will not be sufficient to complete its formation.

A pardon that comes as a conspiracy is an assault on the law, on the judiciary, and on an entire society that claims to be democratic.The presidency — the unifying, restorative national institution — must not stumble in this test.

The President’s House is the final gate standing before a regime upheaval; if it collapses, it will no longer be possible to stop the drift toward constitutional transformation.

A pardon as a conspiracy — and the public isn’t buying the deal.