Staff Reports
The trend of leniency in the Biden administration has reached astonishing heights, setting records not just for pardons but for sheer audacity in favoring questionable individuals over justice. It appears Biden has taken a page out of a criminal’s playbook rather than that of a leader, capitalizing on the last hours of his presidency to act on a host of clemency decisions. Among these decisions were notable commutations for his own family members, some infamous faces from Washington, and, most disturbingly, a man convicted of killing two FBI agents.
Leonard Peltier—who, despite having committed a brutal double homicide, found himself a beneficiary of Biden’s newfound penchant for “justice.” Peltier has been serving two consecutive life sentences since 1977 for the cold-blooded murder of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams in 1975. In a move that left more than a few jaws on the floor, Biden chose to push through Peltier’s clemency, disregarding objections from law enforcement veterans, including comments from former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who characterized Peltier as a “remorseless killer.”
Biden commuted the sentence of a cop killer. Biden says you can kill them – I'm not even sure you have to support him.
Maybe this will help you focus. pic.twitter.com/9CAXuiYlSl— Krystal Wasser, MA, STL (@WasserKrystal) January 21, 2025
Biden’s decision has been trumpeted by some on the left as a victory for their perpetual quest for social justice, but opinions from the other side of the aisle point out that this particular act of clemency is, to put it lightly, a slap in the face of those who believe in accountability and rule of law. Wray, sounding the alarm well before the multifaceted disaster of Biden’s final day in office, warned that such a move could devastate the families of the victims. The message seems straightforward: justice should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness or family ties.
That Biden would ignore such opposition underscores a risky gamble: the belief that the victims’ families’ grief is less important than the political games of the moment. Critics are left to wonder if Joe Biden has any respect left for those who genuinely enforce the law. His apparent favoritism for those who’ve skirted it speaks volumes about the priorities of this administration. What kind of message does it send when the president acts as both a family lawyer and an agent of leniency for the guilty?
This record-setting spree of pardons will likely roast in the minds of many Americans, especially those on the right, who view the act as a culmination of the broader “let’s forgive the wrongdoers” mindset that has plagued parts of the Democratic agenda. It’s one thing to grant mercy but another entirely when that mercy is extended to individuals who have blatantly disregarded the sanctity of life and the law. As Biden wraps up this unprecedented term filled with dubious acts of leniency, it appears the only record he is truly breaking is that of the ever-expanding gap between accountability and his version of justice.
