Trump should support a Hillary Clinton pardon – here’s why

Shortly after his election, President-elect Donald Trump reached out to his political opponents and the nation as a whole and promised to be the president of all of the people.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election with dignity and grace. President Obama performed as a statesman and steward of the peaceful transfer of power. Trump eloquently said he wanted to heal the nation.

While my view is a dark foreboding about the prospects of a Trump presidency, I would offer one idea that would give credence to his suggestion that he wants to be president of all of the people.

I would advise Trump as president-elect to publicly support a pre-emptive presidential pardon for Clinton — but not because I believe any crime was committed for which she needs to be pardoned. I emphatically do not.

Rather, Trump supporting a pardon for Clinton would be an act of reconciliation and good faith — one that would begin to heal a dangerously divided America. It would begin to reassure many who deplore the criminalization of political opponents and the partisan vendettas in Washington that have been waged in Washington against Hillary Clinton for far too long.

Trump and Republicans will now control the presidency, the Senate and the House. They will be judged by the high court of history, and by voters in 2018 and 2020, by whether they use their executive and legislative powers to wage vendettas against opponents and continue business as usual in Washington or to lift the spirit of the nation and govern to improve the lives of our people.

The president-elect said many kind things about Bill and Hillary Clinton during the last three decades, before inciting audiences to chant “lock her up.” Only Donald Trump can decide which of those sentiments will define his presidency and ultimate role in history.

Support for a presidential pardon for Clinton would be a dramatic signal to many who are genuinely worried — not without reason — that a Trump presidency could pose dangers to them that no other modern presidency has threatened.

Many Hispanics fear a knock on the door in the middle of the night from a new immigration police force. Many black Americans fear that growing dangers will soon lurk on the streets and that at best they will be non-persons to the next president. Many patriotic Muslims fear they will continue to be demonized by new leaders in the land they love — perhaps Mr. Trump can invite Khizr Khan to dinner to find some things they have in common. Many women fear a Trump victory will turn back the clock on hard-won rights that overcame long held wrongs.

It is unfortunate, but perfectly understandable, that the negative and vindictive way that Trump conducted his campaign has already led to large and growing protest demonstrations in many cities. It would serve the interests of Trump as president-elect to reach out to a divided nation with action as well as words.

Supporting a Clinton pardon would be a powerful signal that the president-elect really does want to heal the wounds that divide the nation, and will not treat those who opposed him as enemies — a view that Richard Nixon warned his successors against in his farewell address minutes before he took his leave from the presidency.

Championing a pardon for Hillary Clinton would be a healing move, a historic gesture and a profound early move to demonstrate that Donald Trump wants truly wants to be the president of all the people, in word and deed, for a nation that desperately hungers for unity.

Again, in my view — and even FBI Director James Comey agrees with this — Clinton has committed no crime for which a pardon is needed. But it is time to turn the page decisively. Will Trump continue to pursue the vendetta politics of business as usual in Washington? Or will he genuinely seek to bring the nation together?

The choice is entirely his.

Republicans like to claim they are the party of Lincoln, which is often said but rarely done. I do not believe for a minute that Trump will govern in the spirit of Lincoln, but nothing would make me happier than for him to prove me wrong. A way to begin would be support a preemptive presidential pardon for Hillary Clinton.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Chief Deputy Majority Whip Bill Alexander (D-Ark.). He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. Contact him at brentbbi@webtv.net.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.