Former federal prosecutor turned legal analyst Glenn Kirschner has warned against Donald Trump’s future plan to evade the law. The expert says Trump may use a presidential pardon to protect himself and his allies from getting prosecuted.
The 79-year-old president is highly likely to prevent legal scrutiny the same way Joe Biden did. Trump himself criticized his predecessor for using a presidential pardon, but that may also be his plan when the time comes.
Trump on Biden: “He didn’t give himself a pardon. And he didn’t give some other people a pardon that needed it. I heard Schiff went to him and just begged for a pardon.” pic.twitter.com/6ungTbID6O
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 23, 2025
Biden pardoned Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, several members of the House Select Committee, and his son, Hunter Biden. Amid the autopen controversy, the new administration claimed the pardons were void. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Anyone receiving ‘Pardons,’ ‘Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect.”
However, he has no authority to overturn Biden’s pardons, according to legal experts and constitutional law. Kirschner, who is the founder of the podcast Justice Matters, spoke about the challenge that would follow if Trump pardons his allies.
He told Daily Beast, “And then you know what our challenge will be, and I hope we’re up to the challenge. We have to go into court, and we have to fight corruptly delivered pardons.”
Kirschner also cited Bill Barr’s testimony, “Even Bill Barr—and I almost never cite him as authority for any proposition—even Bill Barr testified, when asked, testified before Congress that if Donald Trump delivered a pardon to somebody who was covering up evidence of wrongdoing by Donald Trump.”
“It is fraud” — Neguse nails Kristi Noem for lying during her testimony yesterday when she told the Senate that DHS’s $220m ad campaign starring her “went out to a competitive bid” (it did not), and tells her “I think there’s gonna be accountability” pic.twitter.com/yTLA4izqd2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 4, 2026
He said this would be “impermissible use of the pardon power.” Several Trump administration members may receive a pardon from Trump. For instance, Kristi Noem, who was recently reassigned after being removed as DHS secretary, may get legal immunity.
Noem may need legal protection after she allegedly perjured herself during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Attorney General Pam Bondi may also receive a pardon to avoid prosecution for handling the Jeffrey Epstein case.
She’s been accused of hiding documents to protect Trump.
Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files and pushed back on Democratic criticism following a closed-door House Oversight briefing that Democrats ultimately walked out of.
“We had 30 days to redact and release under the law that… pic.twitter.com/gg6Z3Es859
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 19, 2026
Despite warnings about the pardons, Kirschner said prosecutors could still take these cases to court and challenge them. He further added, “And if the courts—trial court, court of appeals, and the Supreme Court—all say no, a president can buy a co-conspirator’s silence by delivering a presidential pardon, then we continue to move in the direction of the end of our republic. Because that is not what the pardon power ought to be able to do.”
