A preemptive pardon is tricky. Rep. Matt Gaetz didn’t get one four years ago, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. According to two Trump White House aides who testified before the January 6 committee, Gaetz sought a pardon after being informed he was a target of a Justice Department probe into sex trafficking authorized by then Attorney General Bill Barr.

Other members of Congress implicated in the January 6 insurrection also clamored for blanket protection from a brooding President Trump, who refused to accept he had lost the election. He ignored their entreaties, even though as president he had issued nearly 150 pardons, including to rabid supporters Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn.

Trump knows how the game works, and he’s been upfront for months about using every lever of government to seek retribution from those who he believes wronged him. His choice for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, is an election denier who should be disqualified on that alone. Instead, she is expected to lead the charge purging the DOJ of anyone who worked on prosecuting Trump, while also wasting taxpayer money to dig up alleged fraud from the 2020........

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