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Needed: Hearings on Trump Pardons

Needed: Hearings on Trump Pardons

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- President Donald Trump appears poised to abuse his pardon power, and not for the first time. He has already excused from justice the law-defying likes of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and businessman (and Trump biographer) Conrad Black.

But those pardons are small potatoes next to the ones that Trump reportedly now contemplates for convicted or alleged war criminals. He has already issued one to an Army officer convicted of killing an Iraqi man. And he is said to be considering several others, including one for an Army officer charged with murdering an unarmed Taliban soldier and another for an American contractor convicted of participating in the 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis.

Because a president’s license in this area is unrestricted, Congress cannot legally prevent pardons. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi can raise the political price — and she should make it clear that the House is prepared to do so.

Not every soldier, fighting far from home in a dangerous war zone, proves able to uphold the moral standards that distinguish warfare from barbarism. U.S. conflicts in the Philippines, Vietnam, Iraq and elsewhere have all produced notorious examples of illegal brutality.

Prosecuting such behavior is not always popular. Many Americans sympathize with a soldier who, under pressure, goes too far. Others are reluctant to acknowledge that “too far” even exists in a war zone. When Lieutenant William Calley Jr. was prosecuted for the 1968 massacre at My Lai in Vietnam, thousands of citizens contacted the White House demanding his exoneration. (Others expressed outrage that Calley’s superiors were not similarly charged.)

But while the punishment of war crimes cannot be entirely insulated from politics, military and political leaders must do all they can to uphold the law. If the U.S. legitimizes torture and other illegal behavior on the part of Americans, it undermines values at home and U.S. policy abroad — at enormous cost to the country’s long-term interests.

To prevent such damage, Pelosi should prepare hearings on Trump’s use of the pardon power. Then, if he proceeds to exonerate alleged or convicted war criminals, he’ll do so knowing that voters will learn enough of the details to gauge for themselves whether the pardons are warranted. Among those asked to testify should be the Navy Seal commandos who raised alarms about misconduct on the part of a superior who is said to be on Trump’s pardon list. Allegations against him include the assassination of a school-aged girl out walking with her friends.

Military experts, too, should be invited to explain the dangers such pardons pose to American troops in the field. And every member of Congress should have a chance to make public his or her own attitudes toward pardons for war criminals.

Congress has limited tools to discourage improper pardons. To restrain this president’s escalating abuses, it should air them in public.

Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.

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