Biden signals urge to back off Donald Trump

[misanthrope]

According to NBC News, Joe Biden has told aides he thinks ongoing investigations of the most corrupt presidential administration in history might further divide the nation.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/president-elect-biden-wary-trump-focused-investigations-sources-say-n1247959

In my opinion, the hesitancy to more vigorously prosecute preceding administrations like Nixon and Reagan is what set us on the path to this. We are on the precipice now because the next authoritarian con man who gets in office might not be as ham-handed as Trump.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Hope NY comes through

[Siwsan]

2. Or, he could be letting trump* drop his guard, a bit. I'm thinking of the talk of self pardoning

Besides, he already said he's going to leave all of that up to his DOJ.

[Cha]

8. Funny.. that's what I'm thinking.

Yes, & that's exactly what Biden said about that.. that he wouldn't stand in the way.

[ehrnst]

44. +100

[MontanaMama]

3. If the criminals in this administration do not feel

the full force of the law, they won't quit and it gives permission to those coming up behind them to do the same or worse. Some of these criminals will remain in government after January 20, 2021 and they need to receive the memo of what will and will not be tolerated. Talking to YOU Lindsey Graham.

[icwlmuscyia]

4. I was afraid this would happen

That is why I hope we get an AG who will investigate and prosecute.

If the Trump admin is not investigated and prosecuted the will signal to the next fascist wannabe dictator that they can do what they want.

[tman]

5. Let the DOJ do it's damn job and stop with the signals.

Anything else would be a tragic mistake and a betrayal of the law.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Burying the lede.

He's staying out of any DOJ investigations of him. Which he should. It's not his place personally to advocate for Trump's prosecution. He'll have other things to worry about.

The DOJ--as well as New York state--will do what it thinks is in the best interests of justice when it comes to Donald Trump.

[KewlKat]

14. This

[Talitha]

39. Exactly this

[CrispyQ]

7. We will look forward, as we reach across the aisle to repubs, to help heal the nation.

That's not what we voted for. IMO, we will lose the House if we go down this path.

[crimycarny]

9. OMFG

If this happens I will totally LOSE MY SH*T!!! Everyone needs to be held accountable to the same laws! You’ve got people rotting in prison for possession of marijuana and you’re going to let off the most corrupt administration in recent history?

THIS IS WHY PEOPLE DON’T VOTE! Especially why the Democratic base gets demoralized.

(And great way to suppress the vote for the Georgia Senate race. WTF?). I’m so sick and tired of the milquetoast Democratic Party.

[triron]

11. May divide democrats.

[Politicalgolfer]

10. Gee...not like that could have been predicted a long time ago😠

Knew it! We never get it through our heads that doing the "time to move on" shit gives a blank check to these goddamn fascist animals to do it again and push their criminality further. Hey, why not stop prosecuting murderers because it might upset psychopaths😠 I'm 76 & I am sick of watching this shit!!!!!

[crimycarny]

19. EXACTLY!!!!!!!

What the h*ly f*ck! He doesn’t want to alienate the 73 million who voted for Trump? The ones stoking racism? Embracing white supremacy and conspiracy theories? What about the almost 80 million who voted AGAINST Trump?

This will be IT for all those new voters who came out in droves to vote against Trump. As egregious as Trump and Bill Barr were to our constitution—they need to BE BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!

Oh this makes me absolutely furious. And it won’t help the race in Georgia. Why bother? Nothing is going to change.

[Thekaspervote]

29. Read post #27 and then READ the whole article!!

[crimycarny]

33. I READ the whole article

I'm not an idiot. It's the messaging, haven't we learned by now the voting public isn't so great at nuance?

How'd "defund the police" work out for us?

For Biden to signal that he wants the "nation to heal" and doesn't want to "stoke more division"---the majority of the electorate isn't going to read past that and come to the conclusion "oh, he just means he wants to remain separate from his DOJ.

[LanternWaste]

38. It does not follow.

Try your same sentiment one more time while avoiding the above-mentioned logical fallacy (as well as your pretense of absoute knowledge of what the electorate thinks). You may be surprised out how different your conclusion becomes.

[crimycarny]

40. Pretense of absolute knowledge

Yes, I totally spoke in absolutes when I wrote Because “the majority of the electorate” (because majority is the same as every single person, right?).

Give me a break. Obviously based on many of the responses here, the message from Biden is anything but clear. And many don’t forget how Obama never pursued Bush for war crimes.

We have just lived through one of THE most corrupt Administrations in our Nation’s history. Red lines that many of us never thought would be crossed have been bulldozed through. Joe Biden talking about his “preference” for not pursuing Trump out of concern for further dividing the country, and following that up with “but I’ll leave that up to the DOJ” isn’t all that comforting to those who remember what’s happened historically.

[KewlKat]

12. Would it not be our NEW DOJ dept to decide independent

Of what President Biden thinks to investigate and prosecute the dumbass for the crimes they find?

[brooklynite]

13. But doesn't he know that the blogosphere insists?

[Joinfortmill]

15. Biden can be the "good cop" while his AG is the "bad cop".

Lock these "mothers" up!

[MFM008]

16. Maybe he knows

NY will come through.

[stillcool]

17. stirring it up...

he's said so many times he will leave it up to the Justice Dept. Of course that doesn't matter. If you want to grab something Biden, and run with it, like a MAGAT with a Trump-flag, have at it.

[we can do it]

18. How many of these posts are we going to have today?

[Kaleva]

20. People like being outraged over something that has yet to happen

So expect a dozen or so more threads on this.

[Mz Pip]

21. The GOP didn't back off Biden

All those phony investigations into Burisma and Hunter would make me want to follow through with the Trump crime family.

Still, Biden will have a lot on his plate undoing the devastation Trump’s caused.

[11 Bravo]

22. What would Leo Durocher do?

[Thrill]

23. Back to being soft ass Democrats

This is why Republicans do corrupt shit when in power because they know Democrats won’t do a damn thing

[Thekaspervote]

25. This is SO misleading!! If you read what Biden said he will be leaving decisions up to his AG

And would in no way interfere with the NY investigation. He personally doesn’t want to be involved...

[unblock]

24. rewarding criminals with a free pass is a recipe for more crime.

when was the last time anyone every thought we shouldn't arrest any other type of criminal "because it might further divide the nation"???

[Thekaspervote]

27. Read the whole article!

Biden wants his Justice Department to function independently from the White House, aides said, and Biden isn't going to tell federal law enforcement officials whom or what to investigate or not to investigate.

"His overarching view is that we need to move the country forward," an adviser said. "But the most important thing on this is that he will not interfere with his Justice Department and not politicize his Justice Department."


He didn't say his administration wouldn't prosecute Trump and his minions. He said he wouldn't allow his presidency to be consumed by investigations and that he would allow his DOJ to do what it needed to do without his interference.

That's EXACTLY what he needs to say and do.

A misleading headline on a story with a bunch of unnamed sources

[unblock]

32. good to hear, i hope it plays out that way.

if the doj really does go after them, then i agree it would work well for biden to say i don't have anything to do with it, the doj is just enforcing the law.

but if this is a way for the cases to go away or never materialize, then no, not good.

[TheRealNorth]

26. Not pursuing investigations..

Would lend credence to the claim that the investigations were solely motivated by politics.

I don't know if we need to overturn every rock, but we should at the very least examine what has been hidden from us regarding the Mueller investigation, the impeachment investigation, and Trump's financial conflicts. If documents are destroyed or erased, you go after people for destroying those documents.

[FakeNoose]

28. As long as Barr is there, it's not the Dept. of Justice

... it's the Dept. of Right-Wing Revenge.

Get rid of Bill Barr and the other Chump toadies first, then decide what the next step is.

[ecstatic]

30. This storyline might be a trick geared towards softening trump

Play pretend nice with toddler trump to get the transition going?

Remember, we're sort of in hostage negotiations now. trump is holding the nation hostage.

[KG]

31. I lulz'd

[blitzen]

34. I agree with Joe, but it's not about dividing, it's to keep Trump out of the news n/t

[oasis]

35. Indict the criminal. That, at least, will be on the record. nt

[dsc]

36. In the case of Nixon it wasn't a lack of will it was a lack of ability

Several Nixon henchmen did go to jail, Nixon was pardoned. With Reagan, most of the major figures got pardoned by Bush 1 at the end of this term. Reagan would not have been prosecutable due to alzheimers. We do need to prosecute Trump and his henchmen unless they get pardons. Trump was, and is, a dangerous criminal. I hope this is a let the DOJ be the DOJ thing, and not a rein in the DOJ thing. But that said, I think Trump is considerably more likely to see the inside of a state prison than a federal one.

[Vinca]

37. This has been my biggest fear. The old kumbayah routine.

If roles were reversed, the GOP would have already voted to bring back the gallows or a public firing squad and would be well on their way to a verdict to make sure they got used. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No kumbayah for fucking Mitch, Lindsey, Kevin and the rest of the boot lickers and especially no "make nice" to Trump. Joe can't possibly believe Trump isn't going to hammer him for the next 4 years on an hourly basis if he plays the pardon card. Joe can have chocolates and flowers delivered every morning and Trump is still going to try to destroy Joe, his family and this country. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marius25]

41. He better not. One of the reasons people voted for him

was to hold the Trump admin accountable. No administration has ever committed this many crimes. You can't just ignore that.

[JCMach1]

42. Let's get him out of DC first... So good to dial it down

A bit

After Jan. 20

[pansypoo53219]

43. let states do it.