Donald Trump says in his semi-official publication Truth Social that he has pardoned convicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. Leaving aside the absurdity of his claimed authority to pardon people convicted of state, not federal, crimes, we the people need to take a serious, measured and intellectually honest look at the presidential pardon power — and at the broader, dangerous expansion of executive authority exercised by this administration and so far affirmed by the Supreme Court.

The pardon power was never intended to function as a shield for corruption, nor as a transactional tool that rewards loyalty, silence or money. Used recklessly, it undermines equal justice under law and erodes public trust in our democratic institutions. A system in which pardons appear to be for sale — or sel

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