A Daily Wire column published this week is urging President Trump to issue a sweeping pardon covering every Schedule C political appointee in his administration, framing the move as a preemptive defense against what the outlet describes as a promised campaign of political prosecutions by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).
The opinion piece, written from a strongly pro-Trump perspective, claims that Slotkin told an audience at the University of Chicago that she hopes planned investigations of Republican officials will deter young conservatives from entering government service. The column cites reporting by the Chicago Thinker and a video clip circulated on social media to support that characterization.
What Slotkin Said—and How It’s Being Framed
According to the Daily Wire’s account, Slotkin was asked about the prospect that her proposals could make young conservatives who choose government work “a pariah politically, socially, maybe even legally.” The phrasing was attributed in the column to the event’s moderator, identified as the editorial director of Vox. The Daily Wire argues that Slotkin did not dispute the framing and that she subsequently doubled down in a post on X.
In that post, quoted in the column, Slotkin wrote that “America must be a place where the rule of law still matters” and that laws “should apply to everyone equally.” She added that anyone who “aided in the corrupt use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to benefit the President or his family, or you have violated the law in order to carry out guidance from the President, you should be held accountable.” The post also noted that the Supreme Court has granted the president immunity but has not extended the same protection to those who act illegally at his behest.
The Daily Wire column characterizes those remarks as a threat to rank-and-file staffers who have committed no crime, arguing that the promise of investigations is intended to intimidate young conservatives out of public service. The outlet says the comments drew condemnation from some of Slotkin’s Senate colleagues, though the column does not name them or provide specifics.
The Pardon Proposal
The centerpiece of the column is a demand that President Trump announce, before leaving office, that he has pardoned every Schedule C political appointee in his administration. The author argues that such a move would deny Slotkin and other Democrats the ability to use “the tactics of legal terrorism against the young people who just signed up to work and serve the country.”
The piece acknowledges that the pardon power has already become what it calls a “broken cheat code solution to our toxic partisanship,” but contends that after the pardon of Hunter Biden, there is no reason it cannot be used to prevent prosecutions motivated by politics. The author predicts that critics will “screech and shout” and turn to the courts, but insists the practical effect would be to show that staffers cannot be targeted for their political affiliation.
The column also takes aim at Republicans who have criticized Slotkin’s remarks, accusing them of hypocrisy. The author notes that Trump directed the Justice Department and FBI to investigate him less than a year ago over a 90-second video, and says he would have faced criminal indictment if not for grand jury members who refused to go along. That experience, the author writes, means he will not accept “manufactured outrage” from those who have cheered the weaponization of government against Trump’s opponents.
A Broader Argument About Political Retribution
The Daily Wire piece places the dispute in a broader argument about the escalating use of legal investigations as political weapons. It contends that Slotkin’s remarks are unprecedented in modern American history, comparing them unfavorably to the treatment of former Confederate officials after the Civil War, many of whom returned to Congress under the Amnesty Act of 1872.
The column asserts that Slotkin’s comments amount to a promise that, once Democrats regain power, they will “ruin lives and careers at will, whether anyone is guilty of anything or not.” It argues that Republicans have for too long treated Democratic complaints as good-faith disagreements and that it is time to fight back.
Notably, the author concedes that President Trump has himself used the government against perceived enemies, writing that Trump “has turned the government against people, with raucous support from you and virtually all D.C. Republicans.” The piece does not call for an end to such tactics, but rather presents the pardon proposal as a defensive measure necessitated by the other side’s conduct.
What’s Not in Dispute
The column does not identify any specific staffer who has been charged or threatened with prosecution, nor does it provide evidence that Slotkin has assembled a target list of appointees. Instead, it relies on her public remarks and the interpretation offered by the moderator to argue that prosecutions of young staffers are planned.
Slotkin’s office did not respond to a request for comment referenced in the column, and the Daily Wire piece does not include any response from her beyond the X post. The column also does not address whether a blanket pardon of Schedule C appointees would be legally effective for future conduct or whether it would cover state-level investigations, which fall outside the president’s pardon power.
As an opinion column, the piece reflects the views of its author and the outlet rather than reporting new facts about Slotkin’s plans. It is nonetheless notable as a signal of how some Trump allies are thinking about protecting administration personnel ahead of a potential change in power—and of how quickly the pardon power has become a central tool in the political fight over investigations.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/to-stop-elissa-slotkins-revenge-president-trump-should-pardon-all-his-staffers