On pardons, Biden weighs whether to flex presidential powers in broad new ways

President Joe Biden faces a stark choice as he contemplates broad preemptive pardons to protect aides and allies from potential retribution by Donald Trump. It comes down to whether he hews to the institutional norms he’s spent decades defending or flexes the powers of the presidency in untested ways. The deliberations so far are largely at the level of White House lawyers. But Biden himself has discussed the topic with some senior aides. That's according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. No decisions have been made, and it is possible Biden opts to do nothing at all.