Why Biden must investigate Trump

Joe Biden is wary of investigating Donald Trump's alleged crimes, several of his advisers have told NBC News. "One adviser said Biden has made it clear that he 'just wants to move on,'" the article states, though advisers also insist that, unlike Trump, Biden will not directly interfere with the Department of Justice. Such reticence would have no effect on the legal inquiries happening on the state and local level, though it would potentially let Trump off on many alleged federal offenses.

There are three important things to say about this. First, speaking to the press about how Biden is reluctant to prosecute Trump is itself putting political pressure on the future Department of Justice. No matter their level of professionalism, an administration's lawyers are going to look to the president for their cues.

Second, it is virtually beyond question that the entire Trump administration is riddled with crime. Right out in the open we have seen egregious violations of the Hatch Act, alleged blackmail and illegal coercion, the president running a massive bribery scheme through his business empire, and about a million other things. And that is just what is known publicly.

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Third, it follows that the principle Biden is tiptoeing towards amounts to saying "presidents should be allowed to commit crimes with impunity." If a scofflaw so egregious as Trump can skate after he leaves office, then the rule of law is dead.

It is frankly baffling that Democrats are so timid about prosecuting Republican crimes. When Barack Obama took office, his predecessor had created a secret CIA torture program that accomplished nothing and was baldly illegal. Corruption and crime are very unpopular, and one would think that a party would leap at the chance to expose their opponent's criminal acts. But Obama refused to prosecute any of the major architects of the program, and in fact defended them in public. (Now one of the torturers is in charge of the CIA.)

We may have to hope that the legal violations are so enormous that Biden simply can't cover them up. It's a safe bet that if anyone takes even a cursory look into the Trump administration's inner workings, they will find breathtaking lawlessness.