Brendan Boyle calls on Joe Biden to issue blanket pardon of those who could be targeted by Trump’s FBI director pick

U.S. Rep Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.) called on President Joe Biden on Wednesday to issue a blanket pardon of individuals who Boyle believes could be targeted by Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial choice for FBI director.

In a statement, Boyle said Patel and Trump plan to investigate and prosecute perceived adversaries guided by an “enemies list” published in Patel’s book. In his 2022 book, Government Gangsters, Patel lists the names of 60 individuals in the appendix, titled “Members of the Executive Branch Deep State.”

The names on the list range from Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, to Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump, too, has threatened to target his perceived political enemies, making more than 100 threats since 2022 to punish or prosecute his foes, NPR reported.

“These patriots shouldn’t have to live in fear of political retribution for doing what’s right,” Boyle said in the statement. “That’s why I’m urging President Biden to issue a blanket pardon for anyone unjustly targeted by this vindictive scheme.”

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So far, Boyle appears to be the only U.S. House Democrat from Pennsylvania to publicly call on Biden to issue a blanket pardon, but the move is part of mounting criticism of Patel — a staunch Trump ally — whose comments about his plans as FBI director have cultivated some skepticism and may make him vulnerable to harsher questioning during his confirmation hearings.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.), who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Saturday in a post on X that “Kash Patel will be another test of the Senate’s power of advice and consent.”

“Patel needs to prove to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he has the right qualifications and, despite his past statements, will put our nation’s public safety over a political agenda focused on retribution,” Coons said.

Patel’s nomination was also a factor in Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, Coons said Tuesday on MSNBC.

“The nomination of folks like Kash Patel to be director of the FBI … weighed heavily on the president,” Coons said. “And so despite repeatedly saying he would not pardon his son, he looked at these two and said Trump’s campaign rhetoric that he would use the levers of power of the federal government to go after his political opponents and enemies, he concluded that that was certain to happen.”

Patel has said that he wants to remove “conspirators” against Trump from the government and that he wants to shut down the FBI’s headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, and then send the employees there to “chase down criminals” across the country, though PBS reported that most of his ideas would likely face resistance.

“The time for cautious restraint is over,” Boyle said in his statement. “We must act with urgency to push back against these threats and prevent Trump from abusing his power.”