Trump has claimed he has the absolute right to pardon himself--and he has many reasons to want one. If Biden’s DOJ investigates, they’ll have plenty of potential charges to choose from, including obstruction of justice, lying to investigators, and making Scott Baio a thing again.

If Nixon had faced real consequences, it could have made subsequent administrations think twice before abusing their power. That's why whether or not Trump pardons himself, states still need to investigate him and his allies. It's not about vengeance.

It's about restoring our faith in institutions and strengthening the guardrails that have barely held over the last four years. If we fail to learn from Trump's attacks on democracy, we'll only have ourselves to blame when the next GOP administration finishes the job he started.