Donald Trump has caused millions of preventable deaths and excess disease; he imposed outrageous, indecent mental anguish on separated parents and children; he’s been unconstitutionally grifting via emoluments from day 1. Yet these pardons infuriate in a new way. 1/

Trump’s pardon spree feels like a crime spree: a murder of justice and rule of law. 2/

I say a murder because just as murder annihilates a life, a tyrant deploying pardons as personal favors and for his own protection annihilates justice and rule of law. 3/

Pardons originated as part of monarchical power. They were the flip side of cruel despotism. Monarchs were free to act malignantly or benevolently: nothing constrained their power. 4/

And this is how Trump uses the pardon power: to show that he is unconstrained by law or principle. The showing is quite crucial to him. Like all despots, he needs and craves the spotlight as well as power. 5/

Through displays like this, Trump means to terrorize us. He means to show that he accepts no limits on himself; and this is why we would be foolish not to fear his efforts to pressure Pence and others to disregard the votes and the Constitution so he can maintain power. 6/

So Trump’s pardon spree puts his lawlessness and authoritarian drive on steroids. His pardons are themselves lawless and drip with authoritarianism. And they are meant to threaten more of same. 7/

Used by a principled executive pardons might be commendable acts of mercy. For Trump, these abusive pardons are meant to show we are at his mercy. 8/