Former President Joe Biden spent the last moments of his time in office issuing preemptive pardons to family members and political allies. He also pardoned thousands of people convicted of crimes, often to the bewilderment of judges and prosecutors, including some here in North Dakota.

New President Donald Trump, meanwhile, spent the first moments after his inauguration releasing hundreds of people who participated in the violent January 6 attack on Congress which was inspired by his lies about the 2020 election.

Mac Schneider has spent the last couple of years working in the justice business. The Justice Department, specifically, as the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota. How does he feel about these pardons?

"The folks I work with are incredibly serious about upholding the rule of law," he said on this episode of Plain Talk, adding that the "wreckage" created by many of those pardoned persists even as their accountability disappears at the stroke of a politician's pen.

"When you get news of that variety, I think of the victims," he said. "That does hurt."

Also on this episode, first-term state Rep. Austin Foss, a Democrat from Fargo, talks about his experiences in his first legislative session, as well as legislation he's proposed that would require employers to give people interested in serving in the legislature a leave of absence.

What does Foss think of the Legislature so far? "I'm surprised by the number of Republicans that do want to work with us," he said.

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