On Inauguration Day, both outgoing and incoming US presidents have issued controversial pardons that have expanded power to new limits.
Joe Biden preemptively pardoned family members, and Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people accused of crimes related to the riots at the US Capitol.
The BBC’s intelligence editor Ross Atkins looks at how both cited “politically motivated persecution” to explain their actions, and why this has undermined confidence in the justice system going forward.
