Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said he “strongly opposes” President Joe Biden preemptively pardoning lawmakers who led the January 6th committee on Wednesday.
President-elect Donald Trump recently said during an interview on Sunday’s Meet The Press that he would be open to jailing members who served on the House panel responsible for investigating the January 6th Capitol riot.
During a Wednesday morning interview on CNN, Blumenthal told network anchor Jim Acosta that he opposes the president offering pardons for lawmakers on the committee:
I strongly oppose preemptive pardon. First of all, it’s in some ways going to be perceived as an implicit acknowledgment of guilt. I’m a former prosecutor, United States attorney, chief federal prosecutor in Connecticut, and state attorney general for 20 years. I know. And people should know that walking into a courtroom and making charges is far from proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. There is no evidence of wrongdoing against those members of the January 6th committees who brought those impeachment articles or who prosecuted them. And the likely beneficiaries of preemptive pardons would be the top echelon, and the underlings would still have the fear of that kind of prosecution.But let’s have faith in the criminal justice system and the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I think any such unfounded, unjust charges against people who simply did their jobs would ultimately cause a backlash against Donald Trump because there will be
acquittals and the costs of their defense or investigation, I think, should be borne by a defense fund. I’d certainly contribute or by a pro bono legal team. I sign up, count me in, because I think they are on the right side. And we ought to make these cases a test case for the principle of justice.
Watch the clip above via CNN.