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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Hill: Blumenthal 'strongly opposes' Biden pardons for Jan. 6 panel members
by Juliann Ventura - 12/11/24 3:03 PM ET

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) poured cold water on the idea of President Biden preemptively pardoning lawmakers who served on the House panel tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“I strongly oppose preemptive pardons. First of all, it’s in some ways going to be perceived as an implicit acknowledgment of guilt,” Blumenthal told CNN’s Jim Acosta Wednesday, citing his own credibility as a federal prosecutor and state attorney general for roughly two decades.
“And people should know that walking into a courtroom and making charges is far from proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” he continued in the interview, highlighted by Mediaite. “There is no evidence of wrongdoing against those members of the January 6th committees who brought those impeachment articles or who prosecuted them.”
The final report released by the committee in 2022 included several legislative recommendations, with one that seeks to bar Trump from holding office in the future under the 14th Amendment. The panel also argued that the former president should not be allowed to serve in government because the amendment’s insurrection clause prohibits people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding such posts.
Blumenthal’s opposition comes as President-elect Trump expressed openness to having lawmakers on the Jan. 6 special committee imprisoned during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
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AKwannabe
(6,699 posts)I DONOT agree to a tRump pardon!!!!
Prairie Gates
(4,714 posts)harumph
(2,624 posts)and wailing "Buh Buht...we're still a country of lawz!!!"
Prairie Gates
(4,714 posts)
JohnSJ
(98,313 posts)harumph
(2,624 posts)Maybe futile. You don't know if it's going to hold - but better to try it than not.
bucolic_frolic
(49,578 posts)It's not like the J6 committee is without virtually airtight defenses. They'll have great legal representation in the event.
Intractable
(959 posts)in front of the public.
I think the whole thing is going to be messy, with great potential for blow-back onto the Republicans.
JohnSJ
(98,313 posts)harumph
(2,624 posts)righhhht. The new gang in town aren't about laws. They're about working up the mob and seeing what they can get away with.
I tire of the old "Guardrails will hold..." blather. They most certainly haven't and they most certainly won't.
JohnSJ
(98,313 posts)to abide by laws, then a pardon wouldn't mean a damn thing anyway.
WarGamer
(16,778 posts)beaglelover
(4,225 posts)IA8IT
(6,114 posts)Xoan
(25,498 posts)cpamomfromtexas
(1,400 posts)If they are brought up on charges.