What America needs is more special prosecutors.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that if Kennedy wins the Oval Office, he will not be able to defend the U.S. Capitol riot against rival Donald Trump and his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. He vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate cases related to the former, and claimed he could oppose the former. Although he is president, he is still “perturbed by the government’s weaponization against him.”
“As President, I will appoint a special prosecutor who will be respected by all parties to investigate whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political purposes in this case and will correct any wrongs found. “Without an impartial rule of law, there can be no true democracy or moral governance,” Kennedy, 70, said in a lengthy statement released by his campaign.
Trump, 77, was indicted on August 1 last year on charges of trying to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
The case, brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, is currently on hold as the Supreme Court considers whether Trump can claim “total immunity” for actions he took while in office.
As of January, more than 1,230 people had been charged with federal crimes in connection with the riot that disrupted the official tally of electoral votes in Biden’s favor. About 730 people have pleaded guilty to the charges, and about 170 more have been convicted of at least one charge in trials decided by a judge or jury, according to an Associated Press database.
Since spring 2017, the Justice Department has hired five special counsels: Robert Mueller, John Durham, Smith, Robert Hur, and David Weiss to investigate a variety of issues.
RFK Jr. also said that “reasonable people” told him there was “little evidence of a real riot” that occurred that day.
“Like many reasonable Americans, I am concerned that the momentum of the prosecution, long prison terms, and harsh treatment of defendant J6 may be motivated by political objectives.” “It would fit into an alarming pattern of government agencies such as the Department of Justice, IRS, SEC, and FBI being weaponized against political opponents.”
President Kennedy acknowledged that the events of January 6 were “one of the most polarizing topics in the political landscape,” adding, “In order to understand this event and its aftermath, I will discuss this event in a variety of ways.” “We are listening to people with different perspectives.” I’d like to hear all opinions. ”
On Thursday, Kennedy’s fundraising email was sent out, describing the Jan. 6 defendant as an “activist.”
“This is the reality facing all Americans, from Ed Snowden to Julian Assange to the J6 activist sitting in a jail cell in Washington, D.C., stripped of his constitutional freedoms,” he wrote in an email. is written. “Help our campaign condemn the illiberal actions of our own government.”
The Kennedy campaign quickly issued a statement disavowing the fundraising email and claiming that a third-party vendor was involved.
President Kennedy has previously said he would consider the possibility of pardoning the January 6 protesters.
Last month, he told Fox News that he would “look at individual cases” regarding pardoning protesters.
He also said on the Jimmy Dore Show in March 2023 that Democrats have an “obsessive obsession” with January 6th, that “the Capitol can be rebuilt,” and that “if we start censoring free speech, we’ll do more.” It’s serious,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Trump has said he would issue a “full pardon with an apology to many people,” and recently began referring to the January 6 prisoners as “hostages.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment from the Post.
