Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) on Sunday pushed back on suggestions that President Biden should preemptively pardon people who have publicly criticized President-elect Trump, saying those people have done nothing wrong. He said he had not.
Asked about the idea of a preemptive pardon in an interview with Chris Stilwald on NewsNation's “The Hill Sunday,” Auchincloss said, “A preemptive pardon seems to imply guilt. ” he said.
“And the people being considered for preemptive pardons are not just innocent,” he continued. “They are some of the most effective public servants we have had in years.”
Auchincloss pointed to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives at the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and who has since been criticized by President Trump. He became one of his fiercest opponents.
“I think of someone like Liz Cheney, who at a time when many of her House Republican colleagues were pleading with them and putting President Trump above the Constitution and the country, she supported her party. He had the courage to stand up and say it.'' It was right for America. ”
“So I think she doesn't need, or maybe want, a pardon,” Auchincloss said. “I think she should be celebrated.”
The White House is considering whether President Biden should preemptively protect people who are critical of President Trump, and has reportedly discussed preemptive pardons with members of his senior team. Officials, including the White House Office of Counsel, are in formal discussions, a person familiar with the matter told The Hill.
Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon to his son Hunter Biden last week. The president said he granted the pardon because Hunter Biden was the subject of political prosecution. The White House later announced that the pardon was granted because President Biden believed President Trump and the Republican Party would not let his son's problems go unaddressed.
Auchincloss criticized Biden's pardon for his son and said if Americans decide they don't like Biden's governing style, they should elect a Democrat in the 2026 midterm elections.
“The founders foresaw this kind of development, which is why we have an independent judiciary and, perhaps more importantly, why we hold elections,” Auchincloss said. Ta. “If the American people don't like the brutality of the judicial system under Donald Trump over the next two years, they should take heed and put Democrats back in control of Congress in 2026.”
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