Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that he does not want a preemptive pardon from President Biden because of his work on the Jan. 6 election commission.
In an interview on ABC News' “This Week,” anchor George Stephanopoulos said he doesn't think President-elect Trump's administration will actually prosecute members of the Jan. 6 selection committee, as Schiff has threatened. I asked Mr. Schiff if that was the case.
Regarding why he does not want a preemptive pardon, Schiff said, “I don't know what the Trump administration will do, but there are several reasons why.''
“First, all of us on the committee are extremely proud of the work we did. We conducted critical oversight of the violent attack on the Capitol,” Schiff said. Ta. “That's why I think it's unnecessary.”
“But secondly, I think the precedent of granting a blanket pardon, of pre-emptively granting a blanket pardon when you leave office, is a precedent that we don't want to set,” he added.
Schiff said he has conveyed his views to President Biden.
“I communicated that to the administration both publicly and privately,” he said.
Biden is said to be considering preemptive pardons for people Trump has signaled he might target in the next administration, including members of the Jan. 6 commission.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), former chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, said in an interview Thursday that he would accept a preemptive pardon from Biden.
Asked whether he wanted Biden to preemptively pardon him, Thompson said, “Mr. President, that's the prerogative of the president.” “If he proposed it to me or any other committee member, I think I would accept it, but that is his choice.”
