On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) put stand-in host Peter Alexander in a tight spot regarding a question about the pardon of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Cotton speculated that Biden would pardon his son after the November presidential election, but asked Alexander to ask if Joe Biden had any promise not to pardon his son.
Alexander did not answer the question.
ALEXANDER: Well, what Joe Biden’s Department of Justice has done is Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is now filing lawsuits against Democrats, Rep. Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, Rep. Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, and also against Hunter Biden. The firearms-related case against Hunter Biden starts tomorrow.
Let me ask you about what we heard from former President Trump. At the first public event of his reelection campaign, Donald Trump declared, “I am your avenger.” He spoke of revenge against his political opponents and said he would appoint a special counsel to, in his words, “go after Joe Biden and his family.”
If, as you say, it is so reprehensible that the justice system is being used as a weapon against Donald Trump, then why is it acceptable for Donald Trump to campaign on using the Department of Justice as a weapon against Joe Biden?
Cotton: Well, first of all, Peter, I want to go back to your point about prosecuting certain Democrats like Bob Menendez and Henry Cuellar. I’ve noticed that Joe Biden’s Justice Department has a tendency to target Democrats who are critical of Joe Biden, including Bob Menendez, criticizing his weak Iran policy.
Henry Cuellar…
ALEXANDER: So he’s using it as a weapon against people who don’t like him?
COTTON: Henry Cuellar has criticized the president’s immigration policies. The mayor of New York is under investigation for criticizing Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
ALEXANDER: What about his own son, Hunter Biden?
The trial begins tomorrow.
Cotton: Hunter Biden has committed so many crimes it’s almost too many to count. Unlike Donald Trump, the crimes he allegedly tried to cover up have never been revealed.
ALEXANDER: So just to be clear, if he was weaponizing the Department of Justice, wouldn’t he want to keep his son out of any cases?
Cotton: He was coerced. His own Department of Justice tried to engineer the settlement. They were coerced by the judge questioning the prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s defense…
ALEXANDER: But wouldn’t he get rid of it entirely?
COTTON: …people who were conspiring.
Alexander: Why, you argue, would he use that as a weapon against his own son and then abandon the case altogether?
Cotton: Yes, because he plans to pardon his son after the election.
And the question we should ask Joe Biden someday in the White House is whether he will promise not to pardon Hunter Biden after the election.
ALEXANDER: So, Senator, let’s go back to your original question, which is, if, as you say, it’s so reprehensible that the justice system would be used as a weapon against Donald Trump by Joe Biden, why would it be appropriate for Donald Trump to campaign on using the justice system as a weapon against Joe Biden?
Cotton: Donald Trump has said that so-called retaliation has been a success, a success at the ballot box…
Alexander: Well, he also said, “An eye for an eye.”
(Crosstalk)
Cotton: …peace and prosperity.
In 2016, when so many people argued that Hillary Clinton should face criminal charges for doing the same thing Donald Trump was wrongly accused of doing – misidentifying legal fees as something else, remember, she paid the Russian dirty dossier, which is a hallmark of legal fees. She paid a fine to the Federal Election Commission. Donald Trump made it clear that he would not prosecute Hillary Clinton because we don’t do that in America.
What the Democrats did in New York is what would likely happen in Pakistan or Brazil, where the US would sanction other countries for meddling in their elections.
ALEXANDER: He campaigned on a promise to put Hillary Clinton in jail.
COTTON: And after the election, he said he wouldn’t do that in America. If New York…
Alexander: But he campaigned on it and then said he wouldn’t do it. Right. So back to your question…
Cotton: Peter, if New York were a foreign country, the United States would impose sanctions on New York for weaponizing the justice system, attacking political opponents, and trying to rig election results.
ALEXANDER: So do you agree that Donald Trump is saying he’s going to weaponize the Department of Justice against Joe Biden?
COTTON: He has repeatedly said that this should never have happened. It shouldn’t have happened to him, it shouldn’t have happened to his family.
ALEXANDER: But he’s campaigning on that very basis.
(Crosstalk)
Cotton: Peter, we’ve been down this path before. In 2016, people called for Hillary Clinton to be indicted. She deserved to be indicted. But Donald Trump said that in America, we don’t do that with someone who loses an election like Hillary Clinton.
