The Hill: Blumenthal 'strongly opposes' Biden pardons for Jan. 6 panel members [View all]

[Dennis Donovan]

The 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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