Florida ~Governor Ron DeSantis, who just this week formally entered the 2024 presidential campaign, stated on Thursday that he would pardon anybody responsible for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This could include his adversary for the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Consistently trailing Trump in national polls, DeSantis has sought to contrast himself with Trump while avoiding direct attacks. DeSantis, during an interview on the conservative talk radio show “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” promised to be “aggressive” in issuing pardons and ordered his staff to investigate the cases of those arrested on January 6 for participating in riots, demonstrating in favour of abortion rights, and disrupting school board meetings.
DeSantis claimed that the Justice Department and the FBI had been “weaponized” to unfairly prosecute people from “disfavored groups,” and he promised to exercise the pardon power right now. “any example of disfavored treatment based on politics or weaponization, no matter how small or large,” DeSantis said when asked if he would consider pardoning Trump if he were charged with federal offences.
When asked about DeSantis’ comments, a representative for Trump’s team didn’t offer any specifics. Instead, Steven Cheung, the campaign spokesman, referred to an NBC News report that said DeSantis administration officials had solicited campaign contributions from Florida lobbyists, a violation of traditional norms that raises ethical and legal questions and led Cheung to dub Florida’s governor “the 2024 version of Crooked Hillary.” A request for comment on the campaign solicitations was sent to DeSantis’ office, but we have not heard back.
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent Joe Biden’s election from being certified. Five civilians and roughly 140 law enforcement officers were killed during the siege and its aftermath. There have been almost a thousand arrests related to the incident, and over four hundred and eighty persons have been given prison terms. Hundreds of other rioters from January 6 have been identified, although they have not yet been charged.
Trump has, throughout his campaign, sided with the rioters, many of whom have criminal records. Earlier this month, Trump declared that he would grant pardons to a “large portion” of those whose participation in the riot resulted in criminal charges.
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