After President Joe Biden pardoned his son last week, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) said Biden should have also pardoned President-elect Donald Trump.
“What I would have done differently, and my recommendation as a counsel would have been, ‘Why don’t you go ahead and pardon Donald Trump, for all his charges?’” Manchin told reporters on Monday.
Manchin was referring to Biden’s pardoning of Hunter Biden on Sunday, who was found guilty in 2018 of illegally owning a gun and pleaded guilty to not paying taxes earlier this year.
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” the president said in a statement, adding, “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong.”
While the pardon drew support from some — and bipartisan condemnation from many others — Manchin said that Biden should have used the opportunity to pardon Trump.
“I thought it would have been a little better move if he’d have pardoned Trump too,” Manchin said. “Let’s let bygones be bygones, put the past behind us. Let’s move forward.”
Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts during his hush money trial earlier this year.
He also faced prosecution from special counsel Jack Smith for allegedly conspiring to obstruct Congress during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Smith dismissed the case after Trump’s election win.
Trump posted on social media following the pardon to suggest that those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 should also be pardoned.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump wrote. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Democracy In The Balance
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
While president, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Charles Kushner was convicted in 2004 of 18 counts of tax evasion, retaliating against a federal witness and making illegal campaign donations. Trump has now picked him to be the ambassador to France.