Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is scolding the rest of the 2024 GOP field for floating a pardon for ex-President Donald Trump as part of their pitch to primary voters.
He said the campaign is not the right forum for theorizing whether Mr. Trump, who faces a federal criminal indictment over his storage of government documents and could face more charges, should see any convictions or sentences washed away under a GOP president in 2025.
“You don’t put pardons out there to garner votes,” Mr. Hutchinson, a presidential candidate, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“Anybody who promises pardons during a presidential campaign is not serving our system of justice well, and it’s inappropriate.”
Mr. Trump faces trial next year in the documents case and special counsel Jack Smith may secure an indictment against Mr. Trump over his actions following the 2020 election.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, an outspoken 2024 GOP candidate, vowed to pardon Mr. Trump after the documents case hit the news, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has said she would be inclined to pardon Mr. Trump for the sake of the nation.
“I don’t want there to be all of this division over the fact that we have a president serving years in jail over a documents trial,” she told CBS.
Some Republicans say a two-tiered system of justice is being deployed against Mr. Trump versus President Biden, whose son, Hunter, faces inquiries into his foreign business deals and is trying to fix a plea deal on tax and gun charges that fell apart last week.
But Mr. Hutchinson said his rivals are putting Mr. Trump’s “personal good above the public good and above the common good.”
“They see differences as to how cases are handled,” Mr. Hutchinson said. “But that is not a defense in a case that’s been brought against Donald Trump.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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