Sen. John Fetterman advocated for President-elect Donald Trump in his first Truth Social post, calling for Mr. Trump to be pardoned of the conviction from the New York hush-money case.
“The Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both bull—, and pardons are appropriate,” Mr. Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, wrote in a Tuesday post.
“Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” he wrote.
A jury found Mr. Trump guilty in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case involving porn actress Stormy Daniels. A state judge has delayed sentencing while weighing whether to proceed, given Mr. Trump’s status as president-elect.
President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was convicted of felony gun and tax charges earlier this year. He was pardoned by his father at the beginning of December.
Mr. Fetterman has said that both the case against Hunter Biden, and Mr. Trump’s hush money case, were “politically motivated.”
“I think that it’s undeniable that the case against Hunter Biden was really politically motivated, but I also think it’s true that the trial in New York for Trump was political as well, too,” Mr. Fetterman said on ABC’s “The View” last week.
“In both cases, I think a pardon is appropriate and I really think, collectively, that America’s confidence in these types of institutions have been damaged by these kinds of cases, and we cannot allow these types of institutions to be weaponized against our political opponents,” he said.
Mr. Fetterman announced Tuesday that he joined Truth Social, the social media platform launched by Mr. Trump in 2022 after he was kicked off Twitter, saying he was “meeting folks where they are.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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