Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said she is “not a fan” of President Biden issuing preemptive pardons for critics of President-elect Trump.
Klobuchar joined MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, where she weighed in on the rumors that Biden will pardon those who are critical of Trump ahead of the administration change.
She added that she wasn’t a fan of Biden pardoning his son, Hunter Biden, either.
“I am not a fan of these. I didn’t like the pardon of the president’s son. I didn’t think that that was prudent,” she said, highlighted by Mediaite. “But I also am very concerned about what Trump is going to do with this Justice Department.”
Democrats appear to be divided over the issue of preemptive pardons. The president has had discussions with his senior team about using the pardon power to protect Trump critics who may be targeted in the next administration, like Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). During the campaign, Trump has said he would go after his political enemies in office.
Klobuchar said she spoke with Schiff, who has publicly said he doesn’t want a preemptive pardon from Biden.
“He believes that this is a nation of laws and that there are judges that make decisions all the time, including during the last Trump administration, including Republican appointees from many different administrations who did the right thing in many cases under the law,” she said.
Klobuchar acknowledged that Biden has the power to preemptively pardon people, but she would like to see some sort of pardon reform, pointing to Trump’s “abuse” of the pardon power.
“You could have a committee set up, you could have suggestions from a board, you could do all kinds of things,” Klobuchar said. “That’s what I’d like to see. It’d be interesting.”
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