Fresh off announcing for 2024 president May 24, 44-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would have his legal team consider pardons for anyone targeted unfairly by the government, including Jan. 6, 2021 rioters and 76-year-old former President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden, 80, laughed when asked whether he thought pardoning Trump was on the table, now that DeSaitis said it was an option. “Did you see that Ron DeSantis said that if he became president he would pardon Trump?” asked a White House reporter. “Where are you on the idea of presidents pardoning Trump?” Biden laughed raised his hand dismissing the question and walked away. Speaking on the conservative “The Clay Travis & Busk Sexton Show,” DeSantis was asked whether he would consider pardoning Trump if he’s charged by Atty. Gen. Merrick Garlance with any number of state or federal crimes.
Controversial as it sounds, DeSantis tried to be serious about responding to a question about pardons. “And if Trump, let’s say, gets charged with federal offenses and you are the president of the United States, would you look at potentially pardoning Trump himself based on the evidence that might emerges in those charges,” asked Travis and Sexton. DeSantis gave a nuanced answer, saying he would have a legal team look into whether or not the governments charging decision involved extreme prejudice or unmistakable bias toward Trump or other defendants. DeSantis’ campaign carries added weight knowing, at any time, Trump could be charged by 70-year-old Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland with felonies related to Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots or Mar-a-Lago classified documents. DeSantis made clear he would look at whether any Jan. 6 rioter were given due appropriate due process.
White House pool reporter think it’s amusing to question Biden on absurd hypotheticals, whether or not a current presidential candidate, lagging some 30 points behind Trump, would consider pardoning Trump. Biden dismissed the question because of its absurdity, whether it’s an appropriate topic for discussion. DeSantis wanted conservative TV and radio to know that he won’t let the Department of Justice or FBI get away with improper used of the nation’s vaunted security apparatus. DeSantis was very familitar with FBI tactics during the 2016 presidential campaign. Reports of a conspiracy inside upper management of the FBI to sabotage Trump’s 2016 campaign were widespread. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, 58, said today that if FBI Director Christopher Wray doesn’t respond to a Congressional subpoena about documents related to Biden, he would seek contempt of Congress for Wray.
DeSantis could bolt his campaign any day to front-runner should Trump get indicted by Atty. Gen. Merrick Galand. DeSantis understands well what Trump lived through during his four years in office, persecuted by an illegal FBI counterintelligence investigation by 62-year-old former FBI Director James Comey. DeSantis watched first hand the former President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, CIA, FBI and National Security Agency all weaponized to sabotage Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Watching the government go after Trump with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bogus opposition research, without any probable cause, lets DeSantis know what could happen to him or any Republican candidate. So, when the press asks DeSantis what he would do with a presidential pardon, it’s no laughing matter, to be taken seriously by any responsible president.
DeSantis was asked by Travis and Sexton what he would do with the presidential pardon authority with Trump and Jan. 6 rioters. “I will have folks that will get together and look at all these cases, who are people who are victims of weaponization or political targeting, and we will be aggressive at insuring pardons,” DeSantis said, not apologetic about doing what’s right. When you consider that no one from the Obama White House or deep state paid any price for the illegal investigation into Trump or his 2016 campaign, DeSantis seems aware enough of government abuses. When 72-year-old Atty. Gen. Bill Barr said April 10, 2019 that Comey spied on Trump and his 2016 campaign, Comey acted dumbfounded. In Comey’s mind, as FBI Director, he thought he could get away with anything, leaving DeSantis to say anyone unfairly targeted by the government could be eligible for pardons.
DeSantis is acutely aware launching his campaign that if he wins the presidency he has a lot of work to do to right the wrongs that happened to Trump. Whether he pardons him or not, the U.S. press has been so corrupt helping government agencies cover up their egregious abuse of the nation’s most coveted law enforcement and intel agencies. Endings his four-year Special Counsel investigation into the origin of Comey’s counterintelligence investigation of Trump, 72-year-old John Durham (R-Conn.) concluded in a 305-page report that the FBI abused its authority. DeSantis walks a tightrope campaigning against Trump, after the former president endorsed him in 2018 for Florida governor. DeSantis knows Trump walks on thin ice with Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland breathing down his neck. No one knows more than DeSantis that he’s got to be ready to lead the GOP.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
