Clyburn: Pardons for Nonviolent J6 Defendants Could ‘Be Okay’

On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) discussed pardons for January 6 defendants by stating that “some people may have gotten caught up in the emotion and maybe a pardon for them would be okay. But if you’re using the American flag, plunging at the…law enforcement officers, you have injured a law enforcement officer, and you’re spraying whatever the stuff was they were spraying on people, those people should not be pardoned. And so, yes, go case by case. And there may be some people who got caught up and give them a pardon.”

Clyburn answered, “I think that it’s the president’s prerogative to pardon whomever he wishes to pardon. That’s up to the president. I favor the pardon system. It ought to be used to rectify wrongs. It ought to be used to forgive and to provide a second chance. So, if you go on a case-by-case basis, you look at all of those people, some people may have gotten caught up in the emotion and maybe a pardon for them would be okay. But if you’re using the American flag, plunging at the…law enforcement officers, you have injured a law enforcement officer, and you’re spraying whatever the stuff was they were spraying on people, those people should not be pardoned. And so, yes, go case by case. And there may be some people who got caught up and give them a pardon. But a blanket pardon to everybody, irrespective, no, I do not agree with that.”

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