During the Thursday, December 13 White House Press Briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre didn’t like it one bit when asked whether President Biden will issue a preemptive pardon for certain political enemies of President-elect Donald Trump, most notably Liz Cheney, who Trump has mentioned the DOJ could investigate.
President-elect Donald Trump, as background, referred to Cheney’s alleged destruction of exculpatory evidence as part of the J6 Committee, telling NBC’s Kristen Welker during his interview with her that “Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps. They deleted and destroyed all evidence.”
He added, “Biden can give them a pardon if he wants to. And maybe he should.” He continued, noting why a pardon might be necessary, “Just remember, the unselect committee – a year and a half of sworn testimony, and after getting all of the testimony, they deleted it, wait, and they destroyed almost everything. There’s nothing left. It’s unprecedented, and they deny you do that. In a civil case, you go to jail.”
So, during the December 12 press briefing, KJP was asked, “Some of the names that have been floated around preemptive pardons, though — since it would just be such an unusual, extraordinary step — we’ve talked about — in the news, we’ve seen Liz Cheney, Dr. Fauci, Mark Milley —” Cutting the reporter off, KJP interjected, “You’re talking about the preemptive pardoning?”
The reporter continued, “Right. I understand you don’t want to get ahead of the president’s thinking, but are any of those names wrong? Still — can you tell —” KJP interrupted again, saying, “I’m just —” And, despite the interruption, the reporter kept trying to press on, saying, “I mean, do you want to tell us anything about —”
KJP, at that point, interrupted yet again and then gave a lengthy ramble, stumbling over her words. She said, “I — it would be a bad move on my — on my — on my behalf if I preempted the president or previewed anything that the president was thinking about, considering. And so, this is a — this is something that he’s going to talk with his team about. And — and I just don’t have anything beyond that for you.”
She continued, rambling about the criminal justice system generally and not addressing the preemptive pardon question, saying, “Again, I think today is a very important day, as we talk about the criminal justice system, as we talk about giving people who have shown that they can reintegrate into their community, back into their families, a second chance. I think that’s a big deal, and I think that shows the president’s commitment to this.”
Concluding, still angry and still not really answering the question in any way, KJP said, “And, you know, the president talks a lot about what this country has to offer and possibilities, and you see that in every — every action that the president certainly has taken when it comes to this issue and so many other policies that he’s put forward.”
Watch her here:
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