Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) dismissed the need of getting a preemptive pardon from outgoing President Joe Biden, warning that these types of pardons would set a concerning “precedent.”
Schiff’s comments come after Biden granted a sweeping pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, and commuted roughly 1,500 sentences, the most ever offered within a single day. When the incoming senator was asked about why he did not want a preemptive pardon for his role on the Jan. 6 committee, Schiff explained that his preference comes from “a couple reasons,” among which he is “very proud” of his work on the committee.
“So I think it’s unnecessary,” Schiff said on ABC News’s This Week. “But second, the precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons, on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don’t want to set.”
MEET THE NEW CONGRESS: THE HOUSE AND SENATE FRESHMEN ELECTED TO SERVE NEXT YEAR
When asked if he had informed Biden about this precedent, Schiff said he had done so both “publicly and privately” to the president’s administration.
Schiff, who was just sworn in for his new role as senator, explained earlier this month that Trump should not be “threatening his opponents with jail time,” but added that he does not believe pardons to members of the Jan. 6 committee would be necessary from Biden. The senator was among the people Trump deemed “the enemy within” before the election.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The senator was also asked about President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel for FBI director, deeming him a “conspiracy theorist” who would do the president-elect’s “dirty work.” He added that the remedy to this nomination is “not to confirm him,” and that Trump could instead find someone else who is both loyal to Trump and the rule of law, claiming that Patel is “not one of them.”
Last week, Trump did not confirm if he would seek prosecutorial vengeance against either Biden or special counsel Jack Smith, and that such a decision would be left up to Patel and Pam Bondi, his nominee for attorney general.