Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts attacked President Donald Trump for using pardons but then hesitated to respond whether or not she would use that power to assist any member of her staff facing legal problems in a Friday interview on MSNBC.
“Because I know what pardons are for,” Warren responded, when asked about her pledge not to use pardons as ‘horsetrades’ in the White House.
“Pardons are there for the powerless to show a little justice,” she continued. “That they need. Pardons are not there as part of a plea agreement. That’s somewhere else in the system. We reserve pardons for those people who didn’t receive justice under the law. And I’m not there to say pardons are going to be part of a political horse trade of my administration.” (RELATED: Elizabeth Warren’s First Week On The Stump Filled With Missteps)
“Does that mean you would commit to saying you’re never going to pardon anyone that worked directly for you?” MSNBC’s Ari Melber asked in a follow-up question.
Warren paused and then answered:
I assume so. I don’t know if any case why I would do that. This is about the powerless. That’s what pardons are supposed to be about. Not about people who have connections. Not about people who — not about people who have a way to be protected, who can hire the lawyers, who get to work their way through the system, who get the best representation.