A candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential primary is suggesting how President Joe Biden can unify the country — and it involves his predecessor.
In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal, presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy wrote, “Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg campaigned on investigating Donald Trump, and he convinced a grand jury to deliver an indictment using a dubious legal theory that charges a misdemeanor (falsification of business records) as a felony by tying this to an ‘intent to commit another crime.’”
He went on:
“This prosecution sets a dangerous precedent that will likely lead to many more politically targeted prosecutions. President Biden can avert this danger and unify the country by issuing a pardon. If he fails to do so and I am elected president, I will pardon Mr. Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.”
If I am elected president, I will pardon Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, writes @VivekGRamaswamy https://t.co/LCife8S0k7
— Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) April 6, 2023
Ramaswamy pointed out presidents “normally” do not have the authority to pardon people for violations of state laws.
“But this case is different. The New York felony charges appear to rely entirely on claims that Trump violated federal law,” he continued, adding, “Without the purported federal crimes, the state charges would be misdemeanors and the statute of limitations would have lapsed. That means if the alleged federal crime is pardoned, the state felony charges fall too.”
He also suggested Trump could pardon himself if he won the party’s nomination and the 2024 election.
However, Ramaswamy said, “That would be politically awkward, legally contested and unprecedented. President Nixon’s Justice Department opined that a self-pardon is constitutionally impermissible.”
“Better for Mr. Biden to pardon Mr. Trump now. If he doesn’t, the next president who isn’t Donald Trump should,” he added.
On Tuesday, Trump appeared in a Manhattan courthouse for his scheduled arraignment and was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
He entered a plea of not guilty in the case.
The charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush money payments made before the 2016 election.
Biden has not commented on the case.
He told reporters after the indictment on Friday, “I’m not going to talk about the Trump indictment.”
And on Tuesday, he laughed when he was asked if charges are politically divisive.
