Sen. Amy Klobuchar says presidential pardon process ‘calls for reform’

Washington- Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said Sunday that overall presidential pardon procedure “calls for reform” following some controversial commutations and pardons granted by President Biden, including when the president issued a blanket pardon to his own son, Hunter.

“This whole process cries out for reform, because otherwise you will undermine the justice system,” Klobuchar said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan“.

The White House announced Thursday morning that President Biden was commuting the sentence of nearly 1,500 peoplemarking the most extensive pardon granted by a president in a single day. Among these individuals, many of whom had been confined at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, some have sparked controversy in recent days, including a judge involved in a so-called “Kids for Cash” program.

Klobuchar responded that she “didn’t like that one,” adding that she didn’t agree with all pardons and commutations.

“I have no doubt that there were some righteous pardons in this group,” Klobuchar said. “But there are a number of them that I don’t think make any sense.”

Additionally, she said she disagreed with Mr. Biden’s pardon for his son Hunterearlier this month.

Klobuchar noted that she also disagreed with a number of pardons issued by President-elect Donald Trump during his first term. And the Minnesota Democrat said that while the possibility of pardons is part of the Constitution and has a long history that she said would not be changed, she would advocate for reforms.

“We should have some sort of outside council that governors have,” she said. “Governors have the ability to show mercy to people after years, but a lot of them have boards that make recommendations and other things, instead of people doing it in the middle of at night.”

Klobuchar suggested that over the course of a year, a committee could consider individual petitions rather than requests from large groups, which she said undermines the work of the FBI agents and prosecutors who handled the cases.

“Could you want mercy 10 years later? » said Klobuchar. “Yes, you could. But let’s at least look at these things on a factual, risk-based basis, instead of just in the middle of the night, a month before a president leaves office.”