DOJ: Accepting Any J6 Pardon Is “Confession Of Guilt”

Politico reports:

The Justice Department sent a message Wednesday to Jan. 6 defendants: Accepting a pardon from Donald Trump is “a confession of guilt” for your crimes. “[A] pardon at some unspecified date in the future … would not unring the bell of conviction,” federal prosecutors argued in a Jan. 6 case before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. “In fact, quite the opposite. The defendant would first have to accept the pardon, which necessitates a confession of guilt.”

The legal significance of presidential pardons, and whether they imply guilt, has been debated in courts for decades. The Supreme Court has opined that pardons often carry an “imputation of guilt” even if the consequences for that guilt are erased. But Jan. 6 defendants have increasingly been seeking “pardons of innocence,” claiming Trump has the authority to grant them clemency without forcing an admission of guilt.

Read the full article.

Justice Department: Jan. 6 defendants who accept pardons will make ‘a confession of guilt’

Some defendants claim that Trump can issue “pardons of innocence,” but federal prosecutors told a judge that pardons would not wipe away their guilt.

www.politico.com/news/2024/12…

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— Lauren Ashley Davis (@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social) December 11, 2024 at 4:03 PM