Staff Reports
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has made it clear that if he becomes president, he will pardon Donald Trump. In an interview with CNN host Kasie Hunt, Ramaswamy stated that he believes the case against Trump is “clearly politicized” and that he wants the country to move forward as one nation.
Ramaswamy’s comments came in response to a question about the new obstruction charge that Special Counsel Jack Smith has added against Trump. The charge alleges that Trump instructed an aide to delete security footage at Mar-a-Lago. Despite the charge, Ramaswamy stands firm in his decision to pardon Trump, stating that he believes it is the right thing for the United States of America.
When asked about the argument that destroying evidence is a process crime, Ramaswamy doubled down on his stance, stating that he believes it is indeed a process crime and that legal scholars would agree with him. He also pointed out that there should not be a conviction for a process crime if there was no underlying crime.
In response to yet another subpoena (out of DC not FLA), Trump turned over security footage from Jan 2022-June 2022—an archive equally 3 years of footage. This is from court hearing last week:
But the BEST PART of it all… pic.twitter.com/GFDypgqjWb
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) July 29, 2023
In response to Smith’s allegations, Trump took to Truth Social to defend himself, stating that the security tapes were voluntarily handed over and were never deleted. Independent journalist Julie Kelly also came to Trump’s defense, calling Smith’s allegation weak hearsay.
Overall, Ramaswamy’s stance on pardoning Trump aligns with conservative principles of limited government interference and a focus on moving the country forward. He rightly points out that if there is no underlying crime, the Department of Justice should not pursue obstruction charges. This follows DOJ policy as outlined in a 2019 memo.
