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Asa Hutchinson: Promise to pardon Trump undermines the rule of law

Q: You just heard Vivek Ramaswamy say that he would pardon Donald Trump on his first day in office.

HUTCHINSON: It's just wrong, and it shouldn't happen that way. If you start down that path, it is unending. That really undermines the rule of law in our country that I have served my lifetime supporting. And it's offensive to me that anyone would be holding out a pardon under these circumstances.

Source: CNN interviews on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Jun 11, 2023

Asa Hutchinson: Don't erode confidence in our entire criminal justice system

The important thing is that the grand jury found probable cause. And that's the standard for any criminal charges in our society. And the presumption of innocence follows you. And then there's a trial. And the termination of guilt or innocence. That's the American system. We don't want to erode confidence in our entire criminal justice system simply because we don't like the beginning parts of the case.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Apr 2, 2023

Chris Christie: We need change at DOJ: remove anyone who shows partisanship

We need change at the Department of Justice. And, if I'm president, you can be guaranteed that we'll put an attorney general in there who will lead without fear or favor and clear out anyone who does show partisanship. What we're looking at is, people seeing things as being inequitable, that, if you don't prosecute Hillary Clinton, and you choose to prosecute Donald Trump, that that raises real questions in Republicans' minds. And it should.
Source: CBS Face the Nation on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Jun 18, 2023

Larry Elder: Proposes removing soft-on-crime, George Soros-backed DAs

Elder proposed that an ethics commission be created to oversee county attorneys across the state of Iowa. The commission would be able to recommend their removal from office if they declined to pursue cases. "The number one job of the government is to protect people and property," Elder said. "The number one job of the government is not being fulfilled due to soft-on-crime, George Soros-backed DAs."
Source: Des Moines Register on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Jun 6, 2023

Mike Pence: Radical left responsible for NYC prosecution of Trump

I'm taken aback at the idea of indicting a former president of the United States at a time when there's a crime wave in New York City, the fact that the Manhattan D.A. thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority I think just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country. It just feels like a politically charged prosecution here. For my part, I just feel like it's just not what the American people want to see.
Source: ABC This Week on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Mar 19, 2023

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Release Sirhan Sirhan; doesn't believe he shot RFK

He believes Sirhan Sirhan, the 79-year-old man serving a life sentence for killing his father, ought to be released, whether or not he's guilty as a "frail old man who has no memory of what happened that day". For the record, though, Kennedy also doesn't believe Sirhan fired the fatal shot as the court found. Kennedy says that his view is based with interviews with all those involved and on ballistic evidence. Others reject it as yet another conspiracy theory.
Source: Newsweek on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Jul 20, 2023

Stephen Laffey: Reform the FBI

On Laffey's list of federal agencies to target are the FBI, which he says needs to be reformed, and the Federal Reserve, whose mandate he wants to change so its sole task is managing the money supply to target inflation at 0%.
Source: Daily Mail (UK) on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Feb 7, 2023

Will Hurd: Teach de-escalation; ensure no one dies in police custody

Representative Will Hurd stopped to speak with us about police reform. He says we should ensure no one dies in police custody, but it all starts with training and best practices used throughout the country. But every entity is different, according to Hurd.

"Let's make sure that if you ever have to call 911, that an officer shows up who knows how to deescalate the situation," Hurd said. "Making sure that we use the dollars that go to police in the most effective way possible is the way to do this, but defunding the police will lead to less safe communities."

Hurd said 10 percent of stops law enforcement makes have to do with a mental health issue. When looking at mental health training, he says San Antonio has some of the best practices. Officers in other places only take eight hours, Alamo City officers take 40.

Source: News 4 San Antonio on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Jun 11, 2020

Asa Hutchinson: Shouldn't promise pardons during presidential campaign

Q: Should Trump be pardoned for the good of the country, as Ambassador Haley suggested?

HUTCHINSON: No. First of all, that should not be any discussion during a presidential campaign. You don't put pardons out there to garner votes. That is premature. Obviously, if there's a conviction--

Q: You think that's what she's doing?

HUTCHINSON: Well, I think that anybody who promises pardons during the presidential campaign is not serving our system of justice well and it's inappropriate.

Source: CBS Face the Nation on 2023 Presidential primary hopefuls Jul 30, 2023

Vivek Ramaswamy: Trump should not be convicted of a process crime

Q: The superseding indictment [in the Florida classified documents case] says that after Trump learned that the Justice Department wanted to subpoena security footage from Mar-a-Lago, Trump [criminally] wanted the footage deleted. You've said repeatedly that you would pardon Trump in this documents case...

RAMASWAMY: I think that our general norm in our Justice Department is, you should not convict somebody of a process crime when there was no actual underlying crime.

Q: So, you think destroying evidence is a process crime?

RAMASWAMY: I think it is, by definition, a process crime. Nobody left, right -- any legal scholar will agree with me on that statement. That is, by definition, a process crime, a crime that would not have existed but for the existence of an investigation. I absolutely think the right answer for the country is to put the grievances of the past behind us, to pardon President Trump, so that we can move forward as one nation, rather than marching to a national divorce.

Source: CNN SOTU interviews on 2023 Presidential primary hopefuls Jul 30, 2023

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: JFK assassination and coverup with CIA involvement

Q: When you were a small child, your uncle, the President, was murdered in full view of the world. Five years later, your own father was murdered in full view of the world. Later, you came to see both of those assassinations as conspiracies with the C.I.A. behind them. I want to know why you believe that when most do not?

KENNEDY: Are you saying that most Americans do not believe President Kennedy's assassination was a conspiracy?

Q: I want to know why you believe it?

KENNEDY: I don't think anybody who has looked at my uncle's murder seriously believes that the Warren Commission was correct. The C.I.A. was involved--not only in the original conspiracy but in the 60-year coverup--and continues to maintain the coverup.

Q: What was the C.I.A.'s motivation?

KENNEDY: They were angry at my uncle. Their initial anger came when he failed to invade the Bay of Pigs and provide air cover for [Cuban opponents of Fidel Castro], which they consider a betrayal. [The CIA] had trained those men.

Source: The New Yorker magazine on 2023 Presidential hopefuls Jul 7, 2023

  • The above quotations are from Interviews and analysis of presidential primary hopefuls during 2023.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Crime.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Joe Biden on Crime.
  • Click here for more quotes by Donald Trump on Crime.
2024 Presidential contenders on Crime:
  Candidates for President & Vice-President:
V.P.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.(I-CA)
Chase Oliver(L-GA)
Dr.Jill Stein(D-MA)
Former Pres.Donald Trump(R-FL)
Sen.J.D.Vance(R-OH)
Gov.Tim Walz(D-MN)
Dr.Cornel West(I-NJ)

2024 presidential primary contenders:
Pres.Joe_Biden(D-DE)
N.D.Gov.Doug Burgum(R)
N.J.Gov.Chris_Christie(R)
Fla.Gov.Ron_DeSantis(R)
S.C.Gov.Nikki_Haley(R)
Ark.Gov.Asa_Hutchinson(R)
Former V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
U.S.Rep.Dean_Phillips(D-MN)
Vivek_Ramaswamy(R-OH)
S.C.Sen.Tim_Scott(R)
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Page last updated: Nov 02, 2024