Trump's blanket pardon plan shows he knew 'his people' were criminals: former FBI official
On Wednesday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe argued that former President Donald Trump was completely aware that the attack on the Capitol was against the law — and the people who were perpetrating the assault in his name were criminals.
The smoking gun: New reports, based on transcripts from the House January 6 Select Committee, that show Trump considered a "blanket pardon" for everyone involved.
"Let's first talk about what we just got from those transcripts," said anchor Sara Sidner. "Your reaction to Trump floating an idea about pardoning people who were charged in the January 6th riot."
"It's amazing on a lot of different levels," said McCabe, who was previously fired by the Trump administration after extensive efforts by the former president to meddle in the FBI's workings. "But I think two things are really important to keep in mind here. One, the fact that he was considering issuing a pardon to anyone who essentially entered the Capitol on that day shows you that he knew it was wrong, that those people might face some criminal liability for what they had done. i.e., they had potentially done something criminal."
"And I think the second thing is it shows you undeniably that he saw people who entered the Capitol, who attacked our Capitol, as his people," said McCabe. "So this should forever put to rest any of these crazy notions that, you know, it was actually, you know, Antifa or FBI informants or somebody else."
"With that statement, Donald Trump acknowledges that these are his people and he's trying to protect them from criminal liability, i.e., he knows they might face some," McCabe emphasized.
Watch below:
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