Trump battered by ex-McConnell adviser for pardoning convicted associates

On CNN Thursday, former Mitch McConnell adviser Scott Jennings weighed in on outgoing President Donald Trump's latest pardon spree, which included former associates Paul Manafort and Roger Stone for their charges in the Mueller investigation.

"I mean, look, these guys didn't cooperate, Manafort did things beyond the Mueller report that got him convicted, too," said Jennings. "So, you know, they knew a guy. And the one thing that makes me uncomfortable about pardons in general is that it's the one part of our government that operates based on the principle of, he knew a guy. That's fine if you want to obtain better baseball tickets, fine, but in this particular case the levers of government, the most ultimate power you can have in our government, the overturning of a decision by a complete other branch, rests on the principle of, they knew a guy."

"Same for Kushner, by the way," added Jennings. "He knew a guy, his son, who knows the president. What makes them different than anybody else who committed similar crimes who will continue to sit in jail or continue to have their records blemished by a conviction? They didn't know a guy. That's the only difference. And as someone, you know, who thinks government shouldn't operate on the principle of, he knew a guy, it makes me uncomfortable."

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