During an MSNBC "Morning Joe" panel discussion on a reported request by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) from former president Donald Trump for a blanket pardon before the Trump left office, one commentator noted one startling detail in the bombshell New York Times' reporting.
According to the Times' Michael Schmidt, what Gaetz was looking for could be characterized as the "ultimate get out of jail card" for any and all crimes he may have committed in his lifetime, which the White House balked at, with Schmidt adding, "Gaetz wanted this blanket pardon, this sort of we will wipe everything off of the slate and, in all the pardons that Trump did that have come out, we have not seen any sort of blanket pardon for anyone where it just sort of said, 'okay, whatever you did in your life, we're giving you a clean slate.' Most of the pardons have come with a specific crime that the person was accused of."
That led NYT columnist Michelle Goldberg to make an observation about the report.
"I would say a couple things," Goldberg began. "First of all, I would be very curious to know what the reporting says that Matt Gaetz sought a pardon for himself and unidentified congressional allies. It would be really interesting to know who those allies were and if they understood that they were part of this request and maybe Congress should investigate because it's something of an admission of guilt if you're asking the White House to pardon you for unspecified crimes. But it's also striking to me, you're right, that very few people are defending Matt Gaetz but there's also not much yet of a drumbeat for him to leave, which I think you would see if this was a Democratic member of Congress."
Watch below:
MSNBC 04 07 2021 06 05 53 www.youtube.com
