On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) commented on the prospect of President Joe Biden pardoning former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who was indicted and convicted on perjury and false mortgage application charges during the Biden administration by stating that things have to be looked at individually, “but, at the same time, go as big as possible, including looking at examples of aggressive prosecutions as it relates to people like Marilyn Mosby.”
Jeffries said, “[M]y view has been, listen, you’ve got a lot of low-income Americans of every race, but disproportionately African Americans and Latinos, who have been overrun by the criminal justice system, particularly non-violent offenders who were caught up in the failed war on drugs. And to the extent that we are moving forward with massive criminal justice reform, at least over the next few weeks, in terms of what should be done using the pardon power, that’s where the focus should be.”
Host Joy Reid then asked, “And, in addition to that, you also have political — arguably political prosecutions, people like Marilyn Mosby, who are also looking for pardons. Should President Biden go big in terms of pardons? There’s that. There’s also people sitting on death row. Donald Trump is a big advocate of using the death penalty and would probably use it very excessively if he got back in and ramp it back up again. Should President Biden be more aggressive about thinking about pardoning more people?”
Jeffries responded, “President Biden has to evaluate these things on a case-by-case basis, but, at the same time, go as big as possible, including looking at examples of aggressive prosecutions as it relates to people like Marilyn Mosby.”
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