Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD.), one of the loudest voices on the January 6 committee, is now scrambling to defend the preemptive pardon he and his fellow committee members received from Joe Biden—while simultaneously condemning President Trump’s pardons of over 1,500 Capitol protesters. In a textbook example of Democratic gaslighting, Raskin claims that he deserved a pardon because he was “innocent,” while Trump’s pardons were given to “violent” individuals.
Sure, Jamie.
Appearing on CNN (where else?), Raskin smugly argued, “Look, the people who were pardoned this morning were pardoned because we were innocent.” He then went on to accuse Trump of using the Justice Department to target committee members like Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson with “fraudulent political prosecutions.”
But when it comes to Trump’s pardons, Raskin painted a far different picture, claiming, “The people who were just pardoned a little while ago were guilty of violently assaulting police officers, carrying dangerous weapons inside the Capitol, destroying federal property, and so on.” According to Raskin, Trump’s mass pardon ignored whether these individuals were “rehabilitated” or posed a “threat to public safety.”
🚨NEW: Jamie Raskin laughably attempts to explain that Biden pardoned J6 Committee members because they were “innocent” —
— but Trump pardoned J6'ers because they were “guilty."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 21, 2025
Jamie Raskin on presidential pardons.
“The seeking of pardons is powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble. And that’s what’s so shocking…”
Jamie Raskin just got a presidential pardonpic.twitter.com/LsNKh4h1WT
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 20, 2025
So let’s get this straight—Raskin wants us to believe that Biden’s politically-motivated, preemptive pardon spree was all about justice, while Trump’s efforts to correct years of politically driven prosecutions were somehow nefarious? Please.
And then came the pièce de résistance: Raskin actually suggested that Trump’s J6 pardons were part of a grand scheme to create a “reserve army of political foot soldiers.” Seriously? If Trump really wanted an army, why wouldn’t he just use, well… the actual U.S. military? This level of delusion from Raskin would be laughable if it weren’t so insulting to the intelligence of the American people.
Even Democrats like Chuck Schumer have had their fair share of skepticism about the selective use of pardons, but suddenly, when it’s their own side handing them out, they’re perfectly fine with it.
FLASHBACK: Chuck Schumer on Trump potentially issuing preemptive pardons:
“That would be a gross abuse of the presidential pardon authority”
Any comment on Biden’s preemptive pardons @SenSchumer? pic.twitter.com/kNNRYMhpkU
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 20, 2025
At the end of the day, the American people aren’t buying this nonsense. They see through the hypocrisy. Biden’s pardons were a desperate attempt to protect his political allies from future accountability, while Trump’s were an effort to undo the weaponization of the justice system.
Raskin and his fellow Democrats might enjoy their temporary reprieve, but accountability is coming—and no amount of spin from CNN can stop it.