U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (R-Pa.) on Wednesday called on President Joe Biden to issue a full pardon to people Boyle said could be targeted by Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial nominee for FBI director.
IN statementBoyle said Patel and Trump plan to investigate and prosecute perceived opponents, guided by an “enemies list” published in Patel’s book. In his 2022 book Government gangstersPatel lists the names of 60 people in an appendix titled “Members of the Deep State Executive Branch.”
The list includes names ranging from Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, to Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump has also threatened to target his perceived political enemies, making over 100 threats since 2022 aimed at punishing or prosecuting his enemies, – NPR reported.
“These patriots should not have to live in fear of political retribution for doing the right thing,” Boyle said in a statement. “That’s why I urge President Biden to grant a full pardon to anyone who was unjustly targeted by this vindictive scheme.”
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So far, Boyle appears to be the only House Democrat from Pennsylvania to publicly call for a full pardon from Biden, but the move comes amid growing criticism of Patel – a staunch Trump ally – whose comments about his plans as FBI director have played some skepticism and could subject him to harsher questioning during his confirmation hearings.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware), serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee, – it was written in a post on Saturday on the X that “Kash Patel will be the next test of the Senate’s power of advice and consent.”
“Patel must prove to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is qualified and, despite his past statements, puts our nation’s public safety ahead of a political agenda focused on revenge,” Coons said.
Patel’s nomination also influenced Biden’s decision to grant a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden. Coons said Tuesday on MSNBC.
“The nomination of people like Kash Patel as FBI director[…]weighed heavily on the president,” Coons said. “And so, despite repeated assurances that he would not pardon his son, he looked at the two of them and concluded that Trump’s campaign rhetoric, that he would use the levers of power of the federal government to go after his political opponents and enemies, concluded that it was certain. happen.”
Patel said he wants to remove anti-Trump “conspirators” from the government and close the FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., and then send employees there to “pursue criminals” across the country, although She reported to PBS that most of his ideas would likely encounter resistance.
“The time for cautious restraint has passed,” Boyle said in his statement. “We must act urgently to push back against these threats and prevent Trump from abusing his power.”
