Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement on presidential pardons:
“While I believe some Americans were caught up in the crowd on January 6 and may well deserve the clemency President Trump has given, there is a great difference between violent crimes and non-violent crimes. I do not support pardons given to people who engaged in violence on January 6, including assaulting police officers, or breaking windows to get into the Capitol, for example.
“I also do not agree with President Biden’s recent clemency decisions, including commuting the sentences of convicted murderers, one of whom killed two FBI agents, and preemptively pardoning his son as well as five other members of his own family in the final hours of his Presidency.
“This has been a terrible week for our justice system. Violence must never be tolerated in America.”
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