Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he would “pardon” people convicted in “politicized prosecutions” in a Wednesday Twitter post.
“We need to actually solve the cancer in the administrative-police state. I will shut down toxic agencies like the FBI & IRS,” Ramaswamy said. “I’ll pardon any federal defendants who were convicted in politicized prosecutions. It takes an outsider to get the job done.”
Ramaswamy cited the case of Douglass Mackey, a social media troll who went by “Ricky Vaughn 99” on Twitter, during a video clip posted along with his tweet. A jury convicted Mackey on charges stemming from memes posted on the social media site in the run-up to the 2016 election in March, in which he urged Clinton supporters to “text” their vote rather than going to the polls.
We need to actually solve the cancer in the administrative-police state. I will shut down toxic agencies like the FBI & IRS. I’ll pardon any federal defendants who were convicted in politicized prosecutions. It takes an outsider to get the job done. pic.twitter.com/DPvWXBG8X6
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 17, 2023
“He’s somebody facing up to ten years in prison right now, facing sentencing that could go up to ten years, for making jokes on the internet about Hillary Clinton’s voters,” Ramaswamy said in the clip. “By the way, the same joke was made in return about Trump supporters. The person who made that joke continues to roam the American terrain perfectly free.”
Ramaswamy previously expressed support for shutting down the FBI following the release of a report by Special Counsel John Durham on the origins of the FBI investigation of allegations that former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia. He also donated $10,000 to the defense fun of Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran charged with manslaughter after restraining Jordan Neely in a New York City subway car, the New York Post reported.
“Enough is enough. Root out the corruption & shut down the FBI. This is achievable. At the local level, we have police & prosecutors. At the federal level, we have U.S. marshals & the DOJ,” Ramaswamy tweeted Monday.
The IRS came under fire after ProPublica received and published tax information on some of the wealthiest Americans in 2021, and a similar leak involving conservative organizations occurred in 2013. An investigation into the leak is ongoing.
The agency also came under fire for allegedly targeting the Tea Party during the Obama Administration. Lois Lerner, a central figure in the scandal, faced no criminal charges as a result of the scandal.
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