Sasse issues statement blasting Trump pardons

Sen. Ben Sasse on Wednesday criticized President Trump’s most recent round of pardons. The Republican from Nebraska called Trump’s actions “rotten to the core.”

Sasse issued his statement Wednesday evening, specifically mentioning Paul Manafort and Roger Stone.

The statement by Sasse said that “felons like Manafort and Stone” had “flagrantly and repeatedly violated the law and harmed Americans.”

As of Wednesday night, Sasse was the first GOP senator to criticize the pardons. Nebraska’s other senator, fellow Republican Deb Fischer, has yet to publicly comment on Sasse’s remarks or Trump’s pardons.

Several Senate Republicans had recently urged Trump to avoid sparking a scandal over pardons.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine advised that Trump follow the recommendations of the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney.

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who is retiring from Congress at the end of 2022, said, “I think pardons should be used very judiciously.”

Trump’s controversial pardons are likely to spark further debate about whether the president’s broad constitutional power over federal sentences needs to be reexamined.

Trump’s Wednesday pardons also included Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The elder Kushner pleaded guilty in 2004 of 16 counts of tax evasion and retaliating against a witness. He served two years in prison.