Former Democrat presidential primary candidate Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., is calling on New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump "for the good of the country."
"Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim," Phillips wrote on X. “@GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country."
President Joe Biden has jurisdiction over federal pardons, but a Manhattan jury that found Trump guilty of falsifying business records by calling a payment to attorney Michael Cohen a "legal expense" in a state-level case that would fall under the purview of Hochul and New York State.
"Today's verdict reaffirms that no one is above the law," Hochul wrote in a statement shortly after the verdict Thursday, making a pardon unlikely.
Trump has been defiant and fundraising to the tune of tens of millions of dollars for his presidential campaign in the hours after the jury voted to convict. Sentencing by Democrat Judge Juan Merchan is set for June 11, which is just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump was expected to be officially named the GOP nominee for president against Biden.
Trump has denounced the verdict and weaponization of justice against Biden's political opponent a hallmark of a "fascist state."
Trump still faces three other indictments in deep Democrat-strongholds of Fulton County, Georgia, Washington, D.C., and South Florida (although the latter is Trump's home district and trending more Republican friendly in recent elections during the Trump political era).
Legal experts have called the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg the weakest of the indictments, but that did not stop Merchan — whose daughter has raised nearly $100 million for get-Trump congressional Democrats — in putting forth jury instructions that expert say helped the Democrat-control New York jury to convict its longtime political nemesis in Trump.
Trump had portended a difficult result before the verdict this week, saying "Mother Teresa could not beat" the politically biased judge and jury in Manhattan.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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