Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
WATCH: Blanche defends Trump's authority to pardon anyone for any federal crime
Posted
July 15, 2026
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July 15, 2026
259
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2:07Now PlayingActing Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday during his confirmation hearing that “the Constitution gives the president the full power to pardon anybody for any reason he wants,” and that he doesn’t question President Donald Trump's decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., responded, “Well, I can tell you he may have had the authority to do it, but I think someone should have grabbed him by the arm and said, 'Stop.'"
Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, added, “You can't release all of those rioters. Some of them actually physically assaulted policemen in the Capitol. Some of them were guilty of crimes, serious crimes, before that day. And for the president to give a blanket pardon to these individuals is something that I don't, I don't think you can explain to the American people. You certainly can't explain it to the policeman who almost lost their lives because of these attackers."
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