前阿肯色州州长阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)周日表示，像维韦克·拉马斯瓦米(Vivek Ramaswamy)这样的共和党总统候选人承诺原谅唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)是“错误的”和“令人不快的”，迄今为止他一直是其中的异类2024领域的保守派。
哈钦森说:“候选人利用美国总统的赦免权来拉选票和赢得掌声是完全错误的。”CNN的“国情咨文”"对拉马斯瓦米早期作品的反应"这真的破坏了我一生所支持的我国的法治，在这种情况下，任何人坚持赦免都让我感到不快。"
拉马斯瓦米和哈钦森一样，在共和党候选人的后面进行民意调查，他在阅读了49页的起诉书后说:“我更加相信赦免是这里的正确答案。”
特朗普是第一位面临联邦指控的前总统。根据起诉书，他被指控在离开白宫后故意保留敏感的政府记录，并试图阻止当局取回这些记录。他将于周二被传讯，并表示自己是无辜的。
商人兼总统候选人佩里·约翰逊(Perry Johnson)也发誓要赦免特朗普，如果特朗普被定罪，而约翰逊当选的话。其他竞选者，如佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯和前副总统迈克·彭斯并没有做出类似的提议他们也没有公开排除这种可能性。
“我不会和假设的人说话，”彭斯周五在新罕布什尔州对记者说，他还称特朗普退出为时过早。“在美国，在被证明有罪之前，每个人都是无辜的，我认为前总统有权为自己辩护。我们会尊重这种权利。”
哈钦森周日强烈同意特朗普无罪推定，有权提出自己的案件，但他称起诉书是对竞选活动的“干扰”——并一再呼吁特朗普“为了国家的利益”结束他的竞选，同时承认他不会这样做。
与共和党内其他声称特别顾问杰克·史密斯的案件是出于政治目的的执法“武器化”的声音不同，哈钦森也是一名前联邦检察官，他说，未公开的起诉书显示了法治在起作用——如果有的话，除了川普以外的任何人早就被起诉了。
“我的观点是，这对我们的国家不利，对总统任期不利，这是一个合法的竞选问题。我们不需要这个国家的总司令不保护我们国家的秘密，”他在CNN上说。“如果这些指控和可能的原因是针对任何军事人员，任何不是唐纳德·特朗普的公务员，他们早就被起诉了。”
“这是法律的平等适用，”他补充说。
共和党候选人史蒂夫·拉菲(Steve Laffey)在未来赦免的问题上加入了哈钦森的行列，他周五告诉美国广播公司新闻，“够了。”
“他(特朗普)是时候离开舞台了。如果有罪，他要在监狱里呆很长一段时间，”拉菲说。
1982年，31岁的哈钦森被罗纳德·里根总统任命为阿肯色州西区检察官，当时他是美国最年轻的联邦检察官。三年后，他成功地起诉了一个与白人至上主义有联系的极右翼团体，名为“盟约、剑和上帝之臂”,他经常提起巡回演说他是如何穿上防弹衣，在开庭前谈判结束僵局的。
周日，他还翻阅了起诉书中的信息，表明特朗普涉嫌向他的政治行动委员会的一名成员展示机密材料，用哈钦森的话说，是为了“娱乐价值”。
“我们不需要一个无视国家机密的总司令，从我们的核机密到我们对特定世界事件的军事反应。这些事情不应该作为娱乐价值透露给你与之交谈的政治联系人，”他说。
特朗普一直在被控37项罪名:31项故意保留国防信息罪;一项串谋妨碍司法公正罪;一项扣留文件或记录的罪名;一项腐败地隐藏文件或记录的指控;一项在联邦调查中隐藏文件的指控;一项阴谋隐瞒罪;以及一项虚假陈述和陈述的指控。
前总统是预定在迈阿密出庭受审向当局投降后。
哈钦森在称起诉书“非常确凿”的同时，还在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)上预测，这将是“对政府的一个挑战。”
“不是因为事实薄弱，只是因为你在追查一位前总统，而你只有一名陪审员碰巧是特朗普的支持者或碰巧持有不同观点，你就无法定罪，”他说。
Asa Hutchinson calls it 'offensive' for GOP candidates to promise they'd pardon Trump
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday called it "wrong" and "offensive" for fellow Republican presidential hopefuls like Vivek Ramaswamy to promise they'd pardon Donald Trump, placing himself as an outlier so far amongconservatives in the 2024 field.
"It is simply wrong for a candidate to use the pardon power of the United States of the president in order to curry votes and in order to get an applause line," Hutchinson said onCNN's "State of the Union," reacting to an earlier appearance by Ramaswamy. "That really undermines the rule of law in our country that I have served my lifetime supporting, and it is offensive to me that anyone would be holding out a pardon under these circumstances."
Ramaswamy, who, like Hutchinson, is polling in the back of the pack of Republican candidates, had just said after reading the 49-page indictment: "I'm even more convinced that a pardon is the right answer here."
Trump is the first former president to face federal charges. According to the indictment, he is accused of willfully retaining sensitive government records after leaving the White House and seeking to prevent authorities from getting them back. He will be arraigned on Tuesday and has said he is innocent.
Businessman and presidential candidate Perry Johnson has also vowed to pardon Trump, if Trump is convicted and Johnson is elected. Others in the race, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence aren't making similar offers -- thoughthey haven't publicly ruled them out either.
"I'm not going to speak to hypotheticals," Pence told reporters on Friday in New Hampshire, also calling it "premature" for Trump to drop out. "Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in America, and I think the former president has a right to make his defense. And we'll respect that right."
Hutchinson vehemently agreed on Sunday that Trump carries the presumption of innocence and has a right to make his case, but he called the indictment a "distraction" from the campaign -- and has repeatedly called on Trump to end his bid "for the good of the country," while acknowledging he won't.
Unlike the other voices in his party claiming special counsel Jack Smith's case is "weaponization" of law enforcement for political purposes, Hutchinson, also a former federal prosecutor, said the unsealed indictment shows the rule of law at work -- and if anything, anyone other than Trump would've been indicted a long time ago.
"My point is that this is bad for our country, bad for the presidency, and it is a legitimate campaign issue. We do not need to have our commander in chief of this country not protecting our nation's secrets," he said on CNN. "If these allegations and probable cause have been found against any military person, any public servant that wasn't named Donald Trump, they would have been indicted a long time ago."
"This is equal application of the law," he added.
Republican presidential candidate former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson speaks to guests at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Spring Kick-Off, April 22, 2023 in Clive, Iowa.
Scott Olson/Getty Images, FILE
Republican candidate Steve Laffey has joined with Hutchinson on the issue of a prospective pardon, telling ABC News on Friday, "Enough is enough."
"It's time for him [Trump] to leave the stage. And if guilty, he goes to jail for quite a period of time," Laffey said.
Hutchinson was the nation's youngest U.S. attorney in 1982 when he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve in the Western District of Arkansas at age 31. Three years later, he successfully prosecuted a far-right group with white supremacy ties called The Covenant, The Sword and The Arm of the Lord, and he often brings up instump speeches on the roadhow he put on a flak jacket and negotiated the end of a standoff before trying the case.
On Sunday, he also swiped at information in the indictment indicating that Trump allegedly showed classified material to a member of his political action committee for, as Hutchinson put it, "entertainment value."
"We don't need a commander in chief that disregards the nation's secrets from our nuclear secrets to our military responses to particular worldwide events. These are things that should not be disclosed as entertainment value to a political contact that you're speaking with," he said.
Trump has beencharged with 37 counts: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information; one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations.
The former president isscheduled appear before a judge in Miamiafter surrendering to the authorities.
While calling the indictment "very solid," Hutchinson also predicted on CNN that it will be "a challenging case for the government."
"Not because the facts are weak, but simply because you're going after a former president and you just have one juror that happens to be a Trump supporter or happens to be of a different viewpoint, you're not going to be able to get a conviction," he said.
