共和党总统候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米如果当选白宫，他不会对乔·拜登提出指控现任总统对机密文件的处理不在办公室时，拉马斯瓦米周三告诉美国广播公司新闻。
他的言论与目前共和党领先的唐纳德·特朗普形成鲜明对比，后者在周二因联邦指控被传讯后的一次演讲中承诺，如果他夺回白宫，他将“任命一名真正的特别检察官，追捕最腐败的总统和美利坚合众国历史上的乔·拜登。”
然而，拉马斯瓦米持另一种观点。
这位37岁的企业家说:“我认为，作为360度放下武器这一更广泛愿景的一部分，我们同意让过去成为过去，我们准备向前迈进。”“这将是我的管理方式。”
特朗普和拜登都是已经被特别律师调查过在他们不在办公室时处理政府机密。在拜登担任总统之前的早期办公室中，一些机密文件在他的私人财产中被发现。他后来归还了这些材料并在一月份说道“我们正在全力配合，并期待尽快解决这个问题。”
而拉马斯瓦米是当前轮询在共和党初选候选人拥挤的场地后面，他周三表示，他一直在思考他的总统任期会是什么样子——内容和风格。
他告诉ABC新闻，他计划超越传统的政党路线来领导，他认为这种观点使他在共和党对手中成为“局外人”。
“我把共和党作为推进积极的民族主义议程的工具，”他说。“我当然不认为包括共和党在内的两个主要政党中的任何一个都定义了他们的意思。我认为我们如何定义它们已经摆在桌面上了。”
拉马斯瓦米表示，他仍然坚定地承诺，如果当选，他将赦免特朗普-这一承诺在2024年的竞选中受到了其他一些共和党人的批评，前阿肯色州州长阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)称其为“冒犯”。
特朗普周二下午在佛罗里达州被传讯，被控37项罪名，包括故意保留国防信息和阴谋妨碍司法公正。他否认有不当行为，并辩称无罪。
检察官指控他在离开白宫后非法保留政府机密，并在被询问时努力避免归还。
“如果有任何证据表明他确实在向我们的外国敌人出售那些国防计划或核机密，我的判断完全不同。这是叛国，”拉马斯瓦米周三表示。“但我的假设是，如果是这样的话，那将是一项起诉。”
拉马斯瓦米直言不讳地反对特朗普前所未有的联邦起诉，称特朗普被指控的行为“反映了非常糟糕的判断”，但坚持认为这些行为并不违法。
“我会做出与他不同的判断，但错误的判断并不等同于违法，”拉马斯瓦米说。
尽管他口头上支持特朗普，特朗普正在竞选共和党总统候选人提名，但拉马斯瓦米坚持认为他仍然致力于赢得自己。
当被问及该党提名特朗普是否会是一个错误时，他说，“我参加竞选是因为我认为这个党应该提名我。我确实认为我们需要一个领导者……为我们的目标提供愿景。我们不能逃避什么。”
Vivek Ramaswamy says he wouldn't seek to charge Biden if elected president
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, if elected to the White House, would not pursue charges against Joe Biden over the current president's handling of classified documents while out of office, Ramaswamy told ABC News on Wednesday.
His comments stand in stark contrast to current GOP front-runner Donald Trump, who promised in a speech after being arraigned on federal charges on Tuesday that, if he retakes the White House, he'll "appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president and the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden."
Ramaswamy, though, took another view.
"I think that as part of a broader vision of laying down arms, 360 degrees, that we're agreeing to put the past in the past and we're ready to move forward," the 37-year-old entrepreneur said. "That would be my way of governing."
Both Trump and Biden have been investigated by special counsels over their handling of government secrets while out of office. Some classified documents from Biden's earlier time in office, before his presidency, were found in his personal possession. He has since returned the materials and said in January, "We're fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly."
While Ramaswamy is currently polling at the back of the crowded field of GOP primary candidates, he said Wednesday that he has been thinking about what his presidency would look like -- in content and style.
He told ABC News that he plans to look beyond traditional party lines to lead, a perspective that he argues makes him "an outsider" among his Republican rivals.
"I'm using the Republican Party as a vehicle to advance a positive nationalist agenda," he said. "I certainly don't think either of the two major parties, including the Republican Party, are defined what they mean. I think it is on the table how we define them."
Ramaswamy said he remains firm on his commitment to pardon Trump if elected -- a pledge that has drawn criticism from some other Republicans in the 2024 race, with former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson calling it "offensive."
Trump, who was arraigned in Florida on Tuesday afternoon, is charged with 37 counts including willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He denies wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege he illegally retained government secrets after he left the White House and worked to avoid returning them when asked.
"If there was any evidence that he was actually selling those defense plans or nuclear secrets to our foreign enemies, my judgment is completely different. That is treason," Ramaswamy said on Wednesday. "But my assumption is that that would have been an indictment if that were the case."
Ramaswamy has been outspoken in his disapproval of Trump's unprecedented federal indictment, calling Trump's alleged actions "reflective of very poor judgment" but maintaining they are not unlawful.
"I would have made different judgments than he made, but a bad judgment is not the same thing as breaking the law," Ramaswamy said.
Despite his vocal support of Trump, who is running to win the Republican presidential nomination over him, Ramaswamy insists he is still set on winning himself.
When asked if it would be a mistake for the party to nominate Trump, he said, "I'm running because I think this party should nominate me. I do think that we do need a leader who is … offering a vision of what we are running to. We can't be running from something."
