Former DOJ prosecutor slams Trump's 'appalling effort to normalize political violence'

At a swearing-in ceremony for Fox News' Jeanine Pirro — now an interim U.S. attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) District of Columbia office — on Wednesday, May 28, President Donald Trump said he is considering a federal pardon for the men prosecuted for a plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Trump told attendees, "I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I'll be honest with you. It looked to me like some people said some stupid things."

The next day on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade attacked Trump's possible pardons of Whitmer's would-be kidnappers as an "appalling effort to normalize political violence."

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McQuade told "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and their colleague Jonathan Lemire, "Number one, he said he watched the trial. He most certainly didn't watch the trial, because federal court trials are not televised. So perhaps he watched some coverage of the trial, some additional facts. He said that they said some stupid things — maybe so, but in addition, there was evidence presented in that case that they created a fake shoot house. That they trained on extricating the governor from her shoot house and separating her from her security detail. And they surveilled the underside of a bridge that connects her home with the police department in an effort to avoid capture."

The MSNBC legal analyst continued, "So those additional facts were not known. The other thing that I think is important to remember here is the reason the motive that these men had that was presented at trial was that they wanted to retaliate against her for her COVID shutdown orders. During that time, you may recall, Gov. Whitmer was in a very public feud with President Trump, who posted online, 'Liberate Michigan.'"

According to federal prosecutors, the militia members planned to kidnap Whitmer, put her on "trial" for COVID-19 restrictions, and execute her if found guilty.

McQuade drew a parallel between a possible pardon of Whitmer's would-be kidnappers and Trump's pardon of the far-right extremists who attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

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The former DOJ proseuctor told Scarborough, Brzezinski and Lemire, "These men, like those January 6 defendants, were acting in support of Donald Trump's political cause. And so, the idea that they would be pardoned or have their sentences commuted really is a part with the January 6 defendants and seems like another effort to normalize political violence so long as you are on the side of President Trump."

Scarborough, a Never Trump conservative and former GOP congressman, interjected, "And again, with one of the few Democratic leaders who has stood beside President Trump at public ceremonies, certainly would be, again, not only disturbing for legal reasons, but for political reasons. Very curious."

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