Tom Cotton: “I heard a lot of very troubling cases from the Senator from Illinois. And it is true, I generally think Presidents have…”

“I heard a lot of very troubling cases from the Senator from Illinois. And it is true, I generally think Presidents have given out improvidential pardons over time, and I am not going to defend many of those cases of pardons. For instance, I am not going to defend Jimmy Carter pardoning draft dodgers indiscriminately, mostly rich and privileged kids who didn't do their duty, when poor kids from places like Yell County, AR, or south Little Rock were doing their duty in Vietnam like my father was. But we are not here to talk about Vietnam draft dodgers or who President Trump pardoned or who he might pardon. There is a resolution pending on the floor that specifically condemns Michael Conahan, the ``cash for kids'' judge, who took cash kickbacks to sentence children to private juvenile detention centers. Some words about this judge: I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of panic. Some children took their lives because of this. Frankly, I thought the sentence the judge got was too light. He deserved to be behind bars, not walking as a free man. Strong words. Not my words. Those are the words of Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro who, again, called Joe Biden's clemency decision absolutely wrong. The senior Senator from Minnesota joined Governor Shapiro and said that she, too, disagreed with the President's decision.…”