Sen. Schiff explains why he doesn’t want a preemptive pardon from Biden

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Sunday he doesn't want a preemptive pardon from President Biden for his work on the Jan. 6 select committee.

In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Schiff whether he thinks President-elect Trump’s administration will not actually prosecute members of the Jan. 6 select committee, as he has threatened to do.  

"I don't know what the Trump administration will do, but it's for a couple of reasons," Schiff said about why he doesn't want a preemptive pardon.

“First, those of us on the committee are very proud of the work we did. We were doing vital quintessential oversight of a violent attack on the Capitol,” Schiff said. “So I think it's unnecessary.”

"But second, the precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don't want to set," he added.

Schiff said he has communicated his perspective to President Biden.

“I’ve communicated it both publicly and privately to the administration,” he said.

Biden is said to be considering preemptive pardons for those Trump has indicated he might target in his coming administration, including members of the Jan. 6 committee.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), former chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said in a Thursday interview that he would accept a preemptive pardon from Biden if he offered one.

“The president, it’s his prerogative,” Thompson said about whether he wants Biden to preemptively pardon him. “If he offers it, to me or other members of the committee, I think it, I would accept it, but it’s his choice.”