Presidential candidate issues promise after walking back description of Jan. 6 defendants.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed on April 5 to appoint a special prosecutor, if he’s elected president, to investigate whether prosecutors bringing cases against people over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol have abused their power.
“Like many reasonable Americans, I am concerned about the possibility that political objectives motivated the vigor of the prosecution of the J6 defendants, their long sentences, and their harsh treatment. That would fit a disturbing pattern of the weaponization of government agencies … against political opponents,” Mr. Kennedy said in a statement.
“One can, as I do, oppose Donald Trump and all he stands for, and still be disturbed by the weaponization of government against him. As president, I will appoint a special counsel—an individual respected by all sides—to investigate whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends in this case, and I will right any wrongs that we discover.”
Mr. Kennedy’s comments came after his campaign disavowed a fundraising email that described Jan. 6 defendants as activists.
The email, sent on April 4, was headlined by a call for money to help Mr. Kennedy “expose the deep state” and “free Julian Assange,” the Wikileaks founder who has been charged by U.S. authorities, news outlets reported. It also referenced Edward Snowden, the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor who exposed illegal spying by the agency.
“This is the reality that every American Citizen face—from Ed Snowden, to Julian Assange to the J6 activists sitting in a Washington D.C. jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties. Please help our campaign call out the illiberal actions of our very own government,” the email stated.
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said that the part of the email referring to Jan. 6 defendants should not have been sent out.
“That statement was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedy’s views. It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process,” a campaign spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.
The campaign says it terminated its contract with the vendor, which it declined to identify.
