freep | Speaking at President Gerald Ford's alma mater, The Rev. Jesse
Jackson called for President Obama to issue a blanket pardon to Hillary
Clinton before he leaves office, just like Ford did for Richard Nixon.
Stopping
short of saying Clinton did anything wrong, Jackson told a large crowd
of University of Michigan students, faculty and administrators gathered
at daylong celebration of his career that Obama should
short-circuit President-elect Donald Trump's promised attempt to
prosecute Hillary Clinton for use of a private e-mail server.
"It
would be a monumental moral mistake to pursue the indictment of Hillary
Clinton," Jackson said. He said issuing the pardon could help heal the
nation, like Ford's pardon of Nixon did.
"President Ford said we don't need him for trophy. We need to move
on. President Nixon wasn't convicted of a crime. He didn't apply for a
pardon. (Ford) did it because he thought it would be best for the
country.
"Hillary Clinton has not been tried, but there are those
who want to drag her for the next three years. It will not stop until
they find a reason to put her in jail. That would be a travesty."
In
1974, Ford, a University of Michigan alumnus, issued a full and
complete pardon of Nixon for any crimes he may have committed. He said
the pardon was in the best interests of the nation.
Jackson's
comments came at the end of a long day in Ann Arbor, which included him
dropping in on an anti-Trump rally held by students on campus.
