CNN’s conservative pundit, during his latest appearance on the network’s “NewsNight” panel, said he supports the broader idea that people who have been “unfairly targeted by the Department of Justice” should have a way “to seek recourse.”
But he expressed concern over the structure of this specific Justice Department-backed fund, which critics fear may function as a “slush fund” for Trump’s MAGA allies and potentially benefit people involved with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“All of this makes me a little uncomfortable because it’s a lot of money, and it didn’t go through the U.S. Congress. That’s number one,” Jennings said.
“Number two, I don’t want to see a president necessarily handpicking people to get payments where he could be accused of just picking people out who are political allies,” he added.
Jennings said he “absolutely” thinks people who have been genuinely “unfairly targeted by the federal government” deserve a path to compensation.
But there are limits, he said.
“My personal view is: Anybody who committed documented violence against the government or against police officers, they’ve not been unfairly treated. If they ended up being convicted of a crime because of violence they committed, I got no real sympathy for them,” Jennings explained.
“Now, if there were people who were on the periphery that were swept up, over-prosecuted, whatever, and they have a way to seek recourse here, I have less of a problem with that,” he added. “But I draw the line at violence. If you’ve committed political violence, if you attack the government building, if you attack police officers, I got really no sympathy.”