Wednesday at the University of Michigan, civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson called on outgoing President Barack Obama to pardon Hillary Clinton.

Jackson said, “President Lincoln pardoned Jefferson Davis and other confederates who engaged in treason against the United States of America in an effort to bind up and heal wounds after the Civil War. President Ford did the same thing with respect to Richard Nixon after Watergate even though he had violated, dishonored and debased the Constitution. While it was clear that he would have been impeached and convicted and driven from office, legally and technically he was never indicted, tried, nor convicted of anything. Unique to Ford and Nixon was that Nixon was never officially accused, tried or even saw the pardon. President Ford was simply determined to stop the potential harm, restrain the hemorrhaging and heal the wound.”

“There are those in their anger and spirit of retribution want to use Hillary Clinton as a trophy in the name of false justice,” he continued. “‘It would be wise in the name of justice and in the lineage of Lincoln and Ford for President Obama to do the same and pardon Hillary Clinton. President-elect Trump promised while a candidate to appoint an special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton and try to put her in prison even though Secretary Clinton has not been legally accused, indicted, tried or convicted of anything. President Obama should follow President Ford’s example and offer a preemptive full pardon in inoculation against politically motivated prosecution in the spirit of healing the division in our country.”

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