Vivek Ramaswamy will 'pardon Trump' if elected to power in 2024

Washington, September 4

Indian-origin tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is seeking a Republican nomination for the 2024 US presidential election, said the Espionage Act under which former President Donald Trump has been charged is “the most un-American statute” in the history of the US.

The 38-year-old who has vowed to pardon Trump if elected to power in 2024, told ABC News that “there is a difference between a bad judgment and a crime”.

“The Presidential Records Act was nowhere mentioned in that 49-page indictment in the documents case. I think the Espionage Act under which Trump was charged is the most un-American statute in our history,” Ramaswamy said.

“Would I have done the same and held onto those documents? No, I would not have. Do I think it is an illegal behaviour under the Presidential Records Act and other statutes? No, I do not.”

Trump has been charged with 37 violations of the US Espionage Act, an anti-spy law enacted by Congress shortly after the start of World War One.

Of these, 31 relate to secret or top secret classified documents.