{"id":2384008,"date":"2024-12-27T13:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T18:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/manchin-assails-biden-as-insulting-for-commuting-death-sentences-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-12-27T13:05:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T18:05:04","slug":"manchin-assails-biden-as-insulting-for-commuting-death-sentences-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/manchin-assails-biden-as-insulting-for-commuting-death-sentences-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchin assails Biden as \u2018insulting\u2019 for commuting death sentences &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmanchin-assails-biden-as-insulting-for-commuting-death-sentences-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2384008&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent \u200cstatement, retiring Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) criticized President \u2062Joe Biden for commuting the death\u2064 sentences of several inmates, including those convicted in the violent\u200d kidnapping and murder of a \u200cWest Virginia college student, Samantha Burns.\u200c Manchin referred to Biden&#8217;s decision as &#8220;horribly\u200d misguided and insulting,&#8221; especially after hearing from Burns&#8217; parents,who had pleaded with the management not to reduce\u200b the sentences. Biden commuted the death penalty for \u200b37 out of 40 death row inmates, including\u2064 individuals involved in\u200b serious\u200d crimes like homicide, while the men convicted of Burns&#8217; murder faced death sentences \u200dfor another crime during a crime \u2062spree. Manchin expressed deep\u200d sympathy for the grieving\u200b family and noted the \u2064emotional \u200dimpact such decisions have during the holiday season. \u2063This\u2062 commentary \u200bfrom Manchin comes as \u200dhe has\u2062 also voiced that\u2063 he feels disconnected from \u200cthe Democratic Party, marking it as &#8220;toxic.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Joe Manchin assails Biden as &lsquo;insulting&rsquo; for commuting death sentences<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1922210\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Retiring Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3268677\/manchin-blasts-toxic-democratic-brand-final-break-former-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Joe Manchin\">Joe Manchin<\/a> (I-WV) condemned President Joe Biden for his decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3269752\/trump-vows-justice-department-enact-death-penalty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Joe Manchin\">commute dozens of death sentences<\/a>, including the men who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing a West Virginia college student.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Manchin panned downgrading the sentences of Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks to life in prison for the 2002 murder of 19-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/higher-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Marshall University<\/a> student Samantha Burns as &ldquo;horribly misguided and insulting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3233838\/which-jan-6-defendants-could-see-pardons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>WHICH JAN. 6 DEFENDERS COULD SEE PARDONS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After speaking to Samantha Burns&rsquo; parents, I believe it is my duty to speak on their behalf and say President Biden&rsquo;s decision to commute the death sentences for the two men convicted in her brutal murder is horribly misguided and insulting,&rdquo; Manchin said in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">social media posts<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Basham and Fulks were among the 37 out of 40 death row inmates whose death penalty sentences Biden commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Other inmates whose lives Biden spared were convicted of killing police, military officers, prisoners, and prison guards, as well as deadly bank robberies and drug deals.<\/p>\n<p>Burns was killed in Ohio following a carjacking at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/West-Virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">West Virginia<\/a> mall by Basham and Fulks as part of a deadly weekslong crime spree through multiple states after escaping from a jail in Hopkins County, Kentucky. The pair was not on death row for the killing of Burns. Rather, they were sentenced to death for the kidnapping and killing of 44-year-old Alice Donovan in South Carolina during the same crime spree.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/3222295\/trump-victory-questions-ukraine-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>TRUMP VICTORY RAISES QUESTIONS OVER FUTURE OF UKRAINE MILITARY AID<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Manchin said the Burns family wrote to Biden and the Department of Justice &ldquo;pleading for them not to do this, but their concerns were unheard.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine the grief that Kandi and John Burns are reliving and dealing with during the holiday season,&rdquo; Manchin said. &ldquo;As their U.S. Senator and a father, I want to express my deepest sympathy for their continued suffering. Please know that Samantha will forever be in our prayers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The criticism from Manchin, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3268677\/manchin-blasts-toxic-democratic-brand-final-break-former-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">blasted his former&nbsp;Democratic Party&nbsp;<\/a>as &ldquo;toxic&rdquo; just days prior in one of his last interviews before leaving Congress, is part of the continued fallout from Biden&rsquo;s controversial clemency in his final weeks in office. President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s transition team, which called Biden&rsquo;s clemency &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3269385\/trump-team-calls-biden-death-row-commutations-slap-face-victims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"abhorrent\">abhorrent<\/a>,&rdquo; circulated Manchin&rsquo;s remarks Friday morning.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Joe Biden hands the pen he used to sign the Democrats&rsquo; landmark climate change and healthcare bill to Sen. Joe Manchin as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer watches in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Aug. 16, 2022. (AP Photo\/Susan Walsh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3231343\/anti-abortion-advocates-worry-rfk-jr-will-wield-hhs-powers-against-their-cause\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>ANTI-ABORTION ADVOCATES WORRY RFK JR. WILL WIELD HHS POWERS AGAINST THEIR CAUSE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Biden&rsquo;s decision, announced earlier this week, was made by the outgoing president because the White House said he &ldquo;believes that America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">hate-motivated mass murder &#038;mdash<\/a>; which is why today&rsquo;s actions apply to all but those cases.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The three death row inmates whose sentences Biden did not commute were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dylann-roof\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Dylann Roof<\/a>, convicted of the 2015 killings of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dzhokhar-tsarnaev\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Dzhokhar Tsarnaev<\/a>; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3268311\/tree-of-life-synagogue-victims-biden-robert-bowers-death-sentence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Robert Bowers<\/a>, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Tree of Life synagogue shooter who killed 11 congregants in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The White House said Biden&rsquo;s directive also served to prevent Trump, an advocate of expanding capital punishment, &ldquo;from carrying out the execution sentences.&rdquo; Trump responded by vowing to direct the DOJ to &ldquo;vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3258452\/biden-commutes-nearly-1500-sentences-record-use-pardon-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">commuted nearly 1,500 sentences<\/a>, the most ever in a single day, earlier this month for those who served their sentences in home confinement during COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The president&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-reportedly-brings-in-ghost-of-kamalas-past-to-help-prep-for-upcoming-debate\/\" title=\"Trump Reportedly Brings in Ghost of Kamala&#039;s Past to Help Prep for Upcoming Debate\">criminal justice record<\/a> has transformed individual lives and positively impacted communities, especially historically marginalized communities,&rdquo; the White House said. &ldquo;In the coming weeks, the president will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances and continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-goes-on-pardon-spree-for-largest-single-day-grant-of-clemency-in-modern-history\/\" title=\"Biden Goes on Pardon Spree for &#039;Largest Single-Day Grant of Clemency in Modern History&#039;\">review additional pardons<\/a> and commutations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1922210\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1922210\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Manchin criticizes Biden for commuting death sentences<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2384009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/joe-manchin-calls-biden-clemency-insulting.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3620,27310,47479,4426],"class_list":["post-2384008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-biden","tag-commutation","tag-death-sentences","tag-manchin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/joe-manchin-calls-biden-clemency-insulting.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2384008"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2384012,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384008\/revisions\/2384012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2384009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2384008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2384008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2384008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}