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South Carolina senator and 2024 presidential hopeful Tim Scott<\/strong> avoided saying whether he would pardon Donald Trump<\/strong> if the former president is convicted on federal charges relating to his mishandling of classified documents. \u201cI\u2019m not going to deal with the hypotheticals, but I will say that every American is innocent until proven guilty,\u201d Scott told<\/a> Fox\u2019s Shannon Bream<\/strong> on Sunday.<\/p>\n Instead, Scott trained his ire on the Department of Justice, which he accused of trying to \u201chunt Republicans.\u201d \u201cWe have to clean out the political appointments in the Department of Justice to restore competence and integrity in the DOJ today,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n Scott\u2019s comments Sunday make him the latest Republican presidential candidate to weigh in on the question of a potential Trump pardon, an issue fast becoming a dividing line among 2024 Republican hopefuls.<\/p>\n Among the current field, Trump\u2019s most vociferous defender is biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy.<\/strong> The longshot candidate vowed<\/a> to \u201cpardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025 and to restore the rule of law in our country.\u201d Last week, Ramaswamy appeared<\/a> outside the Florida federal courthouse on the day of Trump\u2019s arraignment and said he\u2019d sent a letter to each 2024 Republican candidate, asking them to publicly commit to pardoning Trump \u201cor else publicly explain why you will not.\u201d Fellow entrepreneur and presidential longshot, Perry Johnson<\/strong>, has also committed<\/a> to pardoning the former president, and conservative radio host Larry Elder<\/strong> has also said<\/a> he\u2019d be \u201cvery likely\u201d as well.<\/p>\n The prospect of pardoning the twice-indicted former president received a more lukewarm response<\/a> from Nikki Haley<\/strong>. Last week, the former South Carolina governor said she was \u201cinclined in favor of a pardon,\u201d though she called the discussion \u201creally premature\u201d and made sure to call the former president \u201cincredibly reckless with our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, two candidates\u2014former New Jersey governor Chris Christie<\/strong> and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson<\/strong>\u2014 have come out against making a pardon pledge. “I can’t imagine if he gets a fair trial that I would pardon him,” Christie said<\/a> on Wednesday, adding, “To accept a pardon, you have to admit your guilt.” Asked on Tuesday about fellow candidates floating Trump pardons, Hutchinson called<\/a> the pledges \u201cwrong,\u201d \u201cunjustified,\u201d and \u201cbad precedent.\u201d \u201cI want our candidates to show more courage and to speak out about this and provide leadership,” he said.<\/p>\n Other candidates, like Florida governor Ron DeSantis<\/strong> and former vice president Mike Pence<\/strong>, have taken Scott\u2019s route, avoiding directly addressing a possible Trump pardon while vowing to attack the DOJ if elected. Using similar language to Scott, DeSantis has pledged<\/a> to perform a \u201chouse cleaning on day one,\u201d while Pence has promised<\/a> to \u201cclean house at the highest levels\u201d of the DOJ.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n