LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Attorney General Daniel Cameron has sent a formal request to the FBI to investigate pardons made by former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.
"After this discussion, I decided to send a formal request to the FBI to investigate this matter. As you may known, the Office of the Attorney General has a successful partnership with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies through a public corruption task force, and I have told the FBI that my office is willing to assist in any way that it needs," AG Cameron said in a letter.
Bevin has been criticized recently for a number of pardons made including the pardon of Patrick Baker, who was convicted of a 2014 Knox Co. home invasion.
Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey and state rep. Chris Harris filed a request to Cameron to investigate the pardons on Dec. 13.
"We want to thank Attorney General Cameron for formally requesting that the FBI investigate former Governor Matt Bevin’s recent pardons. As we wrote in our letter to the Attorney General last month, a governor may have broad pardoning powers, but there must be further scrutiny by law enforcement when there is an appearance of impropriety or corruption. Kentuckians deserve to know if the pardon of Patrick Baker, whose family raised tens of thousands of dollars for Gov. Bevin in 2018, was granted improperly. We believe strongly that this and potentially other pardons should be investigated impartially, and are pleased that the Attorney General agrees and has asked the FBI to make sure that happens,” said Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey and Representative Chris Harris in a joint statement.
Earlier this week, AG Cameron met with US Attorney Russell Coleman to collaborate with the FBI, ATF and homeland security to fight elder fraud.
"We referred that matter to the FBI and that's all I'm going to say on that given that it's an ongoing investigation," Cameron said when asked about a potential investigation on pardons made by Bevin.
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