Fox News Rips Biden for Commuting ‘Kids for Cash’ Judge Michael T. Conahan

Fox News weekend hosts blasted President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the sentence of a former judge involved in the “Kids for Cash” scheme.

Fox News Rips Biden for Commuting ‘Kids for Cash’ Sentence

Michael T. Conahan served as county judge in Luzerne, Pennsylvania, until it was exposed in 2008 that he was taking kickbacks to send underage offenders to a private prison. Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison in 2011, serving the remainder of his sentence from home this year.

“[There were] real consequences to what this individual did to try and get money off the lives of children,” Fox host Carley Shimkus said Saturday morning.

“It’s beyond disgusting,” co-host Kevin Corke chimed in.

Not moments before, the show heard from Salena Zito, a Pittsburgh-based columnist, who explained how Conahan’s crimes had represented “a profound scandal” for the local community and indeed the rest of the state, having later led to the suicide of one of the young men sentenced by the judge.

“When [Zito] said ‘vulgar,’ that really resonates with a lot of Pennsylvanians,” said Corke.

He went on, “But even if you’re not from the Keystone State and you hear about this story—and there have been some stories done on this particular case on some of the major networks—you see these crime stories, and they say, ‘Here’s a person who was so callous as to take advantage of some of the most vulnerable among us.’”

He added, “We’re talking about children here ... To do it for money is beyond the pale, and the fact that he was pardoned really just strains incredulity.”

Shimkus further said Biden’s move had caused “a lot of anger,” pointing to how Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said earlier this week the decision had been “absolutely wrong.”