President Donald Trump is refusing to intervene in the explosive Lindsay Clancy case, telling reporters that the fate of the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children must remain in state hands.
Trump addressed the extraordinary pardon request Sunday after Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, publicly urged the president to get involved following her mistrial.
“It’s a very sad situation,” Trump said. “There is no winner there—there’s no win no matter what you do; three children are dead.”
“It’s actually a state situation, not a federal,” the president added, according to The Daily Wire.
When a reporter asked whether Trump would instead pressure Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz, the president again kept his distance.
“I hope they can work it out,” Trump responded. “That’s something they have to work out. There is no win there.”
Trump also described Reddington as a “good attorney” but stopped short of offering the political intervention the defense lawyer had sought. The president delivered the remarks while leaving Ireland following a two-day visit, according to CBS News Boston.
Lawyer Wanted White House Pressure
Reddington initially appealed directly to Trump during a “Good Morning America” interview after Clancy’s trial ended in a hung jury.
“Mr. President, I would hope that you would consider this young lady, the type of person she is, what she’s been through, and consider a pardon,” Reddington said.
The request immediately ran into a constitutional roadblock. Clancy is charged with murder under Massachusetts law, while the president’s pardon power applies only to federal offenses.
Pressed about that limitation during a subsequent interview, Reddington acknowledged that Trump could not directly pardon his client. He said his real objective was to persuade the president to exert pressure on Cruz, a fellow Republican.
“Trump would be able to reach out to one of his Department of Justice people, maybe talk to Tim Cruz, and maybe bring some pressure,” Reddington said.
When questioned about asking a president to pressure a local prosecutor, Reddington did not back down.
“I don’t care if Mahatma Gandhi came down and pressured him into doing something,” he said, arguing that he does not believe Clancy’s prosecution is “righteous.”
Trump’s response effectively closed the door on both proposals, leaving any decision about a retrial or negotiated resolution with Massachusetts authorities.
Governor Says She Cannot Issue Pardon Either
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has also addressed the pardon controversy, saying she cannot grant clemency while Clancy’s prosecution remains unresolved.
“I don’t have the authority to pardon,” Healey said. “It’s in the middle of the court case, so there’s no existing conviction.”
That leaves Clancy’s future with the courts and Cruz’s office, which has not announced whether it will pursue a second trial.
Defense Prepares Another Legal Fight
Clancy was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of her 5-year-old daughter Cora, 3-year-old son Dawson and 8-month-old son Callan at the family’s Duxbury home in January 2023.
She has admitted killing the children but pleaded not guilty by reason of a lack of criminal responsibility. Her defense maintained that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and the effects of multiple medications. Prosecutors argued that she acted deliberately and understood what she was doing.
The jury deliberated for approximately a week before Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Sept. 4. Reddington and several jurors have said the panel was divided 11-1 in favor of acquittal, with the lone holdout allegedly refusing to apply the reasonable-doubt standard as the other jurors understood it.
Reddington now plans to ask Sullivan to block another trial on double-jeopardy grounds, arguing that there was no “manifest necessity” to declare a mistrial. Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will retry Clancy.
Clancy is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 29, when the next stage of the bitterly contested case could begin—without help from the White House.
