It is said that there were people from the Cabinet who claimed that 'the fact they secretly made the raid into Kira's in the middle of the night is no different than thieves stealing things during the night,' and thus they deserved decapitation and exposure of their heads at the prison gates ("Yanagisawake Hizo Jikki" (Yanagisawa's treasured record)).
また、当初は幕閣の中にも「夜中に秘かに吉良を襲撃するは夜盗と変わる事なし」と唱え、磔獄門を主張した者もいたといわれている（『柳沢家秘蔵実記』）。