Trump Plans to Pardon Jan. 6 Defendants on First Day in Office

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The renewed promise was made in the wake of Biden’s controversial decision to pardon his son in an expansive use of pardon power.

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 8 that he will move to “very quickly” pardon those pursued by the Department of Justice in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

“I’m going to be acting very quickly,” Trump said in an interview with “Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker, clarifying that he would begin the process of considering pardons for the nearly 1,500 people charged in connection with the event starting on his first day in office.

“These people have been there for how long? It’s three, four years. You know, by the way, they’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open,” Trump said, referencing the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Jail, a facility that has long been dubbed the “gulag” by its critics.

The promise to pardon those charged in connection with the events of the day—including many arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for nonviolent offenses—has been a pillar of Trump’s campaign across the 2024 election.

In the interview Trump said that he would be looking at individual cases and that there “may be some exceptions to it,” for example “if somebody was radical, crazy,” he said, adding that “there might be some people from Antifa there.”

The Capitol breach occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, after protestors entered the building, many shuffling in through main entrances. Some rioters engaged in clashes with police officers.

The breach occurred as part of the “Stop the Steal” rally, intended to encourage Congress against certifying the 2020 election over lingering disputes about voter fraud. Following a speech by Trump at the Ellipse, many of the protestors descended on the Capitol.

Among those charged in connection to the events of the day, hundreds face serious charges, including assault on law enforcement, some involving heightened allegations such as the use of weapons or causing injuries.

Many others have been charged for actions as minor as trespassing, with the majority being nonviolent participants. More than 1,400 defendants are accused of entering restricted areas, with a small subset alleged to have been armed.

The Capitol breach is also estimated to have caused around $2.88 million in damages.

Meanwhile, the prosecution of these individuals has been sharply criticized both by Trump and his allies in Congress.

Many of those prosecuted and convicted, and those awaiting trial, were held in the D.C. Metropolitan Jail, where inmates claimed that they were subjected to deprivations of their rights by staff.

An investigation of the jail by the U.S. Marshal Service also identified serious “deficiencies” in the jail, including inadequate medical care, punitive denial of water, poor sanitation, and pervasive odors of urine and feces, rendering the facility unfit for human habitation.

Trump also told Welker that he wouldn’t investigate the claims of voter fraud in 2020 that led to the events of the day, but said he maintained his position that the outcome in 2020 was the result of widespread voter fraud.

“I have the right to do that but I’m not interested in that,” Trump said.

While he said his Department of Justice (DOJ) wouldn’t investigate the 2020 election, he still believed that “everybody” on the defunct House Jan. 6 subcommittee “should go to jail.”

That included its former chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and ranking member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who lost her latest reelection bid.

However, Trump also said in the interview that he would largely leave decisions about prosecutions up to his choice for U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, and his pick for FBI director, Kash Patel.

The renewed promise to quickly pardon Jan. 6 defendants was made in the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.