Donald Trump hinted that he would offer pardons to some who have been arrested for the January 6 riot at the Capitol who have been treated “unfairly.”
The former President made what some speculated was a campaign pledge during a raucous rally in Conroe, Texas Saturday evening.
“If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly,” he vowed.
“If that requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly,” added Trump to applause from those in the crowd.
BREAKING: President Trump promises to PARDON Jan. 6 prisoners if he runs and wins in 2024 pic.twitter.com/teYbYNBcuB
— RSBN ?? (@RSBNetwork) January 30, 2022
Trump May Pardon January 6 Rioters
Thus far, hundreds of people have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot on January 6th.
A report by The Guardian in May indicated that dozens “of those defendants (Capitol protesters) remained in detention.”
In July, Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and ten House Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding to know why protesters at the Capitol had been arrested and jailed while many BLM protesters from the previous summer’s riots were not.
And just this past December, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed what she called the “outrageous” treatment of January 6 defendants in Washington, D.C.’s main jail.
“They are denied the ability to even see their families and have their families visit there. They are denied bail and being held there without bail,” Greene claimed.
“Many of these people have never been charged for a crime before. Some of them are veterans. And the treatment is unbelievable.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims that the January 6 defendants are told “they have to denounce President Trump. They are told that their views are the views of cult members.” ? pic.twitter.com/C9Mjj0BitG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2021
Lindsey Graham Displeased
Senator Lindsey Graham wasn’t all that pleased with Trump’s promise to pardon January 6 rioters if he wins back the White House.
“No, I don’t want to send any signal that it was OK to defile the Capitol,” Graham told CBS’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan.
He added, “I think it’s inappropriate … I don’t want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future.”
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“I think it is inappropriate” — Lindsey Graham on Trump promising pardons to those convicted of crimes connected to the January 6 attack on Congress
Realizing what he just did, Graham tried to appease MAGA by bringing up Kamala Harris.
Lindsey is such a POS.#DemVoice1 pic.twitter.com/mg2yIO86Qz
— The Jewish Ginger Resister (@JewishResister) January 30, 2022
Trump, during his rally, also took brief aim at the partisan (anti-Trump) committee investigating the Capitol riot before pivoting back to those detained since January 6th.
“This hasn’t happened to all of the other atrocities that took place recently, what that un-select committee is doing and what the people are doing who are running those prisons — it’s a disgrace,” he said.
This is new: Trump says if he runs and wins in 2024, he will consider pardoning people involved in Jan. 6.
“If it requires pardons, then we will give them pardons”.
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) January 30, 2022
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has gone so far as to suggest some people on the January 6 committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot could be facing their own jail time if Republicans win back the House.
Newt Gingrich said this morning that people serving on the J6 Committee are going to go to jail if Republicans take over Congress after the next election. pic.twitter.com/OFhWdbEPdq
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 23, 2022
“I think when you have a Republican Congress, this is all going to come crashing down,” Gingrich said.
“And the wolves are going to find out that they’re now sheep and they’re the ones who are in fact, I think, face a real risk of jail for the kinds of laws they’re breaking.”