President Trump pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants on Monday, making good on a long-standing campaign promise just hours into his second presidency.
He briefly said Monday night that he granted roughly 1,500 “full, complete and unconditional pardons” for rioters charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. There have been 1,583 total defendants charged.
“What they’ve done to these people is outrageous,” Trump said while signing various orders from the Oval Office.
The pardons clear the way for potentially hundreds of his supporters to be released from prison in coming days, some of whom were sentenced to years in prison for violently attacking law enforcement that day.
They came just hours after former President Biden in the eleventh hour of his presidency issued preemptive pardons for members and staff of the House Jan. 6 select committee, which investigated the riot.
Trump also commuted the sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who were charged with plotting to forcibly halt the peaceful transfer of power in 2020 to time served. However, former Proud Boys national chair Enrique Tarrio — who is serving a 22-year prison term, the longest handed down in connection with the attack — received a pardon.
An attorney for Tarrio told The Hill he’s being “processed out” of prison, suggesting his release could be imminent.
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers who is serving an 18-year prison term, is among those whose sentences were commuted to time served.
About 600 Jan. 6 defendants were accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding police. Ten defendants were convicted of sedition, the crown jewel of the Justice Department’s sprawling prosecution.
Trump also ordered his Justice Department to take steps to throw out all pending indictments against Jan. 6 defendants whose cases have not yet been fully adjudicated — a decision that would shut down roughly 470 ongoing cases.
Trump long vowed to grant clemency to those who descended on the Capitol as Congress certified the 2020 election win of his Democratic opponent, former President Biden, describing them on the campaign trail as “political prisoners” and “hostages.”
But in recent weeks, his allies’ comments suggested Trump’s clemency might not be so sweeping.
Vice President Vance said earlier this month that people who “committed violence” on Jan. 6 should “obviously” not receive pardons, while Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, said at her confirmation hearing that she “condemns” any violence against law enforcement.
Trump said Monday he believed the supporters of Jan. 6 rioters would be pleased with his clemency decisions, describing them as “hostages” who “for the most part … didn’t do stuff wrong.”
“You’ll be happy because, you know, it’s action, not words that count,” he said. “And you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages — a lot.”
Updated 8:26 p.m.
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