President Donald Trump on Monday again pledged to pardon a large number of people convicted for their role in the January 6 Capitol riot.
“Tonight, I’m going to be signing on the J6 hostages pardons to get them out,” Trump said during an inaugural celebration which was moved to a DC sports arena. “Then as soon as I leave, I’m going to the Oval Office, and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people — a lot of people.”
It’s not immediately clear the extent of the offenses that will covered by the pardons and commutations. Out of the more than 1,583 defendants charged with federal crimes relating to the January 6, 2021, riot, about 1,009 had pleaded guilty as of January.
Earlier during the day, Trump told supporters that he was asked not to include mentions of January 6 “hostages” in his official inaugural address.
“I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you’ll be happy because, you know, it is action, not words that count,” Trump said during a speech to supporters in an overflow room at the US Capitol. “And you’re going to be happy, because you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages.”
During the presidential campaign, Trump described imprisoned January 6 defendants as “political prisoners,” asserting they were “ushered in” to federal buildings by police.
Despite opposition from some prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, whom the rioters targeted, Trump had said that he would pardon many of the defendants.
He made an exception for those who are “evil and bad,” as he told Time in April.
After Trump won the presidential election in November, January 6 defendants started filing motions to delay their hearings in the hopes Trump would pardon them once in office.
Several Proud Boys leaders asked Trump for pardons in November, two months before he was set to take office.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” last month, he said he would “mostly likely” pardon convicted defendants “very quickly” upon taking office. He said then, too, that there may be exceptions.
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