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In some of his most direct comments on the issue, President-elect Donald Trump stated that issuing pardons for January 6th political prisoners will be a top priority on his first day in office.
Trump discussed the matter during an interview with Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, reiterating his campaign promise to take swift action. “I’m going to be acting very quickly. First day,” he said. “They’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”
Having himself been targeted by what he describes as a corrupt Justice Department, Trump noted how the system was stacked against the January 6th protesters. He suggested that even those who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers were coerced into doing so. “Because they had no choice,” he explained.
“I know the system. The system’s a very corrupt system,” Trump told Welker. “They say to a guy, ‘You’re going to go to jail for two years or for 30 years.’ And these guys are looking, their whole lives have been destroyed. For two years, they’ve been destroyed. But the system is a very nasty system.”
Trump also criticized the January 6th committee that investigated the Capitol events, accusing its members of misconduct. He stated that they “lied” and “destroyed a whole year and a half worth of testimony.”
Earlier this year, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight for the Committee on House Administration, accused the January 6th committee of failing to preserve substantial documentation—estimated at 1.5 to 2 terabytes of data. A digital forensics team determined that the committee deleted over 100 encrypted files just days before Republicans took control of the House after the 2022 midterms.
The committee, previously chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), also faced backlash for promoting debunked conspiracy theories, including claims of a “reconnaissance tour” by a GOP lawmaker before the riot, and for doctoring text message evidence.
Trump directly addressed Thompson and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), accusing them of criminal behavior related to the investigation. “Those people committed a major crime,” he said. When asked if they should face consequences, Trump added, “Honestly, they should go to jail.” However, he clarified that he would not pressure his Justice Department or his nominee for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to take specific actions.
These comments come shortly after President Joe Biden issued a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden—a move that Trump referenced in his call for fairness for January 6th prisoners.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Trump has consistently expressed sympathy for individuals punished for their roles in the Capitol protests, vowing to issue pardons to many of those convicted. “People have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion, and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” Trump said previously at a Patriot Freedom Project event. “It’s the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and we can’t let this happen in this country.”
RedState columnist Brittany Sheehan echoed Trump’s sentiments, arguing that pardons must extend beyond those who merely entered the Capitol. “Looking back at the prosecutions, the politically charged atmosphere surrounding them, and the legal challenges that have since emerged, one thing becomes obvious: All of the January 6 defendants deserve a pardon,” Sheehan wrote.
While Trump acknowledged that some individuals acted more aggressively, he suggested that many were victims of circumstance. “There may be some exceptions if somebody was radical, crazy,” he told Welker, but he stressed that most are “living in hell” due to what he considers unjust treatment.
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