President-elect Donald Trump has issued a pledge to the vast majority of Americans convicted of various misdemeanors stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. Trump stated that he plans to pardon his supporters involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as early as his first day in office, describing their current incarceration as “living in hell.”
Trump made the remarks, his most expansive since winning the election, during an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker. He also stated that he would not weaponize the Justice Department against his political opponents but warned that certain members of the House committee investigating the January 6 attack “should go to jail.” On his first day in office, Trump pledged to provide legal relief to the January 6 rioters, whom he claimed have been subjected to a “very nasty system.”
“I’m going to be acting very quickly. First day,” Trump said, saying later about their imprisonment, “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 there “may be some exceptions” to his pardons “if somebody was radical, crazy.” At least 1,572 individuals have been charged, and more than 1,251 have been convicted or pleaded guilty in connection with the January 6 attack. Of those, at least 645 have been sentenced to incarceration, with terms ranging from a few days to 22 years in federal prison. Approximately 250 people remain in custody, the majority serving sentences after conviction, while several have been held in pretrial detention by order of a federal judge for more than three years.
Trump didn’t rule out pardoning people who had pleaded guilty, even when Welker asked him about those who had admitted to assaulting police officers. “Because they had no choice,” Trump said. When questioned about the over 900 individuals who pleaded guilty related to the attack but were not charged with assaulting officers, Trump implied that they faced undue pressure to accept guilty pleas.
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?? BREAKING TRUMP NEWS ALERT ??
TRUMP SAYS WILL ACT ON PARDONING JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS ON FIRST DAY IN OFFICE
-NBC’S MEET THE PRESS WITH KRISTEN WELKER pic.twitter.com/b9ay950BHa
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“I know the system. The system’s a very corrupt system,” Trump said. “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 stated that he would not instruct Pam Bondi, his nominee for attorney general, to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against Trump that were ultimately dismissed after the election. Calling Smith “deranged” and “very corrupt,” Trump said he would leave any decisions regarding Smith to Bondi’s discretion and emphasized that he would not direct her to prosecute him.
