In the most recent act of one hand washing the other, President-elect Donald Trump says he most likely will pardon the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In an exclusive interview with NBC News moderator Kristen Welker, Trump discussed the strong possibility of him pardoning the rioters his first day in office and that he will seek retribution of the January 6th Committee in charge of investigating the event.
Trump says rioters forced into pleas
While Trump had questionable answers to the majority of his questions, the few that stood out was that he felt rioters were pressured to take pleas and that rioters had no choice but to harm U.S. Capitol police.
To date, at least 1,572 defendants have been charged and more than 1,251 have been convicted or pleaded guilty in the attack. Of those, at least 645 defendants have been sentenced to incarceration, ranging from a few days to 22 years in federal lockup. About 250 people are in custody, most of them serving sentences after having been convicted. A handful are being held in pretrial custody at the order of a federal judge.
Trump’s comments come a week after President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, of tax and drug charges. Biden has been strongly encouraged to issue preemptive pardons to Democrats and Republicans who may be targeted by the Trump Administration.
