‘It’s the Right Thing’: GOP Lawmakers React to Trump’s Pardon of Jan. 6 ‘Political Prisoners’

President Donald Trump kicked off his second term this week by pardoning the more than 1,500 Americans charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol protest.

Pardoning the Jan. 6 prisoners is “another promise made, promise kept from the president,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told The Daily Signal. 

“It is shameful right now to see that there are still people that, four years later, have not had a fair trial, have not had a trial at all,” he said. 

All Americans have a constitutional right to a “speedy trial,” Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., said, adding: “If you haven’t actually given them a trial in four years … that’s a problem.”

The Daily Signal spoke with Clyde, McCormick, and a number of other Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday regarding Trump’s decision to issue pardons for so many Americans who have sat in prison for four years since the uprising. 

“It’s the right thing,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., said of Trump’s action in pardoning those who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

“The fact that there’s been so little due process for those from Jan. 6th, it says a lot to all of us as Americans that there wasn’t an effort to really find out and get to the bottom of what happened,” he said.

Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, called it “heartbreaking” that “people who committed, at the most, misdemeanor trespassing” spent four years in prison.

“At the same time,” Babin added, “you had people who burned whole sections of American cities after the George Floyd incident, yet nothing happened to them.” That was a reference to the May 2020 death of Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

The pardons are “exactly the right thing to do, to put this long nightmare behind us,” according to Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas. 

The pardon names 14 specific individuals who were involved in the event inside and around the Capitol four years ago, including Stewart Rhodes, who is the founder of the Oath Keepers, a paramilitary organization whose local affiliates are often made up of military veterans and first responders. 

The pardon then declares the release of “all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” 

Rep. Derek Schmidt, R-Kan., said that if he were in the president’s shoes, he would have been hesitant to pardon those who “assaulted law enforcement,” but he “respects the president’s decision.”

“Overall, he moved us in the right direction, to move that piece of history behind us,” he said. 

Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., said the Jan. 6 prisoners broke the law, but “four years for trespassing is more than enough.” 

“This two-tiered system of justice is wrong,” he said, referring to what some Republicans say is the unequal application of the law against friends and foes of the Biden-Harris administration.

When asked about the pardons, Rep. Addison McDowell, R-N.C., pointed to the pardons issued by President Joe Biden shortly before he left office. Biden preemptively pardoned several members of his own family, COVID-19 czar Dr. Anthony Fauci, and notably, members and staff of the Democrat-controlled special January 6 committee.

“At the end of the day, I’m not worried about pardons,” he said. “I’m worried about the border and the economy.” 

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., said a lot of the Jan. 6 protesters were in jail or prison because they were charged with trespassing, while Capitol Police stood by and let people enter the Capitol.

“The president said in his address yesterday there are murderers who have gotten shorter sentences than some of the people on Jan. 6,” said Harris, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., echoed Harris, promising “a lot of questions will be answered in years to come, because why were some of the police letting protesters in?” 

Trump’s pardons are different from Biden’s preemptive pardons of his family members, according to Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. The Department of Justice failed to distinguish between violent criminals and people who made a mistake on Jan. 6, Huizenga said, adding that he heard of a young mom going to pick up her husband from prison after he was released early Tuesday morning. 

“Those kinds of stories are the positive ones, where we’re seeing really nonviolent folks who had been trespassing and maybe made some bad decisions, had a very much overzealous Department of Justice go after them in a way,” Huizenga said, “unlike what they should have done with others that did have violent intent and were violent.” 

“He’s not just issuing blanket pardons as well, which I think is a sign of some restraint, as they are going through and trying to distinguish who deserves that,” the Michigan Republican continued. 

Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said Trump campaigned on pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, so people should not be surprised. 

“To hear the moaning on the other side, that they were surprised, that they couldn’t believe he had done this,” Guest said. “He’s been telling people for months this would be one of his actions, and he followed through, and did what President Trump does, which is to honor the promises he makes to the American public.” 

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