President Trump's sweeping pardons for 1,500 Jan. 6 criminals and
defendants were a last-minute, rip-the-bandage-off decision to try to
move past the issue quickly, White House advisers familiar with the
Trump team's discussions tell Axios.
Why it matters: Trump's move to "go big" on the pardons sheds light on
his unpredictable decision-making process, and shows his determination
to fulfill a campaign promise to his MAGA base — regardless of political fallout.
How it happened: Eight days before the inauguration, Vice
President-to-be JD Vance — channeling what he believed to be Trump's
thinking — said on "Fox News Sunday" that Jan. 6 convicts who assaulted police ought not get clemency: "If you committed violence that day,
obviously you shouldn't be pardoned."
Trump vacillated during an internal debate over targeted clemency
vs. a blanket decision according to two insiders.
But as Trump's team wrestled with the issue, and planned a
shock-and-awe batch of executive orders Day 1, "Trump just said: 'F -k
it: Release 'em all,'" an adviser familiar with the discussions said.
Catch up quick: Trump's decision was a surprise to some Republicans in Congress, who grimaced at the appearance of the new president condoning violence against police officers.
On Jan. 7, 2021, the day after his supporters rioted at the Capitol
to protest the 2020 election, Trump decried those who "defiled" the
building.
But as his own legal problems mounted during his campaign, Trump came to embrace the cause of those charged in the riot. On the campaign trail,
he began playing a version of the National Anthem sung by jailed
protestors who called themselves the "J6 Prison Choir."
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/22/trump-pardons-jan6-clemency
Violence against law enforcement and seditious plotting is ok if you're
out to hang Pence. We all know who did the plotting.
--
“We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him. We shouldn’t have listened to him, and we can’t let that happen ever again”.
-- Nikki Haley
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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