Trump openly wonders about pardons for Jan. 6 convicts after Hunter gets a pass

Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald on Dec 2, 2024

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If President Joe Biden is going to use his constitutional authority to grant a pardon to his son, he should also issue pardons to those charged and convicted for their roles in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, President-elect Donald Trump seemed to suggest.

Trump, shortly after news broke that Biden would pardon his son Hunter for felony tax and gun charges, took to his Truth Social Media account to wonder if the president should have also pardoned the more than 1,500 people arrested by federal authorities in connection with their investigation of January 6, 2021, when a violent mob attempted to stall the certification of the electoral results after Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump wrote.

“Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice,” he added.

Prosecution for January 6th related criminal allegations continue still, almost four years since the attack occurred. According to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, “more than 1,561 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.”

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss sentenced Jonathanpeter Allen Klein, 24, of Pendleton, Oregon, to nine months in prison and 36 months of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to charges of civil disorder and “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers” on January 6.

Trump has long promised to pardon those charged with crimes following January 6th, claiming that the events of the day were peaceful (he calls it a "day of love") and that those charged with crimes — even those who have pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for their actions — are the victims of political persecution.

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