As soon as he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump plans to pardon his supporters who were involved in the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, claiming that those who are currently behind bars are living in hell.
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press host Kristen Welker, Trump offered his most expansive remarks since winning the 2024 election. In addition, he cautioned that some members of the House committee that looked into the Jan. 6 incident ought to be put in jail and stated that he would not try to turn the Justice Department against his political opponents.
Trump promised to provide legal relief to the Jan. 6 rioters on his first day in office, claiming they had been subjected to a harsh system.
I will be behaving in a hurry. Trump stated, “First day,” adding later that they have been imprisoned for years and that they are in a dirty, repulsive environment that shouldn’t even be permitted to remain open.
Trump mentioned certain refuted allegations of anti-Trump groups and law enforcement agents entering the crowd and stated that there might be some exceptions to his pardons if someone was extreme or insane.
In the attack, at least 1,572 individuals have been charged, and over 1,251 have been found guilty or entered guilty pleas. At least 645 of those defendants have received sentences that range from a few days to 22 years in federal jail. Approximately 250 individuals are incarcerated at the moment, the majority of whom are serving sentences following convictions. A federal judge has ordered the holding of a few in pretrial custody.
When Welker questioned Trump about those who had confessed to assaulting police officers, he did not rule out pardoning those who had entered guilty pleas.
Trump stated that they had no other option.
When questioned about the more than 900 other people who entered guilty pleas in relation to the incident but were not charged with assaulting officers, Trump implied that they had been unfairly coerced into doing so.
I am familiar with the system. According to Trump, the system is extremely corrupt. A man is told that he will either spend two years or thirty years in prison. And these men, whose entire lives have been ruined, are searching. They have been demolished over the past two years. However, the system is quite unpleasant.
The charges in the extensive Jan. 6 inquiry, which included rioters who were caught on camera assaulting officers and who testified that they had done so, range from unlawful parading to seditious conspiracy. Proud Boys and Oath Keeper, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, were among the defendants in custody on January 6. Another defendant was charged with firing gunshots into the air during the attack, and another was arrested outside the residence of former President Barack Obama after Trump shared a screenshot of the address.
Trump declared that he would not order his choice for the future attorney general, Pam Bondi, to look into special counsel Jack Smith, who filed two federal lawsuits against Trump but were later withdrawn following the election. Trump stated he believes Smith is highly corrupt and labeled him insane. In the end, he stated that he would let Bondi make those choices and that he would not order her to bring charges against Smith.
Trump stated, “I want her to do what she wants to do.” I will not give her instructions.
Trump asserted that the House Jan. 6 committee members had fabricated testimony and ruined an entire year and a half of it.
He specifically called out Democrat Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chair, and Republican Liz Cheney, a staunch Trump opponent who resigned from Congress, claiming that they had committed a serious felony by destroying the evidence gathered during their probe.
The committees have saved and made available online the transcripts and recordings of some of the more than 1,000 witnesses they examined. To make sure that particular information wasn’t unlawfully disseminated, some interviews that contained sensitive and private information were given to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for assessment. The CIA still has access to the transcripts, as do the White House and another House committee.
Regarding the committee members, Trump stated, “Honestly, they should go to jail,” stating that he would not order his appointees to make an arrest.
Trump s view on DOJ, FBI
Trump’s views on the FBI and Justice Department are examined in detail in the interview.
After a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Trump—who was the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime and was involved in four separate criminal cases—expressed his deepest grievances with the legal system, but he insisted he was looking forward.
When questioned about whether he would target outgoing President Joe Biden, Trump responded, “I’m not looking to go back into the past.” My goal is to see our nation prosper. Success will be the means of retaliation.
Trump had previously stated that he would designate a special prosecutor to look into Biden, but the president-elect stated that he had no plans to do so unless he finds something that he believes is reasonable. He also stated that any such action would be up to Pam Bondi and, to a lesser extent, his choice for FBI chief, Kash Patel.
For Patel to succeed him, Chris Wray, the Republican who led the FBI during Trump’s first term after dismissing former FBI Director James Comey, would have to be fired or step down. Only one FBI director, former director Robert Mueller, who eventually served 12 years and later became special counsel looking into Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian meddling in that election, made it that long. This is because FBI directors are appointed to ten-year terms under a post-Watergate reform.
Trump claimed he wasn’t happy with Wray because he broke into his house, alluding to the Mar-a-Lago search that turned up boxes of paperwork in the club, some of which were kept in a restroom, as part of the probe into Trump’s handling of classified documents.
For it, I’m suing the nation. Trump claimed that he invaded Mar a Lago. Crime is at an all-time high, and I’m really upset with what he’s done. (Data from law enforcement indicates a historic decline in crime.) Trump threatened to fire Wray if he didn’t step down.
In response to a question concerning a list of 60 individuals that Patel claimed were part of the so-called deep state in his book, Trump stated that Patel would act in accordance with his moral convictions if verified, adding that he believed Patel would be required to look into whether someone was dishonest, corrupt, or a politician.
The impending administration transition has not gone overlooked, even though Trump is still more than 40 days away from taking office and Justice Department prosecutors are still pursuing prosecutions against individual rioters.
Before giving a Jan. 6 defendant a one-year jail term on Friday, a federal judge selected by then-President Ronald Reagan emphasized the value of justice, truth, and law and order. Lamberth imposed the sentence and then ordered the arrest of Philip Grillo.
Grillo added, “Trump is going to forgive me,” as he took off his belt and gave up.
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