
Donald Trump is committed to granting legal leniency to many of the people who charged the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. The insurrection saw pro-Trump individuals' trespass into Capitol chambers, causing nearly $2.9 million in damages, causing injury to law enforcement and resulting in multiple deaths.
According to a January 2024 Department of Justice update regarding the coup, at least 452 people had been charged, 139 found guilty at trial and 749 citizens received sentencing. The Republican president-elect, who won reelection in November, has already expressed that one of his top priorities upon assuming office is to roll out pardons for his supporters. "I'm going to look at everything. We're going to look at individual cases," he told “Meet the Press” in December. "I'm going to be acting very quickly ... I'm looking first day,” he proclaimed.
His vice president, Sen. JD Vance, supports those plans. On Sunday (Jan. 12), the Ohio representative sat down with “Fox News Sunday,” where he provided insight on the controversial matter. As for how the administration will determine who qualifies for the legal act of forgiveness, he first stated, “I think it’s very simple. If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and you’ve had [U.S. Attorney General] Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned.”
However, a single caveat for consideration does exist. “If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned, and there’s a little bit of a gray area there, but we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law,” said Vance, adding, “There are a lot of people we think in the wake of Jan. 6 who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.”
The elected GOP officials will be sworn in on Jan. 20 in Washington D.C. This marks the embattled leaders’ return to office after being impeached twice and convicted of 34 felonies in connection with a hush money case. On Friday (Jan. 10), he was sentenced to unconditional discharge, allowing him to avoid serving jail time, though the stain on his criminal record will remain.