Trump’s expansive Jan. 6 pardons were a last-minute decision

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s last-minute decision to pardon nearly everyone involved in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack surprised some of his aides and supporters, particularly as the inauguration drew near.

“He is who he is,” a source familiar with Trump’s transition team told NBC News. “Expectations are sometimes set as best as they can be, but sometimes they change quickly.”

Two officials who worked on Trump’s transition confirmed that the sweeping pardon decision came just days before the inauguration. These sources, like others interviewed for this story, spoke anonymously to share details of private conversations.

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Although Trump had long pledged to pardon many of those convicted of non-violent offenses related to January 6, he had been less certain about how to handle those convicted of violent crimes, including the 169 individuals who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.

Ultimately, Trump issued around 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 others, going as far as possible in his decisions.

The pardons caught many off guard, especially after Trump and Vice President JD Vance recently hinted at a more targeted approach.

“I don’t know what the staff work was like on that,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., a Trump ally who attended Monday’s inauguration. “Drawing a line against pardoning people who attacked the police is a more defensible position and easier to support,” Gingrich continued. “You have to wonder if it’s wise to release people who haven’t fully paid for their actions.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump defended his actions in a Tuesday evening press conference. When NBC News asked about his pardon of an individual who had used a stun gun on a police officer during the attack, Trump initially seemed unsure whether the individual had been pardoned or had received a commutation.

Once informed it was a pardon, Trump responded, “We’ll take a look at everything. But I can say this, there are murders happening today that aren’t even being prosecuted. You have murders that aren’t being charged all over.”

“These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve been treated viciously,” he added. “It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”

Trump made the release of January 6 participants a central campaign promise, calling them “hostages” and playing a song by inmates, the J6 Choir, at rallies. However, he and his team suggested a nuanced approach to pardons, with violence potentially being a deal-breaker.

“I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” Trump told Time in December. “I’ll look if some were really out of control.”

Vance was more direct in a January 12 interview, stating, “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”

On Tuesday, Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, explained that the case-by-case approach meant there would be gray areas in how the pardons were carried out.

“Due to the corrupt process of these prosecutions, President Trump rightly decided to grant a broad pardon to all wrongfully convicted January 6 protesters,” Van Kirk said.

Van Kirk also highlighted Biden’s last-minute pardons, noting, “The outgoing administration’s pardons for Biden family members deserve more media scrutiny.”

A Republican close to the Trump administration mentioned Vance’s longstanding support for January 6 defendants, which included fundraising during his 2022 Senate campaign.

“His support for these people dates back at least two-and-a-half years,” the source said. “I don’t think anything switched up. He’s been pretty clear there’s a gray area, but he’s also always from the beginning been pushing for mass commutations.”

Once Trump decided on leniency, a transition official told NBC News, the administration, including Vance, quickly aligned. Vance pushed for broad pardons and commutations, another person familiar with his role confirmed.

“Everyone has been clear that we were looking at all the cases and the ultimate decision, which the Vice President ended up being a driving force behind, was more encompassing action,” the second transition official wrote to NBC News. “The President ended up airing on leniency given how political and broken the process was.”

Alex Bruesewitz, a GOP consultant with close ties to Trump’s inner circle and a person subpoenaed to testify before the House January 6th committee, stated there was little doubt Trump would take decisive action early in his term.

“It was the right thing to do,” he said. “Some on the left may disagree, but the process was the punishment.”

The decision was widely supported by Trump’s MAGA political base, many of whom traveled to Washington for the inauguration.

Brett Thomas, 52, shared that he had “tears coming out of my eyes” when he attended Trump’s rally at Capital One Arena on Monday and heard the president’s promise to pardon the January 6 defendants.

Thomas, the president of Rhino Web Studios in New Orleans, had been at the Capitol on January 6 but did not enter after his wife called and asked him to return to his hotel.

While he supported Trump’s decision, Thomas believed there was a distinction between those who walked into the Capitol and those who fought with police that day. However, he felt they had already been sufficiently punished.

“If there is proof that you assaulted a police officer, there needs to be consequences,” Thomas said. “Not, if they have been sitting in jail for years, that’s their consequence. And as far as I am concerned, time served.”

Mike Davis, a Trump ally and legal adviser who had publicly urged the president to take bold action on pardons, explained that Trump felt a sense of solidarity with the January 6 prisoners, as he himself had also been targeted by the government.

“Trump has been on the receiving end of Joe Biden’s politicized and weaponized justice department,” Davis stated. “But Trump is a billionaire former and future president who had the resources to weather it. These Jan. 6th defendants do not.”

Davis also argued that Biden’s own pardons, including those for his family members and for 37 federal inmates on death row, gave Trump political cover to use his pardon powers as he saw fit.

“Joe Biden pardoned his family,” Davis remarked. “He freed child rapists and murderers from death row, and he pardoned a monster who murdered two FBI agents,” referring to Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who had his life sentence commuted. “I don’t want to see Democrats’ fake tears about Trump’s pardons.”

“They can go to hell,” he added.

Trump’s decision, however, has faced significant criticism. Michael Fanone, a former police officer who was severely injured during the January 6 attacks, called the pardons “outrageous” but said they “shouldn’t come as a surprise to any American.”

“The rule of law is dead in this country. We are now in the age of government lawlessness,” Fanone said.

Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury during the attack, was among the officers who testified before the House select committee investigating January 6. Biden also issued pre-emptive pardons to committee members, including current and former members of Congress, fearing that Trump might retaliate against them if he returned to office.

Current and former prosecutors have also sharply criticized Trump’s pardons, with one person involved in the January 6 cases calling them “appalling.”

While some Republican lawmakers supported Trump’s actions, several Republican senators were less enthusiastic, with some openly disagreeing or choosing not to endorse the decision.

“I just can’t agree,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. — who was photographed raising his fist with Trump supporters before they stormed the Capitol on January 6 — stated that he would not have pardoned those who committed violent acts but acknowledged that Trump “keeps his campaign promises.”