Pam Bondi, in her January 15 Senate hearing as Trump's nominee for Attorney General, when asked about pardons for the January 6 rioters assured the Senators there would be no blanket pardons - they would all be examined on a case by case basis.
We know of course that that is not what happened. So how was the decision made on who to pardon?
Eight days before the inauguration, JD Vance said in a Fox News interview that the January 6 convicts who had assaulted police officers would not be pardoned. "If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned." [Recall that one of the MAGA spins on the January 6 riot was that these were just peaceful tourists visiting the Capitol]. But there was a backlash to this announcement from the MAGA base that made the Trump team reconsider.
During a debate by Trump's team planning the Day 1 executive orders, on who to pardon and who not, Donald Trump became impatient and reputedly said "Fuck it, release 'em all". [If you find the president's language offensive, as I do, I hope you did all you could to keep him out of the White House.]
And there you have it - that's how the decision was made.
We can't blame Bondi for this one since she hadn't been confirmed as AG yet. But it does make one wonder just how firmly she will stand up to Trump should he demand the DOJ to do something illegal, unconstitutional, or just plain unethical.
In his interview with Sean Hanity on Fox January 22, Trump tried to defend his pardon of the January 6 rioters, 200 of whom were convicted of felony assault on police officers. He described the attacks as "very minor incidents" and said "most of the people were absolutely innocent, okay?" Trump also said that their punishment was too severe. "Nobody's ever been treated so badly...like the worst criminals in history" He then explained why they shouldn't be punished at all - because they were doing it for him "...they were protesting the vote because they knew the election was rigged".
So now that they are freed, are these people going to go home and start living as peaceful model citizens?
At least one convicted rioter learned from her experience. Pamela Hemphill, age 71, now realizes that she had been caught up in the cult of MAGA and has refused to accept a pardon. MAGA Granny, as she was once known, now has this to say about the pardon:
“It’s an insult to the Capitol police officers and to the rule of law and to the nation. It contributes to the propaganda that it was a peaceful protest, that the DoJ is weaponized against them and against Trump.”
She also had this message for Donald Trump:
“Other people around you told you the election had not been stolen. You went out anyway, and lied to the world that the election was stolen. But we know it wasn’t and you know it wasn’t.”
But sadly Hemphill is in the minority. Possibly the most well known rioter, Jacob Chansley, aka the QAnon Shaman, had this to say on the news of his release:
Sources“I JUST GOT THE NEWS FROM MY LAWYER… I GOT A PARDON BABY! THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!! NOW I AM GONNA BY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!”
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