Trump promises to pardon January 6 rioters on his first day

In his first television interview since his election victory, President-elect Donald Trump reviewed a series of his campaign promises, including those on immigration, health care and his plans for the Justice Department, in a interview with NBC News.

Trump doubled down on one of them, promising to pardon those imprisoned for their roles on January 6, on his first day in office.

“First day. Yes, I’m looking for those pardons,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

Criticizing prison conditions, Trump argued that people who pleaded guilty did so because they had no other choice.

“Look. I know the system. The system is very corrupt. They tell a guy, ‘You’re going to go to prison for two or 30 years.’ And these guys look, their whole life has been destroyed,” Trump said.

“Yeah, I’ll watch everything. We will look at individual cases.

According to the Justice Department, more than 1,500 people have been arrested or charged in connection with January 6, and nearly 900 of them have pleaded guilty.

One of the main themes of his campaign, Trump has long promised to “free” those imprisoned for their participation that day as one of his first acts as president, often honoring them at his campaign rallies.

Trump’s pardon promise comes as he has made fluctuating comments about the role his picks for attorney general and FBI director, Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, would play in his next administration if confirmed.

On the issue of retaliation, which was a central theme of Trump’s 2024 campaign, the president-elect repeatedly said he would not order them to go after his political rivals, but they could if they wanted to.

“She’s very experienced,” he said of Bondi. “I want her to do what she wants to do. I’m not going to ask her to go after special counsel Jack Smith, who he called a ‘very corrupt’ person.

“If they think someone was a dishonest or crooked or corrupt politician, I think they probably have an obligation to do that,” the president-elect said of Patel investigating Trump’s rivals.

Patel has long called for investigations into members of the media, the Justice Department and Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, calling for a “housecleaning.” Although Trump maintained that he would not directly tell Bondi and Patel to lash out at people, he made clear that they would have free rein to do so.

In addition to attacking Biden and Smith, Trump also harshly criticized the House Select Committee investigating January 6, calling for its members to be imprisoned.

“[Former Rep. Liz] Cheney was behind it all. Benny Thompson and everyone on this committee too, honestly, they should go to jail.

But again, Trump sought to put that decision away from himself when asked if he would order Bondi to throw them in jail.

“I think they will have to think about it. But I won’t do it. I’m going to focus on “Drill, baby, drill.”

Given that Trump has maintained these threats throughout his campaign and now during the transition, Biden is considering issuing a preemptive pardon to some of those who have received Trump’s wrath, including Cheney and Democratic Senator-elect Adam Schiff, who were part of the House in January. 6, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has faced intense scrutiny over the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked about Biden’s possible pardons, Trump told NBC “maybe he should.”

“Biden can grant them clemency if he wants. And maybe he should,” he said, continuing to attack their investigation.