Trump plans to issue Day 1 pardons for some convicted January 6 rioters

President-elect Donald Trump and his team have drafted a slate of pardons for people convicted for their role in the January 6 Capitol attack to be issued on Day 1, shortly after Trump is sworn in as president, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN.

President-elect Donald Trump and his team have drafted a slate of pardons for people convicted for their role in the January 6 Capitol attack to be issued on Day 1, shortly after Trump is sworn in as president, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN. Trump has repeatedly said he planned to swiftly pardon people who were convicted for their role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. During a December interview with Time Magazine, Trump said: “I’ll be looking at J6 early on, maybe the first nine minutes.” The extent of the initial pardons is still unclear; however, one of the sources described them as enough to be seen as “delivering on his long-held promise.” About 1,270 people have been convicted of January 6-related crimes, and the vast majority of those defendants pleaded guilty. Only a couple hundred are currently behind bars. Vice President-elect JD Vance said in an interview last week that rioters accused of violence shouldn’t be pardoned, while also arguing there was a “bit of a gray area” in some cases. Several Republican allies of Trump have said they expect him to approach the pardons on a case-by-case basis, but two key GOP lawmakers on Sunday refused to rule out Trump potentially issuing pardons for some of the roughly 174 defendants charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon against police officers. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday on “Meet the Press” that Trump and Vance agree “peaceful protesters should be pardoned, but violent criminals should not.”