Washington
CNN
—
Republican senators struggled to defend Donald Trump’s decision to commute and pardon hundreds of January 6 protesters, including those who were charged and convicted of crimes against police officers, just hours after the president entered office Monday.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, who has warned before about giving a blanket pardon to the rioters, said, “I just can’t agree” with Trump’s decision to commute the sentences or pardon a vast swath of January 6 insurrection participants.
He added the move “raises a legitimate safety issues on Capitol Hill” before also attacking former President Joe Biden’s pardons in his final hours in office.
Trump’s executive action, which many GOP senators had hoped would be directed at only nonviolent offenders who entered the Capitol that day, thrust Republicans once again into a familiar posture of navigating how and when to distance themselves from the sitting president and leader of their party. And Republicans largely attempted to sidestep direct questions about whether they personally agreed with Trump’s action, arguing it was up to the president to use his pardon powers at his discretion.
Trump pardoned more than 1,000 people who were charged in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He also commuted the sentences of 14 people in the Proud Boy or Oath Keepers who were charged with seditious conspiracy.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, sidestepped questions about the pardons, saying, “We’re looking at the future, not the past” when asked whether it was a mistake for Trump.
The president’s move put Republican senators in the awkward position of having to either defy Trump just hours after he was sworn in inside the US Capitol or defend releasing prisoners who attacked some of the very officers who protect the Capitol every day.
Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, told CNN he was still digesting the “details” of Trump’s pardons and commutations, but pressed on how some of the recipients were responsible for attacking police officers, he said, “I think if you attack a police officer that’s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.”
“I think we need to continue to say we are a party of law and order,” Lankford said. “And that is incredibly important to be able to protect those folks who are protecting us every single day.”
Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, two Republicans who voted to convict Trump after his second impeachment trial in 2021, objected to his decision to give blanket pardons.
Cassidy, who is up for reelection and facing a primary, told CNN: “I’m a big ‘back-the-blue’ guy. I think people who assault police officers — if they do the crime, they should do the time.”
Murkowski said she’s concerned about the message the pardons send to the US Capitol Police officers who protect the lawmakers every day.
“I don’t think that the approach of a blanket pardon that includes those who caused harm, physical harm, to our police officers, to others that resulted in violence, I’m disappointed to see that,” Murkowski said. “And I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us.”
When asked Tuesday whether he believed it was never acceptable to assault a police officer, Trump replied, “Sure.” Pressed on a specific case of an individual who drove a stun gun into the neck of a police officer but who received a pardon, Trump said he didn’t know but would “take a look at everything.”
Asked once more whether the pardons were sending a message that assaulting officers is OK, Trump said, “No, the opposite.”
“I’m the friend of police more than any president that’s ever been in this office,” he said.
Shortly before taking office, Vice President JD Vance said those who committed violence that day “obviously” shouldn’t be pardoned.
Asked Tuesday why Vance’s assertion was wrong, Trump said, “Well, only for one reason: They’ve served years in jail. They should not have served — excuse me — and they’ve served years in jail. … These were people that actually love our country, so we thought a pardon would be appropriate.”
Most Republicans wouldn’t weigh in on whether Trump had made the right decision. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, argued it was the president’s prerogative, not Congress’, to issue pardons, a sentiment echoed by several others, including House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“It’s not my place. It’s the president’s sole decision, and he made a decision so I stand with him on it,” the Louisiana Republican told reporters Tuesday night after previously declining to comment.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, said, “I think obviously the pardon authority has really been opened up.”
“President Biden obviously with his preemptive pardons has opened it up even more, so the president has that authority. That sort of is my opinion on it,” she added.
Biden on Monday issued an extraordinary slate of preemptive pardons for prominent critics of Trump and for members of his own family, using executive prerogative as a shield against revenge by his incoming successor.
Sen. Mike Rounds, another Republican from South Dakota, argued Trump “has the constitutional ability to make those, and so it’s up to him to do that. It’s not up to us, and it’s up to him to explain them.”
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who has broken with Trump in the past, said it had overall been “a terrible week for our justice system,” arguing Biden had gone too far in his final hours as president with pardons as well.
“It seems to me the press ought to be paying attention to this as well: preemptively granting pardons to five more members of his family, and we had the incoming president pardoning people who committed violent crimes,” she said. “We also have the outgoing president granting a pardon to an individual who killed two FBI agents.” (In addition to members of his family, Biden issued a commutation to Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous activist who was convicted in the killing of two FBI agents in 1975.)
Asked repeatedly by CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday about the pardons for individuals who attacked officers, Sen. Markwayne Mullin largely redirected to discussing Biden’s pardons, even as he agreed that January 6 was “no question” a “riot.”
“I have my personal feelings on it, but the American people have chosen to move on, and President Trump, it’s his prerogative to do this. … I get what you’re saying about the violent crime; however, that is still the president’s prerogative, just like it was Joe Biden’s prerogative,” the Oklahoma Republican said on “OutFront.”
Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana and former chairman of the Senate’s campaign arm, would only say, “I’m grateful President Trump is the president of the United States” when asked for his reaction to the pardons.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Betsy Klein, Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer and Ali Main contributed to this report.
Many Republicans have been put in a difficult position, as they try to balance their loyalty to Trump with the need to condemn the actions of those involved in the violent attack on the Capitol. Some have chosen to remain silent on the issue, while others have attempted to downplay the significance of the pardons.
However, the fact remains that Trump’s decision to pardon these individuals sends a troubling message about the consequences of their actions. It raises questions about whether there will ever be true accountability for those who participated in the insurrection, and whether the rule of law will be upheld.
As Republicans continue to grapple with how to respond to Trump’s pardons, it is clear that this issue will continue to be a point of contention within the party. The fallout from this decision may have far-reaching consequences for the GOP and its future direction.
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