Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump sending 1,500 troops to southern border

In the wake of President Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, Democrats joined with two men who were assaulted by the mob — retired U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Washington Metro Police Department officer Daniel Hodges — to denounce the president’s actions.

“On Monday, Donald Trump decided that he wants to whitewash history, pretend that the riot of January 6 never happened, and that it was simply a peaceful walk through the Capitol. Unfortunately for him, video and photographs don’t lie,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said. “You cannot say you back the blue if you are going to let out of jail violent criminals who assaulted the blue.”

California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell added, “Nothing erases what they did, but we should erase this concept that Donald Trump and the Republican Party have the backs of law enforcement officers. “Donald Trump does not back the blue. He backs the coup, and this action makes that absolutely clear.”

Dunn, who retired from the USCP and ran an unsuccessful bid for Congress, denounced Trump’s actions.

“The Republican Party has long claimed to be the party of law and order, back the blue, however many lawmakers’ silence and refusal to push back against Donald Trump’s actions make it incredibly hard to take that claim serious,” he said. “The winner writes history. He didn’t win. He’s not going to. I’m not going away. That’s it.”

After Republicans launched their own select subcommittee to investigate the events surrounding Jan. 6, Rep. Jason Crow, a member of the January 6 select committee who received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden in the final moments of his presidency, called the newly minted panel “a farce that is intended to try to cover up their abuse of process.”

“It’s another diversion. It’s another distraction in an attempt to rewrite history, but also to confuse folks,” Crow, D-Colorado, said. “But you heard pretty clearly today that we’re not confused and we’re not distracted, nor will we be. We’re going to continue to tell the story loudly, clearly, repeatedly, about the criminality, about the abuse, not just of power, but of our law enforcement of the blue and we’re not going to stop.”

-ABC News’ John Parkinson