WASHINGTON — Vice President-elect JD Vance says people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot ''obviously'' should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump is promising to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.
Vance says Jan. 6 participants who committed violence 'obviously' shouldn't be pardoned
Vice President-elect JD Vance says people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot ''obviously'' should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump is promising to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.
By Associated Press
Vance insisted in an interview on ''Fox News Sunday'' that the pardon question is ''very simple," saying those who ''protested peacefully'' should be pardoned and ''if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned.'' He later said there was a ''bit of a gray area'' in some cases.
Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on ''Day 1'' of his presidency, which begins Jan. 20. ''Most likely, I'll do it very quickly,'' he said recently on NBC's ''Meet the Press.'' He added that ''those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it. I have to look. But, you know, if somebody was radical, crazy.''
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the siege that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory.
Hundreds of people who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor offenses for illegally entering the Capitol. Others were charged with felony offenses, including assault for beating police officers. Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump, the Republican incumbent, to Biden.
In a post on X, Vance responded to criticism from supporters of the Capitol rioters that his position did not go far enough to free all convicted. ''I've been defending these guys for years,'' he said.
''The president saying he'll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback,'' Vance said. ''I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial.''
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Associated Press
The Associated PressNew FBI Director Kash Patel has told senior officials that he plans to relocate up to 1,000 employees from Washington to field offices around the country and move an additional 500 to a large bureau facility in Huntsville, Alabama, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.
