PoliticsDonald Trump Makes Last-Minute Decision to Pardon 1,500 People Connected to January 6 Capitol Riot: 'F--- It, Release 'Em All'
President Donald Trump to pardon 1,500 January 6 rioters.
President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to pardon 1,500 individuals connected to the January 6 Capitol riot in a last-minute decision after several internal deliberations and debates with his team.
Trump had promised swift action on pardons, telling NBC’s Meet the Press on December 8 that he would move “very quickly” once in office.
Thousands stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Initially, he suggested a case-by-case review. However, due to time constraints and potential oversights, he shifted towards a blanket approach of pardoning all connected to the riot.
"Trump just said: 'F--- it: Release ’em all,'" one insider revealed
Vice President J.D. Vance took to Fox News Sunday to clarify Trump’s position, suggesting that those who committed violence against police officers should not be pardoned only eight days before the decision was made.
"If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned," Vance reassured people at the time. However, as internal deliberations dragged on, the commander-in-chief reportedly decided to cut through the noise and go through with a full pardon for all.
Donald Trump was sword into the White House on January 20.
According to the source, the VP ended up agreeing with the final decision.
"Vance was 100% on board," a Trump insider said. "The president didn’t change his mind. He just made up his mind and Vance got a little over his skis on Fox, but it’s no big deal."
"Never get ahead of the boss," a separate source explained.
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Donald Trump said he would originally look at pardoning January 6 rioters on a case-by-case basis.
Brian Fanone, a former D.C. Metropolitan police officer who was injured during the Capitol riot, testified about his experience to the House Select Committee investigating the attack and had some words for Trump after he announced the pardons.
During a recent interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Fanone said: "I have been betrayed by my country, and I’ve been betrayed by those that supported Donald Trump, whether you voted for him because he promised these pardons, or for some other reason, you knew that this was coming. And here we are."
He was frustrated at the notion that the men who attacked him and his colleagues were allowed to escape paying for their crimes.
"Tonight, six individuals who assaulted me, as I did my job on January 6, as did hundreds of other law enforcement officers, will now walk free," he told Cooper.
Former Capitol police claim they were 'betrayed; by Donald Trump's decision.
Fanone called the Republican Party's support for law enforcement a "farce."
"I think that the Republican Party owns a monopoly on hypocrisy when it comes to supporting or their supposed support of law enforcement because, tonight, the leader of the Republican Party pardoned hundreds of violent cop assaulters," he explained.
The former D.C. cop is one of the individuals who received a preemptive pardon from now-former President Joe Biden before he left office. The pardon is intended to protect him from potential blowback from the Trump administration for speaking out at the House Select hearings.
Sources spoke with Axios about Trump's decision to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters.
