Pardoned January 6 Insurrectionist Who Sat at 'B----' Nancy Pelosi's Desk Has 'No Regrets' Over Storming the U.S. Capitol

Richard Barnett, the January 6 rioter who made headlines for placing his feet on Rep. Nancy Pelosi's desk, insisted he had "no regrets" about his actions that day.

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, January 30, Barnett — who was sentenced to 54 months in prison before being pardoned by President Donald Trump — shared his perspective on the attempted insurrection and his recent release from custody.

The outspoken MAGA supporter told Newsmax host Greg Kelly, "Oh man, what a great time to be alive. You know, I’m so happy I could be a part of it. I’ve had a lot of anger issues to work through. I mean, I’ve been through h---. But I’m telling you what, I wouldn’t give it back for anything."

Kelly asked Barnett, "Now let me take a look at you at that desk — and by the way, this is one of the iconic images of January 6th, and some people are horrified by it. You say you’re glad all of this happened. Tell us why. How did this turn out to be a good thing in the end?"

The recently pardoned insurrectionist answered, "Myself and over 1,600 other J6ers showed up that day for Trump because he asked us to be there, and as a point in our country, I’m hoping that that was one of the reasons that the rest of America woke up and saw the corruption and destruction that was happening to our country."

"As hard as it’s been, as much as it would have been nice for it not to have happened, it had to happen. You know, I have no regrets," he continued.

When he was asked about the charges he received for stealing an envelope on Pelosi’s desk, Barnett said, "I need to have some conversations with DOGE because that envelope anywhere else would have been about a 10-cent envelope, but apparently because the government bought it it was a $20 envelope. I left 25 cents on the – you might wanna bleep this – I left 25 cents on the b----’s desk."

"Uh oh," Kelly interjected, reacting to the Trump supporter cursing on air.

“...You know, basically to pay for that envelope ’cause I had bled on it, and I didn’t feel good about leaving it behind," he explained. "They made a huge issue out of it. You know, I paid for it, I didn’t know that the government was wasting our money to the point the taxpayers had paid $20 for an empty envelope, you know, but so be it."

Barnett was sentenced to 54 months in prison in May 2023 after being found guilty of multiple charges, including entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and theft of government property.

He was later pardoned along with 1,500 other January 6 protesters and attendees by President Trump soon after he returned to the White House.