Trump issues pardons for January 6 Capitol riot participants
The pardons were expected after Mr Trump’s yearslong campaign to rewrite the history of the January 6 attack.
President Donald Trump on Monday said he was pardoning about 1500 supporters who have been charged in the January 6 2021, US Capitol attack.
He has directed the Attorney General to seek the dismissal of about 450 pending criminal cases tied to the riots.
The newly-elected president used his sweeping clemency powers on his first day back in office to dismantle the largest investigation and prosecution in Justice Department history.
The pardons were expected after Mr Trump’s yearslong campaign to rewrite the history of the January 6 attack that left more than 100 police officers injured and threatened the peaceful transfer of power.
The scope of the clemency still comes as a massive blow to the Justice Department’s effort to hold participants accountable over what has been described as one of the darkest days in American history.
Mr Trump said he was also commuting the sentences of six defendants, though the White House did not immediately provide further details.
Mr Trump had suggested in the weeks leading up to his return to the White House that he was going to look at the Jan. 6 defendants on a case-by-case basis.
Vice President JD Vance had said just days ago that people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned.
