President-elect Donald Trump suggested Sunday night that he plans to leverage Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter Biden to justify a potential controversial move of his own by granting pardons to January 6 defendants.
Hunter was convicted earlier this year on federal gun charges and tax evasion offenses. The 82-year-old president claimed that he took the controversial decision after seeing his son being "selectively and unfairly prosecuted." "Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!" Trump blasted Biden, in his first public comment since the President announced the pardon on Sunday.
Trump to Repeat Biden Act
This came shortly after Fox News commentator Charlie Hurt drew the linkage. "I think he should at least commute the sentences of all of them and pardoned every single one that was obviously just following the person in front of them wandering through the capital," he said.
"Pardon every single one of them. There were some that did more than just that. And I think he should commute their sentences and let them all out! Every single one of them," he said.
According to the Justice Department, during the Capitol attack, 140 law enforcement officers were assaulted, including 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and 60 from DC's Metropolitan Police Department.
Trump has frequently suggested the idea of granting pardons to January 6 defendants throughout his campaign.
Kash Patel, his new pick to head the FBI, has also advocated for these defendants. At campaign events, Trump even played Justice for All, a version of the national anthem performed by January 6 detainees.
Over 1,200 people have faced charges connected to the events of January 6. While many were involved in physical confrontations with police, others were accused of obstructing an official proceeding on the day Congress convened to certify Biden's electoral victory.
"I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can't say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, they got out of control," Trump said during a May 2023 CNN town hall."
Trump's Apt Reply
Trump has refrained from providing details on which January 6 defendants he might pardon, though some were convicted of using explosives or blunt objects to attack law enforcement.
While Trump didn't directly criticize the president for the pardon, his newly appointed communications director used it to push back against what Trump refers to as the numerous "witch hunts" targeting him.
In a surprising development last week, special counsel Jack Smith requested that a federal judge dismiss the January 6 election overturn case against Trump, arguing that he is immune under Department of Justice guidelines now that he has been elected.
"Dismissal without prejudice is appropriate here,' Chutkan Tanya Chutkan wrote in her decision.
"Dismissal without prejudice is also consistent with the Government's understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office," she added.
Biden shocked many on Sunday night with the announcement that he would grant a presidential pardon to his embattled son, criticizing the prosecution as "selective" and "unfair."
