Democrats Introduce Resolution Condemning Trump’s Pardons of Jan. 6 Defendants Convicted of Violence

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) speaks to the press in Washington on Nov. 13, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Senate Democrats on Jan. 27 unveiled a resolution that condemns President Donald Trump’s pardons of people who were convicted of being violent on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Resolved, that the Senate disapproves of any pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers,” the resolution, proposed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), states.

“It shouldn’t be too much to ask for senators to oppose unconditional pardons for people found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers,” Murray wrote on the social media platform X.

“I’m introducing a simple, one-line resolution condemning these pardons and will try to pass it on the Senate floor this week.”

Earlier in January, within hours of taking office, Trump pardoned some 1,500 people who were charged over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. He also commuted the sentences of 14 people who were in prison.

Some of the people granted relief either pleaded guilty to charges of—or were convicted by judges or juries of—assaulting law enforcement officers, including officers with the U.S. Capitol Police.

That aspect of the pardons and commutations has drawn criticism from some, including Republicans.

“When you pardon people who attack police officers, you’re sending the wrong signal to the public at large,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said over the weekend on CNN. “And that’s not what you want to do to protect cops.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), after the pardons were announced, took to the Senate floor in Washington and read details of some of the attacks perpetrated by those pardoned.

“The pardons from the White House are impossible to explain,” he said.

The White House did not return a request for comment on the resolution by publication time.

Trump recently defended the wave of pardons, saying that he based his decision to include violent offenders in part because of how they were treated in the wake of the Jan. 6 incident.

The order outlining the pardons states, in part, “This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”

Vice President JD Vance said on Jan. 26 on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program: “There was a massive denial of due process of liberty, and a lot of people were denied their constitutional rights. The president believes that. I believe that, and I think he made the right decision.”

While many of the pardoned have been released from prison, others are still being held or face being rearrested on additional charges. Daniel Ball, for instance, was kept in custody on an arrest warrant for illegal possession of a gun, a charge brought after agents searched his home while investigating him over the Jan. 6, 2021, incident.