- Trump’s latest promise came after President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter
On his first day back in the White House next month, Donald Trump plans to pardon all the January 6 defendants.
The president-elect said it is a high priority for him to get those who rioted at the Capitol in 2021 out of prisons because they have been there for years while he ran for a second term.
“I’m going to move very quickly,” Trump told NBC News on Sunday in his first interview after the victory.
He insisted: ‘Yes, I’ll watch the first day.’
“Are you going to pardon this one?” Meet the press host Kristen Welker clarifies.
“These people have been there, how long has it been? Three, four years,” Trump complained.
‘They’ve been there for years. And they are in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be open,” he added.
The mass pardons could result in more than 500 people being released from prison and nearly 1,000 more cases being dismissed.
President-elect Donald Trump pardoned the January 6 rioters on his first day back in power
President-elect Donald Trump (left) spoke with NBC News host Kristen Welker (right) for his first post-election interview, which aired on Meet the Press on Sunday, December 8, 2024
Trump suggested just after President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter last weekend that he would also seek to commute sentences and pardon defendants linked to and those convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot .
He now confirmed in his interview with NBC News that he will take immediate action after taking his oath of office in January.
According to the Justice Department, 944 defendants had their cases tried in August and were sentenced for their activities on January 6, 2021.
And of those almost a thousand people, 562 were sentenced to imprisonment for various periods.
More than 1,488 defendants were charged in both District Court and Superior Court in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.