As Inauguration Day 2025 got underway, and Joe Biden’s presidency neared its end, the retiring Democrat took one last opportunity to exercise one of his most important powers. In a flurry of 11th-hour pardons, the then-president extended protections to a variety of people whom Biden feared might be targeted unfairly by his Republican successor.
Among the notable beneficiaries: the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, better known as the House Jan. 6 Committee. Biden similarly pardoned the panel’s members and investigators.
Donald Trump was not pleased. Just a couple of hours before his presidential inauguration, the Republican texted NBC News’ Kristen Welker and described the pardons as “disgraceful.” He went on to suggest that those who received the pardons are undeserving because, as he texted, “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
Hours later, after delivering his unfortunate inaugural address, Trump delivered unscripted remarks for over a half-hour to the overflow crowd in Emancipation Hall, and again insisted that Jan. 6 committee members were “very, very guilty of very, very bad crimes.”
As Inauguration Day neared its end, Jan. 6 remained on the new president’s mind, but in a very different context: Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 of his supporters in connection with the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol. NBC News reported:
Trump commuted the sentences of individuals associated with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy. He then issued “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” a category that included people who assaulted law enforcement officers.
The developments captured the state of American politics in a nutshell: The outgoing Democratic president pardoned Jan. 6 officers, while the incoming Republican president pardoned Jan. 6 criminals — including those who violently attacked law enforcement personnel.
After signing the pardons and commutations, a reporter asked Trump about his decision. The newly inaugurated president claimed that “outside agitators” were involved in the assault. He added, “And obviously the FBI was involved.”
In other words, just hours into his new term, Trump agreed to let violent criminals who attacked their own country’s seat of government back onto the streets, and then peddled discredited conspiracy theories and lies about the attack, as part of a larger effort to rewrite the story of what actually happened.
But let’s also not brush past the new president’s choice of words: In the morning and afternoon, when referring to those who investigated the Jan. 6 attack, Trump made absurd claims about “MAJOR CRIMES” and “very, very bad crimes.”
Of course, by this reasoning, the Republican necessarily concluded that Jan. 6 criminals, including those who violently attacked the police, didn’t commit “major” or “very bad” crimes.
It’s going to be a long four years.
