Vice President J.D. Vance on Sunday defended President Trump's controversial move to grant clemency to more than 1,500 people involved in the January 6 riot. after he said he objected. Amnesty for violent criminals.
Vance, 40; The Trump administration claimed On January 6, 2021, the president's promise to evaluate rioters “on a case-by-case basis.
“What the president has said consistently throughout the campaign…is that he was going to look at it on a case-by-case basis…and that's exactly what we did,” Vance told CBS News.
“We saw 1,600 cases. And what came out of that, Margaret, is that there was a huge denial of due process of freedom and a lot of people were denied their constitutional rights,” he said. told host Margaret Brennan. “I think he made the right decision.”
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump, 78, said he intended to grant clemency to the Capitol mob, but he was preoccupied with how targeted his approach would be.
Vance said earlier this month that those who protested “peacefully” should be forgiven.
But he also added, “If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn't be forgiven.”
There were 608 people charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing or obstructing police officers during civil unrest, and of that group, 174 were charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police officers, and of that group, 174 people were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers during civil unrest, and of that group, 174 people were charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police officers, and of that group, 174 people were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers during civil unrest, and of that group, 174 people were charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police officers. He was charged with causing serious bodily injury.
Some people were sentenced to multiple years in prison for assaulting police officers and other serious crimes during the riots.
Trump, 78, dealt a swift blow to the fact that some of the unleashed rioters bludgeoned and carried out such acts of violence against police officers.
“We're not saying anyone did everything perfectly,” Vance acknowledged on Sunday, adding that the Biden administration “has accused far more than 1,000 Americans in a politically motivated manner.” “It's happening,” he accused.
“Violence against police officers is not justified. But that doesn't mean you should let Merrick Garland's weaponized Justice Department expose you to [an] An incredibly unfair process,” Vance responded when pressed at the time.
Vance compared the Capitol Hill indictment to the government's handling of the 2020 Black Lives Matter mob that destroyed businesses across the country and accused the Justice Department of having a “double standard.” .
“We will fix what was wrong and I support that,” Vance said.
But Trump's decision on the Jan. 6 pardon was filled with anxiety even in Republican circles. Some critics argue that he should be more selective.
“Please forgive people who attack police officers. You're sending the wrong signal to the public at large. And that's not what you want to do to protect a police officer. But he has that power.” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The 47th president's mass clemency came during a blizzard of executive orders and other actions as Trump returned to the Oval Office on Inauguration Day.
“They've been in prison for a long time already,” Trump told reporters. “These people were destroyed.”
Days later, Congressional staff was Oath Keepers founder Steward Rhodes was shocked when he was spotted in the Longworth House Office Building.
Rhodes had been slapped with an 18-year sentence related to seditious conspiracy charges from January 6, 2021. Prosecutors accused him of giving marching orders to members of the militia group that ransacked the Capitol that day.
“My only regret is they should have brought a rifle,” Rhodes lamented. audio recording It was later obtained by federal agents. “I should have brought a rifle. I could have fixed it on the spot. I hang f king [then-House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi from a lamppost. ”
a federal judge has Since barred Some of the key figures in the riot, including Rhodes, from entering the U.S. Capitol.
In addition to large-scale clemency, Trump directed the Justice Department to cease prosecution in the approximately 450 cases that are still pending.
