Trump considered mass pardons for Capitol rioters before leaving office, report says

Donald Trump seriously considered issuing mass pardons for those involved with the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, in the final days of his presidency, according to reporting from Politico.

Before Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January, then-president Trump reportedly made three calls to an adviser to ask whether he should pardon a pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop lawmakers certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.

“Do you think it’s a good idea? Do you think I have the power to do it?” he said, according to Politico, citing two people familiar with the issue, speaking anonymously to speak candidly about the former president’s final moments in office.

The report follows his comments at a rally in Texas in which he unambiguously said that, should he run for office and win in 2024, he would consider pardoning rioters “because they are being treated so unfairly.”

Several congressional Republicans have flatly rejected the idea, while the treatment of January 6 defendants – and the attack itself – have consumed much of the GOP’s agenda, claiming that federal investigations into the riots are politically motivated while downplaying the assault on Congress entirely.

Meanwhile, a House committee investigating the attack has accelerated its probe into the events leading up to and surrounding it, as well as those who were involved in shaping the response and the rally that preceded it.

More than 700 people have been arrested and charged with federal crimes in connection with the attack, marking the largest investigation in US Department of Justice history.

Those arrested include 150 people charged with assaulting police officers.

The founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and members or associates have also been accused of seditious conspiracy.

More than 100 police officers were injured, some critically, in the attack, which upended the congressional certification of electoral college votes in an attempt to overturn the results, fuelled by conspiracy theories and the former president’s baseless narrative that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

Democratic US Rep Pete Aguilar, who sits on the committee investigating the attack, told CNN on Tuesday that he “absolutely” believes Mr Trump’s latest remarks suggesting he will pardon riot defendants constitute witness tampering.

“And I think the question is more from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle ... where are they?” he said. “Do they support this? When is enough enough?”