Despite Democrat and liberal media protestations against wholesale Jan. 6 pardons, Vice President-elect JD Vance said only nonviolent protesters should get quick pardons from President-elect Donald Trump.
"I think it's very simple: If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you've had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned," Vance said in a TV interview Sunday. "If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn't be pardoned."
Pardons for protesters will be taken on a case-by-case basis, according to Vance, because there is "a little bit of a gray area there" with which protesters were violent.
"We're very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law, and there are a lot of people we think in the wake of Jan. 6 who were prosecuted unfairly," Vance continued. "We need to rectify that."
Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on "day one" of his presidency, which begins Jan. 20.
"Most likely, I'll do it very quickly," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" earlier this month. He added, "Those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it – I have to look; but, you know, if somebody was radical, crazy."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she has spoken at length with Trump and is lobbying him to pardon everyone who participated in the siege. Few Republicans are going that far, but many believe it’s appropriate for Trump to look at pardons on a case-by-case basis.
"Here we are nearly four years later: Many of these people have been in prison since 2021 – even the ones that fought Capitol Police, caused damage to the Capitol, I think they've served their time and I think they should all be pardoned and released from prison," Greene said. "Some of these people have been given prison sentences: 10 years, 18 years and more. I think it's an injustice.
"It's a two-tiered justice system, and it's time to end it."
More than 1,250 have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials in connection with Jan. 6, with more than 650 receiving prison time ranging from a few days to 22 years.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a top Trump ally who leads the House Judiciary Committee, said he supported some pardons, but also made a distinction.
"For people who didn't commit any violence, I think everyone supports that. I think that makes sense," Jordan said.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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