It Is Happening Every Day, Every Where
The South Carolina Republican told CNN that he “did not like” how Trump pardoned people who “beat up cops,” and suggested he would be open to curtailing the presidential pardon power.
Ed Martin, a longtime advocate for Jan. 6 defendants recently named to run the prosecutors’ office, sought to undo a judge’s order barring Stewart Rhodes from visiting Washington.
President Trump’s flurry of pardons this week sent a message to law enforcement: He will “back the blue” if they back him.
The move came ahead of the March for Life, the annual anti-abortion rally in Washington where Vice President JD Vance is expected to address attendees.
President Trump pardoned men who violently attacked police officers on Jan. 6 along with nearly 1,600 other people who had been charged in connection with the riot. But his grant of clemency did not erase the video evidence of their crimes.
Libertarian and crypto allies of Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for distributing drugs on his Silk Road website, leveraged President Trump’s desire for political support to secure his release.
While dismissing cases, judges who have overseen the prosecutions made clear that the orders did nothing to change the reality of the attack on the Capitol.
Pamela Hemphill, 71, of Boise, Idaho, who served 60 days in prison, said it would be “an insult to the Capitol Police” if she accepted the pardon.
Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys and Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers asserted that they wanted President Trump to seek revenge on their behalf for being prosecuted in connection with the Jan. 6 riot.
It is unclear how much is left in Washington to restrain him.