Former President Trump is raising the prospect of pardons for supporters who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol if he returns to the White House. “If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6th fairly,” Trump said at a rally in Conroe, Tx., the Associated Press reports. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.” More than 700 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the riot. The tally includes more than 150 people charged with assaulting police officers, more than 50 charged with conspiracy, and charges of seditious conspiracy against the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, and 10 other members or associates.
near the White House in which he falsely claimed Biden had won election through massive voter fraud.
Two Republican senators called Trump’s suggestion of pardons inappropriate. Maine's Susan Collins, one of seven GOP senators who backed an unsuccessful bid to convict Trump on impeachment charges for his role in stoking the Jan. 6 riot, said it would be “very unlikely” she would support him in 2024. “January 6th was a dark day in our history,” she told ABC’s “This Week.” “We should let the judicial process proceed.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) rejected Trump’s comments as sending a wrong message that it’s OK to defile the Capitol. For the Jan. 6 offenders, “I hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them, because they deserve it,” Graham told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Trump used his pardon power to pardon or commute the sentences of numerous political allies, friends and associates, including his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon; his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort; his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn; and a longtime friend and political ally, Roger Stone. While his supporters overran the Capitol, Trump ignored desperate pleas from allies to forcefully disavow the attack and has repeatedly praised those who participated in the protest
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