"F--k it: Release 'em all": Why Trump embraced broad Jan. 6 pardons
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President Trump's sweeping pardons for 1,500 Jan. 6 criminals and defendants were a last-minute, rip-the-bandage-off decision to try to move past the issue quickly, White House advisers familiar with the Trump team's discussions tell Axios.
Why it matters: Trump's move to "go big" on the pardons sheds light on his unpredictable decision-making process, and shows his determination to fulfill a campaign promise to his MAGA base — regardless of political fallout.
How it happened: Eight days before the inauguration, Vice President-to-be JD Vance — channeling what he believed to be Trump's thinking — said on "Fox News Sunday" that Jan. 6 convicts who assaulted police ought not get clemency: "If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned."
- Trump vacillated during an internal debate over targeted clemency vs. a blanket decision according to two insiders.
- But as Trump's team wrestled with the issue, and planned a shock-and-awe batch of executive orders Day 1, "Trump just said: 'F -k it: Release 'em all,'" an adviser familiar with the discussions said.
Catch up quick: Trump's decision was a surprise to some Republicans in Congress, who grimaced at the appearance of the new president condoning violence against police officers.
- On Jan. 7, 2021, the day after his supporters rioted at the Capitol to protest the 2020 election, Trump decried those who "defiled" the building.
But as his own legal problems mounted during his campaign, Trump came to embrace the cause of those charged in the riot. On the campaign trail, he began playing a version of the National Anthem sung by jailed protestors who called themselves the "J6 Prison Choir."
- After he was elected, Trump told "Meet the Press" on Dec. 8 that he'd pardon Jan. 6 convicts and defendants on Day 1: "I'm going to be acting very quickly."
- He didn't rule out clemency for those accused or convicted of attacking police, but said: "We're going to look at individual cases."
Between the lines: Early in the internal discussions, Vance actually had advocated for a blanket pardon. But the Yale-trained lawyer figured Trump wouldn't want to take the hit for releasing notorious convicts.
- The case-by-case review was onerous. Trump staffers wondered whom to pardon and who might slip through the cracks.
- Time was running out heading into Inauguration Day. Trump wanted to pardon as many people as possible and get it over with, so he landed on clemency for everyone.
In the Trump team's view, "all the prosecutions are tainted," the adviser familiar with the discussions told Axios: "It's time to move on."
- Vance was "100% on board," said one Trump insider, pointing to a Vance post on X in which he noted that in 2021, "I donated to the J6 political prisoner fund and got ROASTED for it during my Senate race."
- Trump advisers say they aren't particularly worried about the political fallout from the pardons decision, despite bad poll numbers. They believe Jan. 6 was essentially litigated in the election Trump won, and that other issues matter more to voters.
The pardons episode provided a lesson for Vance and others in Trump's orbit: Categorical statements forecasting the mercurial president's actions are always a risk. It also happened to Vance during the campaign, when he said Trump would veto a national abortion ban.
- "The president didn't change his mind," the Trump adviser said. "He just made up his mind and Vance got a little over his skis on Fox, but it's no big deal."
The bottom line: "Never get ahead of the boss," a Trump transition source said, "because you just never know."
