A Sweeping January 6 Pardon Is an Attack on the Judiciary

Donald Trump’s repeated promise to consider pardons for the January 6 attackers is rightly seen as a craven political move, one that would both satiate his base and bolster the lie that the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol was a peaceful protest, and that those who have been charged and convicted are political prisoners or even “hostages.” But the promise is something graver too: Blanket pardons for the January 6 rioters would be a severe assault on the legitimacy of the criminal legal system, and in particular, on the role of the judiciary in that system.

Since January 6, 2021, the federal judges of the district court in Washington, D.C., have worked tirelessly to handle the nearly 1,600 criminal cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against those who allegedly attacked police officers, damaged and stole government property, caused members of Congress and the vice president of the United States to flee for their lives, and prevented the counting of the Electoral College ballots for more than six hours. The charged crimes have ranged from misdemeanors such as trespassing and disorderly conduct to serious felonies such as assaulting police, obstructing an official proceeding, and seditious conspiracy.

In every case, federal judges have worked to ensure that the defendant’s constitutional rights have been protected, including the rights to counsel, due process of law, and a jury trial. More than 1,000 of those charged have pleaded guilty. More than 250 have been found guilty after a trial. More than 800 have received sentences of incarceration, including some who were permitted to serve their sentences in home detention. Others have received sentences of probation. And through it all, the federal judges—whether appointed by a Republican president, a Democratic president, or former President Trump himself—have devoted themselves to carefully stewarding their cases in accordance with U.S. law.