WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked a resolution denouncing pardons for Trump supporters who attacked and injured police officers during their break-in at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Majority Whip John Barrasso opposed Democratic Senator Patty Murray’s motion for unanimous assent to the measure on the floor.
Senators frequently use unanimous consent for minor resolutions, military nominations, and other activities, although a single senator can prevent adoption.
Trump shortened the jail sentences of 14 of the most dangerous criminals, including the leaders of the paramilitary groups the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, on January 6, just hours after taking office on January 20. He simultaneously pardoned the remaining 1,560 defendants in full, unconditionally, and completely.
Trump’s decision to pardon the violent criminals is an absolutely unimaginable attempt to erase the events of that day, according to Murray, who represents Washington state.
According to Murray, it is a dangerous encouragement of political violence and a betrayal of the law enforcement that protected us all that day. It tells criminals that they can beat police officers to within an inch of their life as long as it serves Donald Trump’s interests.
The 19-word resolution opposing pardons for those convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers was co-sponsored by all 47 Democratic and independent senators.
Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, stopped the bill. He said that because former President Joe Biden awarded thousands of pardons and commutations before to his resignation, Democrats do not want a meaningful discussion about the use of presidential pardon power.
Barrasso stated that they would discuss Joe Biden’s more than 8,000 pardons if they wanted a meaningful discussion. 37 out of 40 of the worst murderers on death row were granted clemency by the former president during his last days in office.
By giving clemency to thousands of nonviolent drug offenders, Biden set a record for the most pardons and commutations. The death sentences of 37 federal prisoners were commuted by the previous president, whose aversion to the death penalty is well known, and they will now serve life terms. Three prisoners were left on death row by him.
Biden gave preemptive pardons to all members of the congressional committee that looked into the Jan. 6 attack and to the four police officers who testified before the panel just before he left the White House.
Additionally, he preemptively pardoned retired General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who have both been the targets of Trump’s promises of public outrage and retaliation.
Early in December, Biden came under fire for pardoning his son Hunter, who had pleaded guilty to tax offenses after being found guilty on federal weapons charges. Biden preemptively pardoned five members of his family in his last hours in office.
The Department of Justice reports that more than 140 officers from the Washington Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Capitol Police were hurt that day.
On the floor, a number of additional Democratic senators discussed the four policemen who committed suicide in the days after the incident, as well as particular assaults on law enforcement on January 6.
What does backing the blue have to do with this? “I don’t understand,” Arizona Senator Mark Kelly remarked.
The day following Trump’s pardons, States Newsroom contacted around two dozen Republican senators for comments regarding mercy for the violent offenders.
With very few exceptions, almost everyone either indicated they hadn’t read Trump’s 334-word order to release the offenders from their penalties, sidestepped to attack Biden’s pardons, or declined to speak.
174 defendants were charged with employing a lethal or dangerous weapon or seriously injuring an officer, while 608 defendants were charged with assault, resisting, or obstructing law police. Nearly one-third entered guilty pleas to assaulting law enforcement, while 69 entered guilty pleas to using an obvious or improvised weapon, such as police officers’ riot shields or pieces of furniture the protesters smashed within the Capitol.
