Vice President-elect JD Vance said Sunday who he thinks should and shouldn\u2019t receive presidential pardons for their actions during the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and you\u2019ve had [Attorney General] Merrick Garland\u2019s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,\u201d Vance told \u201cFox News Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, \u201cIf you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn\u2019t be pardoned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vance\u2019s comments broke slightly from what President-elect Donald Trump has laid out in his pardon plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a December interview with NBC News<\/a>, Trump told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d that on his first day in office he would pardon his supporters who rioted on Jan. 6, adding that the rioters have been prosecuted in a \u201cvery nasty system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to be acting very quickly, first day,\u201d Trump said, adding that the rioters who have been convicted have \u201cbeen in there for years, and they\u2019re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn\u2019t even be allowed to be open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike Vance, Trump did not rule out pardoning those who pleaded guilty to violent crimes such as assaulting police officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause they had no choice,\u201d Trump said about the guilty pleas, adding: \u201cI know the system. The system\u2019s a very corrupt system. They say to a guy, \u2018You\u2019re going to go to jail for two years or for 30 years.\u2019 And these guys are looking, their whole lives have been destroyed. For two years, they\u2019ve been destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week Trump reiterated that he was considering “major pardons” for Jan. 6 rioters and would not rule out including them among his list of pardons when asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vance on Sunday did say \u201cthere\u2019s a little bit of a gray area there\u201d regarding those who committed violent acts on Jan. 6, adding that \u201cwe\u2019re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, in a post on X<\/a>, Vance elaborated on his remarks, saying he and the president-elect would evaluate each Jan. 6 case individually and that violent offenders who were \u201cprovoked\u201d would be evaluated for pardons, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe president saying he\u2019ll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback. I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial,\u201d Vance wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment on this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n