Trump said his pardons and commutations for Jan. 6 defendants were justified and argued that people who commit violent crime in other cities don’t get charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended the pardons and commutations<\/a> of roughly 1,500 defendants charged with crimes connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including some convicted of assaulting police officers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump, in one of the first presidential acts of his second term, commuted the sentences of 14 prisoners and pardoned all others convicted of offenses related to the 2021 riot. He also directed the attorney general to dismiss all indictments pending before judges related to what became the largest federal investigation ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019ve served years in jail,\u201d Trump said in response to questions from reporters at the White House about why he pardoned violent offenders. \u201cThey should not have served, and they\u2019ve served years in jail. And murderers don\u2019t even go to jail in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added, \u201cWe pardoned people that were treated unbelievably poorly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of those pardoned had been convicted of violent attacks on police officers defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress was certifying Joe Biden\u2019s electoral victory. The pardons apply to people who were armed with items such as stun guns, batons and hatchet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump went on to say that members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia, were serving sentences that he called \u201cridiculous and excessive,\u201d adding that of the cases the White House looked at, \u201cthese were people that actually love our country, so we thought a pardon would be appropriate.\u201d Some Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy related to Jan. 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump used the subject to return repeatedly to the issue of violent crime in American cities, as well as pardons that Biden signed for the House Jan. 6 committee members and, separately, for his relatives as he left office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump talked about a variety of hot-button issues during the question-and-answer session, telling reporters that it is \u201clikely\u201d that his administration would place additional sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin doesn\u2019t come to the table to negotiate a deal with Ukraine in the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also said that his administration plans to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1 because of the “millions and millions of people” he said each country had allowed into the United States, as well as a flood of dangerous narcotics. Additionally, Trump said his team is discussing the possibility of a 10% tariff on China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n