In the News

By Sudiksha Kochi 

Democrats are using the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to blast President Trump, accusing him of inciting the riot and pledging accountability even as he pardoned hundreds of defendants on his first day in office. 

The 2021 riot, which unfolded as lawmakers were certifying former President Biden’s election victory, sent shock waves through the country — intensifying partisan polarization, prompting a sweeping reassessment of security around Washington and leaving millions of dollars in damage to the Capitol.

While many Republicans have remained largely silent about the attack — or in some cases defended it — Democrats have been quick to argue Trump has only elevated and vindicated Jan. 6 rioters in his second term. 

Trump granted full pardons to more than 1,500 rioters and commuted the sentences of extremist group leaders, including those part of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, accused of spearheading the attack.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a report Monday criticizing Trump for installing Ed Martin, who participated in the attack, as the U.S. pardon attorney. 

“I am ashamed of our president pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters, criminals, in crimes against our country. I am ashamed of the president for doing that,” Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) said. 

“The President’s first day back in the Oval Office was punctuated by his decision to pardon or grant clemency to every single insurrectionist who violently attacked the Capitol, including those who beat and gouged police officers. Since then, he has placed fellow election deniers into key administration roles, and his Justice Department has fired or demoted the prosecutors and investigators who were doing their jobs by holding violent attackers accountable,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told The Hill in an emailed statement. 

Schiff was a prominent figure of the bipartisan House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack in 2021, when he served in the lower chamber. That committee released a final report in 2022, alleging that Trump “purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud” concerning the 2020 election to “aid his effort to overturn the election.” A judge last year dismissed Trump’s criminal indictment accusing him of conspiring to subvert the 2020 election results.

“The insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol were among the most dangerous threats to the rule of law in America since our nation’s founding. And the effort to condone that violence has only magnified the danger. We must never allow the truth of what happened five years ago today to be forgotten or rewritten, and must remain ever vigilant against efforts to undermine the principle at the heart of our democracy — that every vote counts,” Schiff added. 

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) echoed similar sentiments, saying Trump’s pardoning of insurrectionists after he encouraged them “is a signal that our democracy is broken and that when we fail to hold wrongdoers, insurrectionists, to account for their actions, it emboldens them to do it again.”

The Judiciary Committee Democratic report found at least 33 pardoned Jan. 6 rioters had been convicted of, arrested for or charged with crimes since the attack. These crimes include child sexual assault, kidnapping, homicide and illegal possession of firearms. 

“These are dangerous people, and they’re harming Americans now that they were pardoned,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who also served on the committee. “Trump likes to say he backs the blue. That’s absurd. He just pardoned the people who attacked the police.”

But the White House has brushed off the criticism. 

“The media’s continued obsession with January 6 is one of the many reasons trust in the press is at historic lows — they aren’t covering issues that the American people actually care about. President Trump was resoundingly reelected to enact an agenda based on securing the border, driving down crime, and restarting our economy — the President is delivering,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Hill in a statement.

House Republicans last year voted to authorize a select subcommittee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and potentially the previous Democratic-run Jan. 6 committee. The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) and includes a few Democrats. 

“While Dems seem keen on playing political games and doubling down on the predetermined political narrative of Pelosi’s former committee, Republicans will continue to pursue the facts in an objective manner no matter where they lead,” Loudermilk said in a statement at the time.

Democrats plan to hold a hearing Tuesday to mark the five-year anniversary of the attack. In a “Dear Colleague” letter, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the hearing will feature a panel of members recounting their experiences that day and will also examine what he described as “ongoing threats to free and fair elections” posed by the Trump administration.

“Our hope is that by sharing this five-year look back, people will understand that what’s happening under the Trump administration right now is a clear and present danger, that it might happen again,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Dean told The Hill she believes democracy is being tested at this moment. 

“But I believe democracy will stand,” she added. “And I believe my constituents and many others are hungry to turn away this lawless, corrupt administration.”

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