[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1738-S1739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           JANUARY 6 PARDONS

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, on January 6, 2021, a solemn 
constitutional proceeding was disrupted when a mob of thugs, egged on 
by President Trump, attacked and trashed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt 
to overturn a free and fair election.
  The grimmest results of the insurrection were the subsequent deaths 
of five of our law enforcement officers and the injuries to 
approximately 140 others, many of whom are still paying the price for 
that day.
  On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised that he would pardon 
January 6 insurrectionists--but it still came as a shock when, on the 
first day of his second Presidential term, he issued a blanket pardon 
and 14 commutations to all of those who had been charged or convicted 
for their involvement in the attack on the Capitol.
  And listen to what President Trump said about his pardons at a recent 
press conference ``I pardoned people who were assaulted themselves. 
They were assaulted by our government . . . They didn't assault. They 
were assaulted, and what I did was a great thing for humanity.''
  Trump's decision is highly unpopular, with 83 percent of Americans 
opposed to these pardons. This includes 70 percent of those who lean 
Republican.
  And not only that, but these pardons also highlight the hypocrisy of 
President Trump when it comes to his claimed crackdown on antisemitism. 
Just days after pardoning these rioters, he signed an Executive order 
outlining his administration's efforts to combat ``the explosion of 
antisemitism'' in the U.S..
  But, many of the rioters who Trump pardoned openly embrace violent 
antisemitism. Take Robert Keith Parker, who wore a black hoodie 
emblazoned with ``Camp Auschwitz'' on that horrific day.
  Robert Keith Parker was pardoned by President Trump.
  Or consider Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, whom prosecutors identified as a 
``white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer.'' He told his coworkers that 
``Hitler should have finished the job'' and frequently dresses up as 
Adolf Hitler.
  At Hale-Cusanelli's sentencing hearing, Judge Trevor McFadden, a 
Trump appointee, said ``Statements and actions like yours make [Jewish 
people] less safe and less confident they can participate as equal 
members of our society.''
  Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was pardoned by President Trump. And what is 
more? After his release from prison, Mr. Hale-Cusanelli was welcomed as 
a speaker at two events held by the President's supporters last year at 
his Bedminster club.
  At one of these events, he received an award from Ed Martin, now 
serving as President Trump's interim U.S. Attorney for the District of 
Columbia. Mr. Martin called Hale-Cusanelli an ``extraordinary man'' and 
an ``extraordinary leader.''
  Does that sound like the actions of an administration that cares 
about protecting the Jewish community from antisemitism? Seems more 
like lip service to me.
  But the hypocrisy doesn't end there. President Donald Trump, in his 
speech to the joint session of Congress last week, said he would, ``Get 
police officers nationwide the support, protection, and respect they so 
dearly deserve.'' He said those words in a chamber that was protected 
by the very officers who were violently assaulted on January 6 by the 
rioters who he egged on and later pardoned.

[[Page S1739]]

  Trump talks a big game about ``backing the blue--but his pardons of 
the very rioters who beat and brutalized hundreds of cops on January 6 
show that he has no idea what ``support, protection, and respect'' for 
the police means.
  He continues to tout bringing back ``law and order'' while releasing 
violent criminals onto the streets--the scope of his dangerous pardons 
continues to grow.
  Two weeks ago, a Justice Department prosecutor struggled in court to 
explain the administration's view of the scope of Trump's mass pardons, 
arguing that the relief should apply to separate criminal conduct 
committed by Capitol rioter Dan Wilson, in Kentucky in 2023.
  U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, a Trump appointee, 
questioned a Justice Department attorney about the government's 
shifting position on the scope of Trump's January 6 pardons.
  Judge Freidrich said, ``[p]ardons have to have a fixed meaning'' on 
the day they are issued, and there has to be a ``clear definition of 
the pardon that doesn't evolve or change.''
  Unfortunately, these individuals continue to pose a dangerous threat 
to our democracy--and law enforcement.
  Just last month, dozens of former January 6 offenders joined forces 
on social media to compile and publicize the identities of at least 124 
individuals who had been involved in their cases--including 
prosecutors, judges, and FBI agents.
  The post, which has received at least tens of thousands of views, 
includes names, photos, disparaging remarks, and demands for 
accountability.
  In January, another pardoned January 6 defendant who pleaded guilty 
to assaulting police officers with pepper spray, Ryan Nichols, Sr., 
identified in a Twitter post ``officers in the D.C. Jail who need to be 
investigated for corruption and abuse,'' adding the names and LinkedIn 
profile photos of two DC Jail employees.
  The men and women who bravely defended us on January 6 deserve better 
than this--and we should honor them for their heroic efforts that day, 
not excuse the thugs who attacked this body and the ideals it 
represents.
  Law enforcement officials should not fear for their safety or that of 
their families just for simply doing their jobs.
  I hope that all of us, regardless of our political persuasion, can 
agree on two things: that violence has no place in a democracy, and 
that our law enforcement officers are worthy of our respect and 
support.

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