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The flurry of executive orders that President Donald Trump signed Monday were not surprising. Still, many of the executive actions are disappointing and needlessly divisive. And in the case of his pardons of those charged with violent crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol, downright dangerous.
Trump long said he was going to do many of the things — curb immigration, curtail the development of renewable energy, stop federal diversity and inclusion efforts — that he aims to accomplish with the executive orders he signed shortly after his inauguration.
Some of the orders, such as his bid to redefine and limit birthright citizenship, which is included in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, have already been challenged in court. More legal challenges are sure to follow.
Some of the orders, experts say, are poorly worded and lacking in details, and therefore likely to be largely meaningless.
It is not meaningless that Trump absolved more than 1,500 people of their involvement in the violent attack on the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. These men and women were charged with a variety of crimes, including seditious conspiracy for a few, for their role in the Trump-inspired riot that aimed to stop Congress from certifying the results of the November 2020 presidential election, which Trump still falsely maintains that he won.
More than 140 law enforcement personnel were assaulted that day. Some were beaten with flag poles, bats and a fire extinguisher, with much of the violence caught on videos. Numerous officers were forced to end their careers because of their injuries and five died shortly after Jan. 6, 2021.
Sen. Susan Collins was one of a small number of Republican lawmakers critical of Trump’s broad pardons to those who engaged in violence on Jan. 6, 2021.
“While I believe some Americans were caught up in the crowd on Jan. 6 and may well deserve the clemency President Trump has given, there is a great difference between violent crimes and non-violent crimes,” Collins said in a statement on Tuesday. “I do not support pardons given to people who engaged in violence on Jan. 6, including assaulting police officers, or breaking windows to get into the Capitol, for example.”
Nearly 1,500 of the Jan. 6 rioters had been charged with a variety of crimes related to that day, including 15 Mainers. Nearly 200 were convicted and nearly 900 pleaded guilty. Kyle Fitzsimons, a former butcher from Lebanon, received a seven-year sentence in July 2023 after prosecutors said he was among “the most violent and aggressive” of the rioters. He carried out five assaults of police, including one that ended the career of a Capitol Police sergeant, according to federal prosecutors.
He is now free.
Trump’s allies had suggested ahead of his second inauguration that he would only pardon the roughly 900 defendants who faced misdemeanor charges, but Trump granted pardons and commutations to violent offenders as well. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to immediately release the affected inmates and instructed the Justice Department to stop pending prosecutions of Jan. 6 defendants, whom he has called “hostages” and “patriots.”
Trump, it appears, is willing to waive rules and consequences for people, including those who commit violent acts, if they unfailingly support him. Especially with the violent offenders, this move has dangerous implications for America’s system of law and order.
Trump’s pardons have put violent criminals back on our streets, where they may threaten or harass those who testified against them, including law enforcement officials and their own family members.
Some point to pardons by outgoing President Joe Biden as egregious as well. Biden did commute the death penalties of 37 of the 40 federal prisoners facing execution. None of these prisoners was set free; they will serve life sentences for their crimes.
Biden pre-emptively pardoned several former government officials and, most troubling, members of his family. Biden pardoned former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and other members of the U.S. House committee that investigated the events of Jan. 6, 2021, along with many of those who testified before the committee. He pardoned Anthony Fauci, a public face of the federal government response to the COVID pandemic, who has faced the ire of many far-right commentators and lawmakers. He also pardoned Gen. Mark Milley, a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
More oddly, Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses who have not been charged with or convicted of any crimes, saying they have been targets of unrelenting criticism and hate and could be targets for reprisal punishments from the Trump administration. This, along with Biden’s previous pardon of his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted of gun-related crimes and pleaded guilty to multiple tax evasion charges, sets a dangerous precedent.
These pardons are understandable for Biden, acting as a father and brother seeking to protect his family as Trump and members of his inner circle have pledged retribution against the new president’s “enemies.” Yet, for the presidency, they set a troubling precedent for future administrations, like this one, that do not appear to be bound by any notion of legal, judicial and ethical norms.
Collins was also critical of these moves.
“This has been a terrible week for our justice system,” she said in Tuesday’s statement about presidential pardons from both Biden and Trump. “Violence must never be tolerated in America.”
She is right on both counts.
