Outrage over the J6 pardons flows from malicious misinformation

The post-pardon outrage from leftist pundits, politicians, and D.C. judges and prosecutors is as dramatic as it is predictable. No amount of reason or logic will stop them from rushing to the cameras to stoke fear and loathing over President Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations for nearly every January 6 defendant. The pardons included nonviolent offenders and those who, frankly, were significantly otherwise. But every pardon and commutation was justified.

Equally unsurprising, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) eagerly joined the leftist choir. But plenty of other spineless Republicans have also condemned the pardons, mostly RINOs from states or districts where voters only elect Republicans who side with Democrats half the time.

Even the most unsavory characters and reprehensible actors had their constitutional rights trampled. That fundamental injustice justified Trump’s blanket pardons.

Meanwhile, many in Congress remain willfully ignorant of the Biden Justice Department’s lawless prosecutions of nearly 1,600 J6ers. The scale of their indifference is not just stunning — it’s downright disconcerting.

How could they ignore the blatant abuses of due process and basic legal rights? Prosecutors manufactured evidence, suborned perjury, and exaggerated or outright lied about individual behaviors. Courts handed down absurdly harsh sentences, especially compared to similar or worse crimes committed during left-wing protests and riots in the same city less than a year earlier. On top of that, J6ers in the Federal Bureau of Prisons system endured inhumane treatment for years.

Sunday morning “news” programs last week were a font of ignorance and disinformation. Near the conclusion of CBS News’ “Face the Nation” interview with Vice President JD Vance, Margaret Brennan repeated a persistent media falsehood about convicted J6er Ronald “Colt” McAbee. She claimed, “Ronald McAbee hit a cop while wearing reinforced brass knuckle gloves, while he held one down on the ground while other rioters assailed the officer for over 20 seconds, causing a concussion.”

Courtroom evidence and testimony contradict every word Brennan read from her prepared notes about McAbee, making her claims false and potentially defamatory. At the time, McAbee, a Tennessee deputy sheriff, wore motorcycle gloves with plastic reinforcement to protect his hands in an accident — not “brass knuckles.” He never held down a cop to allow others to cause a concussion.

Two exhaustive reports for Blaze Media by my colleague Joe Hanneman expose how federal prosecutors lied, manipulated evidence, and withheld material from a judge to keep McAbee behind bars. A thorough review of video footage confirms McAbee never assaulted Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wayte, as alleged. Instead, he shielded the officer and helped him return to the police line.

Vance delivered a response every Republican should learn and remember. “There’s an important issue here,” he said. “There’s what the people actually did on January 6 — we’re not saying everyone acted perfectly — and then,” he continued, “what did Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice do in unjustly prosecuting well over a thousand Americans in a politically motivated way?”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), another waste of ample Republican flesh, told Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ “This Week,” “I think the pardons by Joe Biden were disgraceful, and I think Donald Trump has taken it to another level as well.” He didn’t stop there. “These are the two most selfish politicians in the presidency in my lifetime. Joe Biden pardoning his family proves it, and Donald Trump trying to whitewash January 6 proves it.”

The real “disgraceful” and “selfish” act is Christie's desperation to stay relevant while pontificating about cases he clearly hasn’t reviewed. His criticism ignores glaring examples of Justice Department overreach and excessive sentencing by D.C. judges, making his commentary more about political positioning than legal integrity.

Many GOP and Democrat legislators display blatant ignorance, but the claim that allCapitol Police and D.C. Metro Police feel “disgraced and insulted” by these pardons is false. Capitol Police officers I’ve interviewed and built relationships with over the past three years have shared a different perspective, as evidenced by the many messages in my inbox.

Active-duty, retired, off-the-record, and whistleblowing Capitol Police officers have congratulated me on the dismissal of my January 6 case. They recognize the department’s failures and the “setup” that occurred that day — their words, not mine.

On January 6 of this year, exactly two weeks before President Trump’s second inauguration, I entered the Capitol to cover the certification of the Electoral College vote count. Two other Blaze Media correspondents witnessed several uniformed and plainclothes Capitol Police officers recognizing and stopping me. They thanked me for exposing “the corruption of the white shirts upstairs.”

Make no mistake: About 140 police officers suffered injuries from assailants wielding sticks, bats, flagpoles, and bear spray that day. Calling violent perpetrators and provocateurs “patriots” or “heroes” is wrong. But even the most unsavory characters and reprehensible actors had their constitutional rights trampled by the Justice Department, the FBI, the courts, and their prison guards. That fundamental injustice justified Trump’s blanket pardons, commutations, and case dismissals.

Previously untold stories are now circulating through honest press coverage and social media revelations. These stories will gain further traction as newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin advances his investigation and as a new House select committee, led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), begins its work.

But much remains to be done — not only to prevent another January 6 riot but also to ensure that no future administration weaponizes the legal system to attack basic rights and emasculate due process.