WASHINGTON, DC – Upon reports that President Donald Trump has issued pardons and commutations for individuals convicted of offenses related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, Constitutional Accountability Center Vice President Praveen Fernandes issued the following reaction:

Despite promises that he would advance “law and order,” one of President Trump’s first acts in office was to pardon, and to commute sentences for, individuals convicted of offenses related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol. These pardons and commutations do nothing to improve the lives of everyday Americans, but instead undermine accountability for those who participated in a violent attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump’s actions today cannot erase the true facts of what happened on January 6th—facts developed through years of painstaking factfinding by nonpartisan and bipartisan governmental bodies, including the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol. The violence that day left countless law enforcement officers and workers injured, and it resulted in deaths; it was an assault on the will of the American voters and the rule of law. The American people will not forget.

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Resources:

Praveen Fernandes & Donald K. Sherman, Justice delayed is political: Trump’s election interference case must continue ahead of the election, Salon.com (Sept. 8, 2024), https://www.salon.com/2024/09/08/justice-delayed-is-political-trumps-interference-case-must-continue-ahead-of-the/.

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Constitutional Accountability Center is a nonpartisan think tank and public interest law firm dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text, history, and values. Visit CAC’s website at www.theusconstitution.org.