Given how deeply divided Americans are on so many issues, it’s heartening to see there are still some issues that can bring people with different beliefs and values together. Take Jan. 6 pardons, for example.
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll released last month found lopsided results on one of Donald Trump’s signature issues: “The president’s least popular action is his decision to pardon all those convicted of crimes in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. More than 8 in 10 oppose the pardons for those who were convicted of violent crimes.”
By most measures, 83% of Americans don’t agree on much, but they agree that pardoning violent criminals who clashed with police and attacked their own country’s Capitol was not a good move.
The Republican not only continues to brag about his Jan. 6 pardons, he’s apparently exploring new ways to give rioters additional benefits. Last month, for example, Trump’s Justice Department said that the president’s clemency for Jan. 6 criminals covered unrelated crimes that were discovered during FBI searches.
Around the same time, Trump made Ed Martin, a Republican lawyer with Jan. 6 clients, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., and he proceeded to launch a “special project,” to be known as “Project 1512,” that means to review the prosecutions of Jan. 6 rioters.
Is there anything else the president can do for those who attacked the Capitol in his name? Evidently, yes. Politico reported:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the possibility of financial compensation for people who were prosecuted for taking part in the riot at the Capitol in 2021. Speaking to Newsmax on Tuesday night, Trump said he had taken ‘care’ of his supporters who attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss and added there is ‘talk’ about compensating them.
In response to a question about a “compensation fund” for Jan. 6 rioters who were held accountable for their crimes, Trump talked about the idea as if it were under serious consideration.
“There’s talk about that,” the president said. “A lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people.”
The Republican didn’t elaborate on the details, but taken at face value, he appeared to be describing what would effectively be reparations for Jan. 6 felons, presumably to be financed by taxpayers.
In other words, there’s “talk” in the White House about transferring money from your wallet to rioters’ wallets — not because they earned it, but because Trump is open to the idea of rewarding them for committing crimes that he approved of.
I can’t wait to see how well this polls.