Could Trump Pardon January 6 Rioters if Reelected as U.S. President?

Former President Donald Trump recently suggested he could pardon rioters who entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 if he were to be reelected as president in 2024.

Trump floated the idea on Wendy Bell Radio on Thursday, but it's not the first time he's suggested he could pardon those who were involved in storming the Capitol in order to prevent the certification of the 2020 election.

The former president has continued to make false claims that the last presidential election was stolen from him and remains the leading choice among many Republicans for their party's 2024 nomination.

"I will tell you, I will look very, very favorably about full pardons. If I decide to run and if I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons. Full pardons," Trump said.

"We'll be looking very, very seriously at full pardons because we can't let that happen. ... And I mean full pardons with an apology to many," he added.

While he was still in office in January, 2021, Trump also suggested he could grant pardons to those involved in the riot but did not issue pardons to any of those held during the last 14 days of his administration.

If Trump becomes president again on January 20, 2025, he will have the power to issue pardons for federal offenses.

The president cannot pardon those charged with state-level crimes but if Trump would be able to pardon accused Capitol rioters of any federal offenses they may have been charged with or convicted of on January 6, 2021.

More than 900 people have been charged for their roles in the events of January 6, according to a recently updated analysis from Insider, but a person doesn't need to charged or convicted in order to receive a presidential pardon.

In possibly the most high-profile case of someone being pardoned without being charged, President Gerald Ford granted a pardon to his predecessor, President Richard Nixon, in 1974. Nixon had been implicated in a broad range of wrongdoing in connection with the Watergate scandal but he was not charged or convicted of any crime.

However, by the time Trump would take office 2025, it's likely most of the cases will be completed, and that some of those involved will have served prison time.

According to some recent polls, Trump is a leading candidate for a 2024 presidential run. A recent McLaughlin & Associates poll showed Trump favored to win the GOP nomination with 55 percent support, compared to 15 percent for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

That result is typical of recent polling about the 2024 Republican nomination, as multiple polls have shown Trump as the clear favorite to win the GOP nomination.

However, a poll conducted for The Wall Street Journal from August 17 to 25 showed President Joe Biden defeating Trump with 50 percent support to Trump's 44 percent.

But an Emerson College poll conducted from August 23 to 24 showed a much closer race, with Biden winning with 43 percent support with Trump close behind with 42 percent.

Neither Trump nor Biden have formally announced if they will run for president in 2024.

Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, who sits on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riots, told CNN on Thursday: "That the former president would be talking about pardoning people who engaged in that behavior really is shocking."

Trump is no stranger to controversial pardons. On his last full day in office - January 19, 2021 - he issued 143 pardons and commutations. Those included a pardon for former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was facing fraud charges in connection with an online fundraiser to build the southern border wall.

His suggestion that he could pardon the rioters came on the same day as Biden delivered a speech harshly criticizing Trump and arguing he and his Republican allies are a threat to American democracy.

The president also condemned political violence and specifically highlighted "law enforcement [that was] brutally attacked" on January 6.