Speaker Mike Johnson suggested Tuesday he isn’t fully on board with President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, particularly the violent offenders.
“I haven’t looked at it yet,” Johnson said in a brief interview Tuesday as he left the Capitol to meet with Trump at the White House. But he appeared to reference other Trump officials like Vice President JD Vance who suggested violent offenders wouldn’t receive blanket pardons but would instead be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“The idea is that peaceful protesters should not be detained and anybody who committed violent offenses — that was something they talked about,” Johnson said, trailing off. “I haven’t seen the list. I haven’t had a chance to evaluate it.”
Johnson, pressed on whether he supports pardons for rioters who committed crimes against police officers, responded: “I don’t know which cases you’re talking about. It’s an individual assessment.”
Trump shocked many Hill Republicans by granting clemency for about 1,500 people who stormed the Capitol building just hours after he was sworn into office Monday. The list includes rioters who attacked police officers and were charged with seditious conspiracy related to the attack.
Johnson on Sunday, ahead of the pardons, that he didn’t think anyone who assaulted a police officer on Jan. 6 should receive a pardon.
“No, I think what the president said and [Vance] has said is that peaceful protesters should be pardoned, but violent criminals should not. That’s a simple determination. It’s up to the president on that,” Johnson said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
