Former President Donald Trump has pledged to some families of those convicted in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots to consider pardons if elected to a second term in 2024.
In an impromptu meeting and dinner last week at his Mar-a-Lago club and winter residence, Trump told several families that he believes many of the convictions were wrong and unjustified.
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“He was very apologetic to them for what the country is doing to their loved ones,” said Cynthia Hughes, who heads the Patriot Freedom Project that raises money to help families of Jan. 6 suspects.
“He truly cares about what’s happening to these people,” she told Secrets. “This president is very heartsick about what’s happening to these families. He just shakes his head in disbelief. You know, why are we punishing these families?”
Hughes and several families were in Florida last week taping the second part of the group’s “Due Process Denied” video series. When she met with Trump and told him the families were in town, he invited them to dinner.
“You know, I had my meeting, and I let him know that these families were in town and we’re filming, and he said, without hesitation, Paul, without hesitation, you bring these families to Mar-A-Lago. You bring these families and I want them to come here and have dinner and I want to talk to them. And these families walked away with hope,” said Hughes, whose new book about those jailed for alleged Jan. 6 crimes and their families, also titled Due Process Denied, was just released.
It was during Trump’s meeting with Hughes and some family members that he said he would consider pardons if reelected.
“We did talk about pardons, but not in length. He’s going to look at pardons. He knows that not everybody can get a pardon. He’s made that very clear. You know, this is a president of law and order. This is a president that does not condone violence on the police. This is a president that is, you know, who spoke up for the police when the police were being attacked. He doesn’t believe in violence and he does not encourage violence and he did not encourage violence that day. So he knows that he has to look at each case. He did not say that. And I want to make that very clear. But he did say that he will be looking very closely at pardons,” she said.
Trump has repeatedly said he did not push protesters to invade the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hundreds of his supporters did storm the Capitol, cutting short the certification of President Joe Biden’s election and taking over the Senate chamber.
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Some 1,000 protesters have been rounded up by the FBI, which is planning to arrest another 1,000. Many suspects have been held in jail for unusually long periods, and a handful of lawmakers, led by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has fought for the improvement of their living conditions and release.
Trump has also remained focused on those jailed. He even performed on a hit single about those jailed titled “Justice for All.”
