If You Give a Jan. 6 Rioter a Pardon…

It’s been so fun to watch all the Jan. 6 rioters live, laugh, love their way through freedom since Donald Trump pardoned all 1,500 of them for storming the United States Capitol in 2021, which resulted in five deaths, including one police officer. The “QAnon Shaman” tweeted about how excited he was to “buy some motha f*kin guns!!!”; Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is offering them free tours of the Capitol; and one of their biggest supporters was picked to run the federal office that initially investigated them! There’s literally never been a better time to be a violent insurrectionist.

Now, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, some of the rioters are taking their one wild and precious pardon and claiming that it should be extended to cover their other crimes, like murder plots or possession of child pornography.

There is Edward Kelley, who was pardoned for assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol, but who is now fighting another case. In November, a jury convicted him of conspiring to murder the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who investigated his Jan. 6 participation, with evidence showing he had a “kill list” of targets.

Kelley now argues that conviction should be tossed out, too.

Since Trump said the pardon covered “offenses related to events that occurred at or near” Jan. 6, Kelley—who assaulted several police officers during the Capitol riot—believes his murder plot conviction (which included 37 targets) actually should be cleared. Other defendants are arguing that since their illegal gun possessions and possession of child pornography were discovered as part of the Jan. 6 investigations, those convictions also shouldn’t count. Makes (zero) sense!

Meanwhile, earlier this month, dozens of defendants got together to post on Twitter the names of 124 prosecutors, judges, and FBI agents who contributed to their convictions. The tweet included photos and “disparaging remarks,” according to WSJ, which wrote:

Rachel Powell, who helped smash a Capitol window with a battering ram and shouted through a bullhorn, added her prosecutor’s name to the list. She accused the prosecutor of telling lies and called for consequences such as prison time or termination if the allegations are substantiated.

“It would be nice to see prosecutors held accountable for their actions,” said Powell, 44, in an interview. She said while she doesn’t regret going to the Capitol to protest what she believes was election fraud, she does regret her behavior that day. Other weapons brandished by participants included guns, Tasers, a sword, axes, hatchets, knives, [and] baseball bats, the Justice Department has said.

George Washington would surely be so proud.