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Donald Trump Pardon Recipients Are Being Charged With New Crimes


At least 12 people pardoned by President Donald Trump in his first and second terms in the White House have since been rearrested by the police.

Why It Matters

Trump pardoned 238 people in his first term, and has already pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters following his reelection, as well as seven people involved in blockading a Michigan abortion clinic in 2020.

At least 10 people pardoned between 2016 to 2021, and two people pardoned last week were charged again on new crimes after their presidential release from prison, and a third Capitol rioter remains on the run from police due to a prior warrant.

Combating crime is seen as important to 92 percent of Americans, per a recent YouGov poll, and Trump ran in both 2016 and 2024 on a platform of law and justice.

The number of pardons that went to Trump’s political allies, former aides, celebrities, and military contractors, in his first term, and the blanket pardon of Capitol rioters which is unpopular with several Republicans, has led some to question whether the president chooses to overlook law and justice when it comes to his friends.

The White House has been contacted via email for comment.

Hakeem Jeffries
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in front of a picture of rearrested Capitol rioter Daniel Ball on January 23, 2025.

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

What To Know

Two Capitol rioters have had run-ins with the police, one fatal, within a week of being pardoned. January 6 participant Matthew Huttle was fatally shot by an officer after allegedly resisting arrest at a traffic stop in Indiana.

According to local police, Huttle “was in possession of a firearm,” during the stop, but it is unclear whether he attempted to use it during the arrest.

The second Capitol rioter to be rearrested is Daniel Ball, who was taken into custody for a federal gun charge from 2023 shortly after his release from prison.

Despite being pardoned over his actions on January 6—where Ball allegedly threw an explosive into the Capitol causing hearing loss among police officers which lasted for months—Ball still has a criminal record for domestic violence battery by strangulation in 2017 and resisting law enforcement with violence and battery in 2021, meaning his possession of a .22 caliber rifle and ammunition put him in violation of federal gun laws.

A third Capitol rioter is currently on the run from Texas police due to a preexisting arrest warrant from 2016. Andrew Taake is wanted on charges of online solicitation of a minor.

Despite the Harris County district attorney asking the federal prison Taake was being held in to keep him there so that he could be rearrested by state police following his pardon, the facility released him.

Andrew Taake
Images distributed by the FBI of Andrew Taake at the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.

FBI

What People Are Saying

Margaret Love, a former U.S. pardon attorney, told ABC in 2022: “President Trump bypassed the formal and orderly Justice Department process in favor of an informal and fairly chaotic White House operation, relying in some cases on his personal views and in others on recommendations from people he knew or who gained access to him in various ways. So it might have been predicted that some who made it through that lax gauntlet were going to get in trouble again.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement: “The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6th, whether they committed violence or not, should not have been pardoned. They unlawfully broke into the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. What they did is a serious crime.

“Donald Trump is ushering in a Golden Age for people that break the law and attempt to overthrow the government.”

What Happens Next

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has warned of more violence from released Capitol rioters, including members of the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, and Oath Keepers militia groups.

The Three Percenters has seen a rise in recruitment following January 6, per reporting from Pro Publica.

One released rioter said he plans on buying “some m**************** guns” now that he has been freed from prison.

The son of a rioter who testified against his father has said he is “terrified” over his release and has moved to protect himself.



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