A handful of Senate Republicans criticized President Donald Trump for the pardons and commutations he gave to the roughly 1,500 people who engaged in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests — violent in some cases — on Capitol Hill.
Trump on Monday issued a "complete and unconditional pardon" to most who were convicted and ordered the Justice Department to drop the 470 ongoing cases. Trump commuted the sentences of another 14 but did not grant them full pardons.
Some Senate Republicans took umbrage with Trump pardoning those who committed violence, especially against police officers.
"I don't think that the approach of a blanket pardon that includes those who caused harm, physical harm to our police officers, to others, that resulted in violence — I'm disappointed to see that. And I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women who stood by us," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters.
Vice President J.D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had signaled in the run-up that Trump would not pardon those who had assaulted police officers. Vance said on Jan. 12 that violent offenders "obviously" shouldn't be pardoned.
"Well, I think I agree with the vice president," former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Semafor. "No one should excuse violence. And particularly violence against police officers."
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said, "I've got concerns with any pardons for people who did any harm to police officers," while also criticizing former President Joe Biden's 11th-hour pardons of family members.
"That may mean we need to look at what that authority really entails," Tillis added.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called the reprieves a "terrible day for our Justice Department" while Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said "it's not right."
"People who assaulted police officers — if they do the crime, they should do the time," Cassidy told reporters.
About 140 officers — 73 from the Capitol Police and 65 from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington were injured during the Jan. 6 attack, the New York Times reported. In addition, five law officers died following the assault on the Capitol.
Cassidy, Collins, and Murkowski voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial.