Hours before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, someone placed pipe bombs outside Republican and Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C. In the nearly five years that followed, an investigation failed to identify a suspect.
That is, until there was a breakthrough. Federal agents arrested a suspect Thursday morning, taking Brian Cole Jr. into custody. The Virginia man, who lives roughly 23 miles south of Capitol Hill, has been charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials, according to charging documents filed in court.
Those hoping for justice can certainly hope that federal law enforcement officials have the right suspect and can make their case in court. But as the legal process moves forward, there’s a politically awkward question hanging overhead:
What about Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons?
At a press conference at the Justice Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about the obvious tension between Cole’s arrest and the president’s decision to pardon every other person convicted for crimes on Jan. 6, including felons, many of whom violently clashed with police officers.
Bondi dodged the question.
The line of inquiry, however, is entirely legitimate. Trump, just hours into his second term, came to the assistance of Jan. 6 criminals, insisting at the time that it would be a “grave national injustice” to hold them accountable.
When NBC News posed the question to the White House, spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded with this statement:
It’s alarming and insulting that Fake News NBC would compare an individual who placed live bombs throughout DC to the countless individuals who were over-prosecuted and targeted by a weaponized Biden DOJ. This false equivalence is one of the many reasons why trust in the media is at an all-time low.
Let’s unpack this a bit.
First, NBC News isn’t “fake.” Second, Jan. 6 felons were, if anything, under-prosecuted. Third, if Republicans have any evidence of the Biden-era Justice Department having been “weaponized,” the party has kept its proof well hidden.
Fourth, if placing “live bombs” is qualitatively different from other Jan. 6 crimes, why did the Trump administration dismiss charges against Daniel Ball — who set off an explosive device in a Capitol tunnel during a fierce battle between pro-Trump rioters and law enforcement officers? This whole disingenuous mess is among the many reasons why trust in Trump and his team is at an all-time low. Time will tell what, if anything, comes of the case against Cole, but before anyone at the White House sticks their neck out, it’s worth noting that a week before Inauguration Day 2025, then-Vice President-elect JD Vance told a national television audience that those who committed acts of violence on Jan. 6 “obviously” didn’t deserve pardons. The Ohio Republican added at the time that the pardon question was “very simple,” arguing those who “protested peacefully” should be pardoned and “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.” A week later, Trump made Vance look quite foolish by pardoning violent Jan. 6 criminals. Which is not to say that the president intends to pardon Cole, as well, but this recent history reinforces the fact that the underlying question deserves to be taken seriously.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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