WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the following statement on President Trump pardoning January 6th rioters:
“I was in the House of Representatives on January 6th, feet away from the mob as they attacked law enforcement officers, desecrated the U.S. Capitol, and attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election at the behest of Donald Trump. I heard the shot ring out and the glass break on the House Chamber doors.
“Yesterday we observed President Trump’s inauguration and the peaceful transition of power—four years later—in the very same Rotunda where President Trump incited an insurrection. The Capitol is home to thousands of workers, Capitol Police Officers, congressional staff and Members of Congress who still have vivid memories of the insurrection and its aftermath. President Trump’s abuse of the presidential pardon system is appalling.
“More than anything it displays disregard to the men and women of the Capitol Police who bravely defended the Capitol and stood in the breach to allow for the transfer of power to the president newly elected by the citizens of the United States of America.”
###