LOS ANGELES.–NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander questioned 78-year-old President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, saying that some of the rioters pardoned attacked Capitol Hill or D.C. police officers. “Among those you pardoned was D.J. Rodriguez. He drove a stun gun into the neck of an officer who abducted by the mob that day. He later confessed on video to the FBI and pleaded guilty for his crimes,” Alexander said, questioning Trump’s blanket pardons. Rodriguez was arrested in March 2021 and sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. Asked by Rodriguez deserved a pardon,” Trump had no real answer. Why does he deserve a pardon,” asked Alexander. “Well, I don’t know,” Trump said. Was it a pardon? Because were are looking at commutations and we’re looking at pardons,” Trump said, showing that his staff takes care of technicalities.
Alexander said nothing about Trump taking his questions knowing he represents an anti-Trump network owned by Comcast Cable, owner of NBC Universal. “OK, we’ll have to look at everything,” Trump said. When it came to former President Joe Biden, he rarely faced the press, preferring to let his spokesman answer any questions. But Trump makes himself readily available to the press, even though the press tries its best to discredit Trump’s statements. Rodriguez was no exception, seeking to make Trump look like a hypocrite for pardoning Jan. 6 criminals. Trump told Alexander that many of the Jan. 6 defendants faced horrific jail conditions some receiving over the last four years no trial at all. Other were victims of prosecutorial abuse, with the government making exceptions out of Jan. 6 rioters, something the press often referred to as Trump supporters.
Trump didn’t tell Rodriguez that while real crimes were committed Jan. 6, 2021, the government overplayed its hand with rioters, largely to make a political statement about Trump’s alleged role in the mayhem. Rodriguez didn’t ask Trump whether he planned, organized and participated in Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Democrats called the riots and insurrection, suggesting that it was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government. Broadcast around the world, many foreign countries thought the U.S. was having a coup d’etat, something so preposterous, yet it was all part of the fake news narrative. Fake news made sure to blame the Jan. 6 riots on Trump, even though the U.S. Senate had acquitted Trump in his second impeachment trial Feb. 13, 2021 of “incitement of insurrection.” Democrats and the press used the Jan. 6 riots to start the corrupt Jan. 6 House Select Committee to stop Trump from running in 2024.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with her lieutenants Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) formed to Jan. 6 House Select Committee July 1, 2021 for the purpose of cherry picking evidence to prove that Trump was involved in planning, organizing and participating in the insurrection. Jan. 6 Committee had in mind that they could use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from running for public office. So when the Jan. 6 Committee finished its final report Dec. 31, 2022, they transmitted it to Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland with the intent to putting Trump in double jeopardy, expressly prohibited in the U.S. Constitution. Trump was acquitted in the U.S. Senate Feb. 13, 2021, but the Jan. 6 Select Committee asked Garland to prosecute Trump. Garland has already appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith Nov. 18, 2022.
Trump decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters has much to do with the undeniable witch hunt by the Biden administration against him that started with the Jan. 6 2021 Capitol riots. So, when it comes to the legitimacy of the prosecutions, it was all politically motivated with one purpose in mind, to charge and prosecute Trump for crimes he never committed. House Jan. 6 House Committee Co-Chairwoman former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) has said publicly that Trump planned, organized and participated in the Jan. 6, insurrection. That led the Colorado Supreme Court to rule that Trump could not be on the 2024 ballot because he violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Supreme Court ruled March 4, 2024 that Trump must be placed on Colorado ballot, reversing the State Supreme Court order. So, when it came to the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump saw nothing but government corruption.
Trump doesn’t have the time or inclination to explain everything behind his decision to issue blanket pardons to Jan. 6 rioters. “These people have already served years in prison, and they have served them viciously. It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible thing,” Trump told Alexander, giving him a sketchy explanation why his team decided to issue blanket pardons. Trump said nothing about Biden pardoning everyone in his family, including his wife Jill, but himself for any past crimes committed by the overseas Biden family business led by his son Hunter and brother James. NBC shows its anti-Trump bias by saying nothing of any substance regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. If NBC were a responsible news outlet, it would have pointed out how Democrats used the Jan. 6 riots to prevent Trump from running for president.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
