Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner maintains that in his view, "there is a path" for charging individuals for crimes connected with Jan. 6, 2021. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press )
Trump's decision to sign a sweeping act of clemency freed more than 1,500 individuals that were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol breach. More than 100 police officers were injured, according to officials, and the incident ultimately sparked the largest FBI investigation in the bureau's history.
"In many cases, it will be possible to go after people who have been federally pardoned," Krasner told CNN Thursday.
"The focus for most state prosecutors should be what occurred within their jurisdiction," he said. "Texting, phone calls, emails, reservations for transportation or hotels. Conspiratorial activity could give rise to a local charge — meaning a state charge — of criminal conspiracy."
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Pro-Trump protesters clash with police at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. President Donald Trump used his first day in office in 2025 to issue a sweeping clemency grant to more than 1,500 individuals charged in connection with the riots. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
State prosecutors also have a very narrow scope in trying to prove new criminal action.
That is because they must do so while respecting the broad double jeopardy protections included in the U.S. Constitution, which prevent individuals from being tried for the same case twice. It also is taken to mean that they cannot be tried twice for the same conduct.
In fact, for state prosecutors to bring charges against an individual, they must prove successive actions are focused on remedying a "very different kind of harm or evil" than the federal charges, and it is unclear whether states will be able to meet that burden of proof.
McCarthy and other lawyers pointed to the 2019 decision by a New York judge who cited the double jeopardy clause as the rationale for tossing a 16-count indictment state prosecutors brought against Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, ruling that the conduct was not sufficiently different.
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Republicans were forced to toe a delicate line in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's pardons — facing tough questions as to what the clemency orders meant for a party that has long been seen as one that "backs the blue." (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters, Pool)
Meanwhile, Republicans were forced to toe a delicate line in the aftermath of Trump's pardons — facing tough questions as to what the clemency orders meant for a party that has long been seen as one that "backs the blue" and supports police officer protections.
Vice President JD Vance used an interview on CBS News on Sunday to accuse former Attorney General Merrick Garland of applying "double standards in how sentences were applied to the J6 protesters, versus other groups," in an attempt to soften his earlier remarks.
Vance, a former U.S. senator, previously told Fox News that Jan. 6 participants who committed violence "obviously" should not be pardoned.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Wednesday "the president has made his decision." "I don’t second-guess those," Johnson said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., told reporters that she was "disappointed to see" the decision to pardon violent offenders, including those who were convicted of violence against police officers. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images )
Others were more direct in their criticism.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., told reporters that she was "disappointed to see" the decision to pardon violent offenders, including those who were convicted of violence against police officers.
"I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us," she said.
This was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who told reporters the pardons were "deeply un-American."
"Let's be clear, President Trump didn't just pardon protesters," Schumer said. "He pardoned individuals convicted of assaulting police officers. He pardoned individuals convicted of seditious conspiracy. And he pardoned those who attempted to undermine our democracy."
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More than 200 people were in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prison system prior to Trump's pardon. By Tuesday morning, all of them had been released, officials told The Associated Press.
Ed Martin, a defense attorney who represented three men charged in the Jan. 6 riots, was recently appointed as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Martin filed a motion Friday to remove all remaining conditions imposed on commuted Jan. 6 defendants, including restrictions that barred certain individuals from entering Washington, D.C., or the U.S. Capitol building.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/das-may-try-charge-jan-6-participants-granted-clemency-trump-new-crimes-state-local-levels