Senator Dick Durbin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, criticized President Donald Trump’s recent decision to issue blanket pardons for more than 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot. During a Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting, Durbin addressed several issues including the Trump Administration’s approach to judicial nominees and concerns about law enforcement.
Durbin questioned why Committee Republicans have moved away from requiring American Bar Association (ABA) ratings for judicial nominees. He stated, “For the first time in decades… we decided we do not care what the American Bar Association finds out when they interviewed other judges and lawyers in the community for these nominees…There have been [Trump] nominees found [‘Not Qualified’]… So, to have any bragging and boasting about nominees, why did you eliminate the ABA rating? That has been there for a long time and now you do not want Trump nominees to face that scrutiny [and] that tells us a lot.”
He then turned his attention to President Trump’s pardons of January 6 rioters. Durbin said, “Last week, he [President Trump] pardoned Dan Wilson… a member of the Oath Keepers militia. Mr. Wilson had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede [or] injure a law-enforcement officer and was sentenced to five years in prison. He remained incarcerated due to a felony conviction for illegally possessing firearms. But President Trump decided that Mr. Wilson should receive a pardon for this offense as well. The President also pardoned Suzanne Kaye, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison after threatening to shoot FBI agents. Ms. Kaye had posted a video online saying she would exercise ‘my Second Amendment right to shoot your fing ass’ if FBI agents interviewed her about her participation in the January 6 riot. So much for protecting law enforcement and being tough on crime.”
Durbin further condemned actions by some of those who received pardons: “Just yesterday, we learned about another horrific crime committed by a January 6 rioter who[m] President Trump pardoned. Andrew Paul Johnson was arrested first in Tennessee and then in Florida for multiple child sexual abuse offenses. Mr. Johnson, who referred to himself as an ‘American terrorist’ and ‘proud J6’er,’ faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of an 11-year-old child and [another] child between the age of 12 and 16.”
The Senator also raised concerns regarding FBI Director Kash Patel’s removal of officials connected with investigations into January 6 or former President Trump: “The FBI Agents Association said Director Patel has ‘disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution … An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination.’ And at DOJ, prosecutors who simply mentioned the reality of what happened and what we witnessed on January 6 in a sentencing memo were placed on administrative leave.”
In closing remarks, Durbin referenced data from Illinois related to “Operation Midway Blitz” while criticizing Republican silence over these developments: “According to the Administration’s own data, of the more than 600 people [currently detained] in Illinois during ‘Operation Midway Blitz’, just 16 out of 600 have a criminal history that poses a [high] risk to public safety—that’s less than three percent. As the Trump Administration tramples on the Constitution, my Republican colleagues are silent… Silent as he imposes higher prices on the American people with [his] tariff policies. Silent as he guts the federal workforce. And above all, silent because they fear political retribution. We’ve never faced anything like this before in our modern history. Our democracy is struggling to survive. Will someone speak up on the other side?”
Video footage along with audio recordings from Durbin's statement are available online.
