CPR’s Caitlyn Kim contributed to this story.
Colorado’s federal lawmakers are reacting to President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations for participants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, including rioters who assaulted police officers.
Freshman GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction said he was “deeply disappointed” in the pardons “for those who assaulted law enforcement officers and for those who fought to stop the constitutional certification of the 2020 election.”
“I’m a rule of law Republican,” said Hurd. “January 6 was a dark day in American history, and it was an assault on our republic and the peaceful transfer of power.”
The delegation’s senior Republican, Rep. Lauren Boebert, compared Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons to some of those that former president Biden granted at the end of his term.
“After years of denying he would take such an action, Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter and then made the cowardly decision to pardon his other corrupt family members just minutes before losing power,” said Boebert in a statement.
“President Trump was clear and consistent about his intentions and immediately followed through on a promise of his to the American people,” she continued. “I look forward to continuing working with President Trump and Vice President Vance to deliver on the promises we made to the American people.”
CPR reached out to all ten members of the state’s congressional delegation and collected their responses via email. Republican Reps. Jeff Crank and Gabe Evans, himself a former police officer, did not respond to multiple requests, while Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper’s office said he would not have a comment.
On the site X on Tuesday, Boebert posted a photo of herself in front of the Washington, D.C., jail with the message “RELEASE THEM NOW!” The New York Times reported she told the crowd at the jail she wants to offer people convicted for participating in Jan. 6 guided tours of the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Michael Bennet also posted about the pardons on X, writing, “The January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a violent assault on our democracy. President Trump’s decision to issue these pardons erodes Americans' faith in the rule of law.”
Like Bennet, other Colorado lawmakers warned the Jan. 6 pardons send a bad message.
“President Trump’s decision to pardon his loyalists, including members of violent white nationalist militias on his first day, sets a dangerous precedent and sends a message to the American people – as long as you are loyal to Trump, no matter what you do, you will not be held accountable to the law,” said Rep. Brittany Pettersen.
House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse called the pardons shameful and “an affront to the many brave police officers and law enforcement officials who defended the Capitol on that terrible day.”
“January 6 is a stain in our nation’s history, and those who followed the president’s orders and attacked our Capitol should be held accountable, not given unconditional pardons,” said Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in a statement, noting that she saw the bravery of the Capitol Police first hand on Jan. 6.
“The president is attempting to rewrite history because he knows that he got away with a crime. These actions are an affront to the men and women who defended the Capitol four years ago and continue to protect us today,” said DeGette.
Both DeGette and Neguse served as impeachment managers in Trump’s second impeachment trial over his actions surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Jason Crow took to social media to post video clips and violent, often profane, quotes from some of those the president pardoned.
“Pardoning January 6 insurrectionists who brutally beat police officers is an endorsement of political violence,” said Crow in a statement. “President Trump talks about rule of law and then lets cop beaters and killers walk free. It’s disgusting and wrong.”
