Skip to content
RollCall logo

Podcasts

Pardon me? Tales of presidential pardons

Political Theater, Episode 355

Security barricades the House chamber as rioters disrupt the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021. Reps. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, blue shirt, and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., right, are also pictured. President Donald Trump issued pardons to all those involved in the attack.
Security barricades the House chamber as rioters disrupt the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021. Reps. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, blue shirt, and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., right, are also pictured. President Donald Trump issued pardons to all those involved in the attack. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
By Jason Dick and Todd Ruger
Posted January 22, 2025 at 2:57pm

Presidential pardons are all over the place, thanks to outgoing President Joe Biden and newly sworn in President Donald Trump. Presidents’ power to pardon is pretty comprehensive, and has been used to pardon Confederates, Jimmy Hoffa, Richard Nixon, Defense secretaries, family members and dirty tricksters, and most recently the Jan. 6 crowd and the founder of the black market drug marketplace Silk Road.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

Idaho Democrat David Roth is dropping out of the Senate race. (Screenshot/C-SPAN)

Idaho Democrat is latest Senate nominee to drop out in boost to independent rival

A sign referencing high gas prices and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is seen at an event hosted by VoteVets calling for an end to the Iran war outside the Capitol on May 20. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

‘People just don’t see it’: Trump’s midterms messaging sounds a lot like Biden

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche leaves a meeting in the Hart Senate Office Building on Wednesday.

Senate panel’s Blanche attorney general vote still uncertain

Capitol Ink | Hard times at the DNC

Georgia Rep. David Scott is seen during a House Financial Services Committee hearing. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

2 Democrats advance to runoff in Georgia special election

Jay Clayton testifies during his Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Building on July 15.

Jay Clayton confirmed as director of national intelligence