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'Bad idea': Sen. Tillis criticizes pardons for violent Jan. 6 defendants

Thom Tillis was one of 12 GOP Senators to vote in favor of a bill codifying same-sex marriage on Wednesday.
Brian Godette/U.S. Army Reserve
Sen. Thom Tillis on Tuesday rebuked President Donald Trump's pardons and commutations for violent Jan. 6 defendants.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is expressing dismay for a series of pardons and commutations issued by President Donald Trump for defendants charged with violent acts during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on U.S. Capitol.

Tillis was asked to weigh in on the presidential pardons — issued on Trump's first day back in office — by Rueben Jones of Spectrum News.

"Many of them probably was the right thing to do. They made a bad choice," Tillis said. "But anybody who was convicted of assault on a police officer, I just can't get there at all. I think it was a bad idea."

Tillis also called the sweeping pardons for former-President Joe Biden's family members issued on Biden's final day in office "nonsense," and he responded to a question about whether the Senate should reexamine the president's power to pardon.

"I think it's a legit question, because we can't get into this cycle where presidents are pardoning their friends, creating prospective pardons for charges that haven't even been applied. I don't think that that's what the founders had in mind when this ability to pardon was first vested into the executive branch," Tillis said.

More than 100 police officers were injured in the 2021 attack, during which angry Trump supporters — some of them armed with bats, poles, tasers and firearms — overwhelmed Capitol Police and stormed the U.S. Capitol.

North Carolina Rep. Sen. Ted Budd, who describes himself on his website as "an avid and consistent supporter of law enforcement and the rule of law," did not respond to requests for comment.

Nick de la Canal is an on air host and reporter covering breaking news, arts and culture, and general assignment stories. His work frequently appears on air and online. Periodically, he tweets: @nickdelacanal