NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland – One month after President Donald Trump issued mass clemency for all of the defendants convicted for their actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, some of them want to see more from the president and the government.
Jan. 6 Capitol rioters Stewart Rhodes, who was one of the 14 who received a commutation, and Christopher Quaglin, who received a full pardon, were among the attendees at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.
Trump issued mass clemency to almost all of the Jan. 6 defendants during his first day in office, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail. At least 1,583 people were charged over the Capitol riot, with roughly 200 pleading guilty to felonies and more than 220 others were convicted in trials that included attacks on law enforcement.
Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, told the Washington Examiner that he felt the first 30 days of Trump’s second term were “fantastic” and said he was grateful to be out of prison. However, Rhodes also pushed to be given a full pardon from Trump, saying that he and the 13 others who received needed one.
“I need my veterans benefits restored. I got a really nasty letter from the VA saying that, because of my conviction, I’m no longer, you can only get any veterans, I’m a disabled vet. But they said I have no longer any right to any disability payments or healthcare, or I can no longer be buried in a veteran cemetery, which is a really horrific insult to a veteran,” Rhodes said. “So I want my rights back, my right to bear arms back; in Texas, where I’m from, I can’t vote.”
Rhodes, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other charges, expressed disappointment that he was not given a full pardon from Trump, while others who pled guilty to seditious conspiracy and, in his view, “turned on” Trump did.
“So I think it’s a little bit, a little bit strange that they were pardoned, but we were not. So with the guys that went to trial and faced the music and did the right thing and refused to bend the knee and kiss the ring – I refused to turn on President Trump, the only deal I could have made was just turn on him,” Rhodes said. “Just not gonna happen, right? So, you know, I think I deserve a pardon.”
Quaglin told the Washington Examiner he plans to pursue legal action over his conviction, though he did not specify who would be the target of his complaint. He also said he wanted to be a part of the “solution” from the Trump administration in fixing the prison system.
“I don’t care if you’re left or right. The prison system is broken,” he said. “What they did to me is unAmerican.”
For some of the Jan. 6 defendants at the conference, their attendance was at times rocky, with some of the defendants being denied entry or escorted out by security officials, according to videos posted on social media.
Richard Barnett, who was photographed with his feet on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk on Jan. 6, 2021, posted a video on social media accusing the conference of denying him entry before receiving his credentials later on Thursday. Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, also was initially denied entry on Wednesday but was permitted entry on Thursday.
CPAC officials denied they were refusing Jan. 6 rioters entry to the convention in a statement posted to X on Feb. 20.
“It is untrue that we are not allowing people to come to CPAC because of their involvement with J6,” the statement said. “In fact, CPAC has been a constant supporter of this persecuted community and we support wholeheartedly President Trump’s pardons of the J6 victims.”
On Friday, a group of the defendants in town for the conservative convention, including Tarrio and Rhodes, gathered at the Capitol, where they announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, which they claim will be funded by their various crypto initiatives, including the “proud coin.”
“The government overplayed their hands. They thought we would break. They thought we would fail, but look at us now. My mother, my wife, they suffered for three years, and those who made them suffer will pay. Let me be clear: I’m not talking about violent retribution,” Tarrio said when announcing the lawsuit. “I’m talking about something much more powerful: Accountability and the rule of law. That is why today, we are announcing a lawsuit against the DOJ for their murders, their lies, and the endless suffering they have put us through.”
Tarrio was arrested following the press conference after U.S. Capitol Police officers witnessed him knock a phone out of a counterprotester’s hand after the woman put the phone near his face, the police department confirmed in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
The president’s pardon for those involved in the Jan. 6 riot received swift blowback from Democrats and some disagreement from Republicans.
Kash Patel, the newly confirmed FBI director, broke with Trump’s blanket pardons during his confirmation hearings, claiming that he did “not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a top Trump ally in the Senate, criticized the pardons, citing violence against law enforcement.
“I don’t want to do anything that would invite violence against those who risk their lives every day to protect us,” Graham said last month.
Every Senate Democrat signed onto a resolution condemning the pardons in late January with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) leading the effort.
But the Jan. 6 defendants received a warmer reception at the convention. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon praised them during his boisterous address to CPAC Thursday evening.
“The J-sixers are here at CPAC. All of them,” Bannon exclaimed as the crowd roared with cheers. “I talked to Ambassador Ric Grenell last night … and I think the J6 choir is going to play the Kennedy Center for a night and honor their families.”
Trump recently tapped Grenell, his envoy for “special missions,” as interim executive director of the Kennedy Center after he fired the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees and appointed himself as chairman, taking control of an iconic D.C. institution.
But with Trump at the helm, Bannon suggested that as the J-6 choir plays at the Kennedy Center, “we invite all the families that tried to destroy the J-sixers, and they get to sit in the boxes where the elite sit.” He also claimed the elite should be taken “down to the D.C. gulag … for one night.”
Other attendees at CPAC voiced support for the Jan. 6 defendants as well, calling for accountability from government officials who investigated the Capitol riot, specifically the House select committee, and for the “truth” about the day to be released.
“I would like the truth to come out,” Sonja Harper, 60, a retiree from Texas, told the Washington Examiner. “I know they’re doing the research, but I think they owe the American people the truth. I don’t feel like we know everything there is to know we hear, we hear certain stories, but I think they’ll get to the bottom of it, the truth will prevail, and it’s very important that we all understand exactly what happened.”
Nick Passino, 37, a resident of upstate New York who works in politics and crypto: “What I want to see from January 6 is I want the people the board, to be held accountable for the lies, the deception on the American public. That’s what I want. The J Sixers need to be praised.”