December 18, 2025
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington documented at least 33 pardoned Jan. 6 defendants who faced new criminal charges by December 2025, including murder, child sex crimes, rape, and threats to kill a congressman.
CREW documented at least 33 pardoned Jan. 6 defendants arrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes by December 2025
Six of the 33 faced child sex crime charges ranging from sexual assault to child pornography possession
Four defendants reoffended after receiving Trump pardons in January 2025
Edward Kelley was sentenced to life in prison in July 2025 for conspiring to murder federal employees who prosecuted Jan. 6 cases
Christopher Moynihan was charged with a felony for threatening to murder House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee on January 22, 2026, calling it reasonable to expect more crimes from pardoned defendants
At least 140 police officers were injured on January 6, 2021, some requiring hospitalization
Government watchdog organization
Pardoned Jan. 6 defendant
Pardoned Jan. 6 defendant
Pardoned Jan. 6 defendant
Former Special Counsel
U.S. Capitol Police Chief
research
Track CREW's updated count of pardoned defendants who face new charges at citizensforethics.org
CREW documented at least 33 pardoned Jan. 6 defendants arrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes by December 2025. Six faced child sex crime charges including sexual assault and child pornography. Edward Kelley received life sentence in July 2025 for conspiring to murder federal employees. Christopher Moynihan charged with felony for threatening to murder House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Jack Smith testified it was reasonable to expect more crimes from pardoned defendants.
Track CREW's reporting at citizensforethics.org — they update counts of pardoned defendants who face new charges as cases develop. Go to their website and search for 'January 6 pardon' to find their tracking database. CREW documents each case: who was pardoned, what new conduct occurred, what charges followed, and the current case status. This database is the most comprehensive public resource for following what actually happened after the pardons — documented legal record of subsequent criminal activity.
civic action
Contact your House or Senate representative about legislation requiring congressional review of mass pardons
Mass pardons for politically connected defendants raise structural questions about pardon power that Congress can address by statute. Asking your representative their position forces them to take a public stand.
Contact your House or Senate representative and ask their position on legislation that would require congressional review before blanket pardons exceeding a set number of defendants. Go to senate.gov to find your senators' contact forms. Say specifically: I am concerned about the precedent set by mass pardons for January 6 defendants. Do you support legislation that would require congressional notification or review before a president can issue blanket pardons to more than a set number of defendants? Keep a record of their response. This is a question every senator and representative can answer on the record.
civic action
Use the documented post-pardon reoffending cases as evidence when advocating for pardon reform
Policy reform on pardon authority needs evidence, not just principle. The post-pardon reoffending database provides documented cases that supporters of reform can cite in conversations with legislators and in public advocacy.
When Congress debates presidential pardon authority, the documented cases of post-pardon reoffending are the concrete evidence that courts and legislators will cite. Read the Brennan Center's research on pardon power at brennancenter.org to understand the legal and policy arguments for reform. Then use CREW's case database to bring specific examples into your conversations with elected officials or community members. Abstract arguments about pardon power reform gain traction when backed by documented individual cases — the people pardoned, the new crimes committed, the victims affected.