Trump's pardons for Jan. 6 rioters don't apply to DC pipe bomb suspect,
judge rules
[July 07, 2026]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s mass pardons for supporters
who stormed the U.S. Capitol don't apply to a Virginia man charged with
planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and
Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, a federal judge
ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian
J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump's blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters
explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related
to the Jan. 6 attack. Cole hadn't been charged, let alone convicted,
when Trump issued the pardons, Ali noted in his three-page order.
On the first day of his second term in the White House, Trump erased the
largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history when he
pardoned, commuted the prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of
cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the Jan. 6 attack.
Cole was arrested nearly a year after Trump's sweeping act of clemency.
He is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican National
Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters in
Washington, D.C., on the night before the riot. The devices didn’t
detonate before law enforcement officers discovered them on Jan. 6.
Prosecutors have said that Cole gave a confession after his arrest,
telling FBI agents that he felt “bewildered” by conspiracy theories
related to the 2020 presidential election and “something just snapped."
Investigators also used phone records and other evidence to identify him
as a suspect.
Cole's attorneys argued that he qualifies for a pardon because his
alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the
events near the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“By the government’s own telling, this is exactly the kind of case that
President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Presidential Pardon was invoked to
reach,” defense lawyers wrote.
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The Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol,
are seen at dawn from an overlook in Arlington, Va., as Washington
prepares for sweltering temperatures, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP
Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Prosecutors countered that Trump's pardons have no bearing on Cole's
case since the president's proclamation applies only to people who
been convicted of or had a pending indictment for Capitol
riot-related crimes.
“And even if the proclamation somehow could apply to this case, the
Department of Justice’s contrary position is entitled to deference
as a reasonable interpretation taken by the Executive Branch agency
expressly charged with administering the proclamation,” they wrote.
Ali was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Trump, a Republican, spread baseless conspiracy theories that
Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him. Supporters
who attended Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on
Jan. 6 joined a mob's attack on the Capitol, disrupting the joint
session of Congress for certifying Biden's electoral victory.
Cole is due back in court on Wednesday for a status hearing in his
case. A trial date for his case hasn't been scheduled yet.
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