{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-condemns-president-trumps-january-6-pardons-as-more-rioters-continue-to-commit-heinous-crimes", "Durbin Condemns President Trump\u2019s January 6 Pardons As More Rioters Continue To Commit Heinous Crimes", "2025-11-20", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "During a Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting, Durbin condemned Trump\u2019s January 6 pardons, and Senate Republicans\u2019 refusal to defend the Constitution\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement during today\u2019s Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting. He began by commenting on the Trump Administration\u2019s judicial nominees who received a \u201cNot Qualified\u201d rating from the American Bar Association (ABA). Durbin then condemned President Trump\u2019s blanket pardon of the January 6 rioters, some of whom have gone on to commit additional heinous crimes.\n\nDurbin first commented on the tradition of ABA ratings, noting that Committee Republicans no longer require one for a judicial nominee to receive consideration. He said, \u201cFor the first time in decades\u2026 we decided we do not care what the American Bar Association finds out when they interviewed other judges and lawyers in the community for these nominees\u2026There have been [Trump] nominees found [\u2018Not Qualified\u2019]\u2026 So, to have any bragging and boasting about nominees, why did you eliminate the ABA rating? That has been there for a long time and now you do not want Trump nominees to face that scrutiny [and] that tells us a lot.\u201d\n\nDurbin then commented on President Trump\u2019s blanket pardon of more than 1,500 January 6 rioters. He said, \u201cLast week, he [President Trump] pardoned Dan Wilson\u2026 a member of the Oath Keepers militia. Mr. Wilson had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede [or] injure a law-enforcement officer and was sentenced to five years in prison. He remained incarcerated due to a felony conviction for illegally possessing firearms. But President Trump decided that Mr. Wilson should receive a pardon for this offense as well. The President also pardoned Suzanne Kaye, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison after threatening to shoot FBI agents. Ms. Kaye had posted a video online saying she would exercise \u2018my Second Amendment right to shoot your f---ing ass\u2019 if FBI agents interviewed her about her participation in the January 6 riot. So much for protecting law enforcement and being tough on crime.\u201d\n\nDurbin condemned the January 6 rioters who have gone on to commit heinous crimes since their pardons. Durbin said, \u201cJust yesterday, we learned about another horrific crime committed by a January 6 rioter who[m] President Trump pardoned. Andrew Paul Johnson was arrested first in Tennessee and then in Florida for multiple child sexual abuse offenses. Mr. Johnson, who referred to himself as an \u2018American terrorist\u2019 and \u2018proud J6\u2019er,\u2019 faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of an 11-year-old child and [another] child between the age of 12 and 16.\u201d\n\nDurbin then spoke about FBI Director Kash Patel\u2019s unprecedented purge of FBI officials because they worked on cases related to January 6 or President Trump. Durbin said, \u201cThe FBI Agents Association said Director Patel has \u2018disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution \u2026 An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination.\u2019 And at DOJ, prosecutors who simply mentioned the reality of what happened and what we witnessed on January 6 in a sentencing memo were placed on administrative leave.\u201d\n\nDurbin concluded by speaking about \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d in Illinois and Republicans\u2019 failure to condemn President Trump\u2019s abuses. He said, \u201cAccording to the Administration\u2019s own data, of the more than 600 people [currently detained] in Illinois during \u2018Operation Midway Blitz\u2019, just 16 out of 600 have a criminal history that poses a [high] risk to public safety\u2014that\u2019s less than three percent. As the Trump Administration tramples on the Constitution, my Republican colleagues are silent\u2026 Silent as he imposes higher prices on the American people with [his] tariff policies. Silent as he guts the federal workforce. And above all, silent because they fear political retribution. We\u2019ve never faced anything like this before in our modern history. Our democracy is struggling to survive. Will someone speak up on the other side?\u201d\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nFootage of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available herefor TV Stations.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-condemns-president-trumps-january-6-pardons-as-more-rioters-continue-to-commit-heinous-crimes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1847859025001526, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}