Republican senators struggled to defend Donald Trump’s decision to commute and pardon hundreds of January 6 protesters including those who were charged and convicted of crimes against police officers,

Trump issued “a full, complete and unconditional pardon" to people punished for their involvement in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including those who assaulted law enforcement officers.

Amid a flurry of executive actions on his first day back in the Oval Office, President Trump granted clemency to roughly 1,500 defendants convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.