President Trump’s sweeping pardons of more than 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, including individuals who assaulted police officers, stunned Republican lawmakers who witnessed firsthand the chaos on Capitol Hill four years ago.

Trump’s action, which defied assurances from his allies that he would examine convictions on a case-by-case basis and not grant clemency to people who committed violence, divided GOP senators and overshadowed talk about his first-100-days agenda.

GOP lawmakers are largely willing to overlook the hundreds of people who entered the Capitol illegally four years ago, which disrupted the certification of former President Biden’s victory by several hours, but pardoning people who assaulted Capitol Police, causing dozens of injuries, was hard to swallow.

“It is wrong to pardon individuals convicted of violent crime, especially when many of the victims of their violence were law enforcement officers,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said in a statement.

Moran was expressing a view shared by many of his Senate GOP colleagues even though many of them are reluctant to criticize Trump publicly.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who’s up for reelection this election cycle, said people who assaulted police should serve out their sentences, breaking with other Republican senators who tried to avoid talking about the issue.

“It’s not right. People who assault police officers, if they do the crime, they should do the time,” he said.

Cassidy described himself as a “big 'back the blue' guy,” referring to his record of supporting law enforcement.

“Whether you’re in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport,........

© The Hill