William Shipley, an attorney representing dozens of J6 defendants, including the so-called Qanon Shaman, told The Daily Wire this week that President Donald Trump’s sweeping action for J6 defendants, even for those accused of violence, was necessary due to the Biden DOJ’s refusal to give the accused fair trials.
Trump’s executive order, which was signed just hours after Trump was sworn into office, granted full pardons for every person convicted in relation to J6, with the exception of 14 commutations. The EO also ordered dismissals for the hundreds of cases pending indictments.
“I have said this publicly, I have filed this argument, I have argued it in court to multiple judges: the reality is that January 6 defendants could not receive a fair trial in the District of Columbia given the juror pool,” Shipley told The Daily Wire.
“The government never moved off of that position, and demanded that the cases go forward in the District of Columbia, knowing that to be true, which is reflected by the fact that so many defendants opted for bench trials to avoid the D.C. jurors,” the attorney continued. “I mean, that speaks volumes.”
J6 defendants “could not get their 5th and 6th Amendment rights to a fair trial in the District of Columbia,” which “justifies the pardons,” Shipley said. “The Biden Justice Department has themselves to blame for that fact.”