Pardon of January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants
Background
In the aftermath of his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, Trump repeatedly made false claims that widespread electoral fraud had occurred and that only he himself had legitimately won the election. Although most resulting lawsuits were either dismissed or ruled against by numerous courts, Trump nonetheless conspired with his campaign team to submit documents in several states (all of which had been won by Biden) which falsely claimed to be legitimate electoral certificates for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. After the submission of these documents, the Trump campaign intended that the presiding officer of the United States Senate, either President of the Senate Pence or President pro tempore Chuck Grassley, would claim to have the unilateral power to reject electors during the January 6, 2021 vote counting session; the presiding officer would reject all electors from the several states in which the Trump campaign had submitted false documents, leaving 232 votes for Trump and 222 votes for Biden, thereby overturning the election results in favor of Trump. The plans for January 6 failed to come to fruition after Pence refused to follow the campaign's proposals.
Background
Bodycam video taken at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021
Background
Trump nevertheless urged his supporters on January 6, 2021, to march to the Capitol while the joint session of Congress was assembled there to count electoral votes and formalize Biden's victory, culminating with hundreds storming the building and interrupting the electoral vote count.
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