Trump Tried To Wipe Away Jan. 6. Republicans Brought It Back Front And Center.

Donald Trump tried to erase the Jan. 6 riot with his pardons. But his actions — and Republicans’ formation of the subcommittee reopening the issue — put it back in the spotlight.

Republicans are eyeing a two-year effort to re-litigate the violent assault on the Capitol even as they refuse to weigh in on Trump’s decision to pardon its most egregious perpetrators — some of whom judges view as a continuing danger to society.

Democrats are livid — and fearful — that people who targeted them for violence have been abruptly absolved, but they’re also quietly hopeful that Republicans’ decision to remind Americans of the carnage will exact a political price in the midterm elections. Capitol Police are quietly — and not so quietly — furious that their assailants have been set free.

The crosscurrents come as courts continue to process the dismissal of hundreds of Jan. 6 criminal cases on Trump’s order, with several complications arising for defendants who committed separate crimes — such as deleting evidence or fleeing from justice.

In short, Trump’s effort to erase the violent assault has opened up new fronts and skirmishes in Washington’s four-year reckoning with an attack on the seat of power. Trump’s inauguration may have led to an abrupt end of the criminal cases stemming from Jan. 6, but it has ignited a new focus on its meaning in a Trump-led America.

Democrats’ jaws hit the floor Wednesday when former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes — released by Trump from an 18-year prison sentence for conspiring to violently stop Congress’ role in the transfer of power — strode nonchalantly into the Capitol complex, took a seat in a Dunkin’ Donuts and held court with reporters in the same building he gleefully watched under attack.

"My only regret is they should have brought rifles," Rhodes said in a Jan. 10, 2021 recording played at his seditious conspiracy trial in 2022. "We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then and there. I'd hang fucking Pelosi from the lamppost."

Several Republican lawmakers reportedly granted Rhodes a meeting.

“It’s just incredibly sad that this is someone who House Republicans feel should be welcomed in this building,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chair of the House Democratic caucus, “someone who doesn’t support the rule of law, someone who actively worked against the peaceful transfer of power in our country.”

Democrats are also describing increasing security concerns in the wake of the pardons. They noted that several people who were freed were deemed too dangerous by judges to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, and several more remained detained pending trial because of judges’ concerns about the danger they posed.

“This campus is less safe because of the pardons Donald Trump exercised,” said Aguilar, who has also emphasized that the threat is not just to Congress but in communities where violent offenders reside.

Judges who sentenced Jan. 6 defendants also have openly feared that the failure to exact consequences for an attack on the transfer of power could invite future political violence. It could enshrine a belief, they fear, that perpetrators will go free as long as their favored candidates win.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson warned Thursday that the blanket dismissal of Jan. 6 cases called for by Trump is “contrary to the manifest public interest in upholding the rule of law” and would “dishonor” the police officers who protected the Capitol.

“They are the patriots. Patriotism is loyalty to country and loyalty to the Constitution – not loyalty to a single head of state,” the Obama-appointed judge wrote. “No stroke of a pen and no proclamation can alter the facts of what took place on January 6, 2021. When others in the public eye are not willing to risk their own power or popularity by calling out lies when they hear them, the record of the proceedings in this courthouse will be available to those who seek the truth.”

Adding to the uncertainty is the unclear scope of the Republican effort to re-investigate Jan. 6. Though Speaker Mike Johnson said he had no interest in looking “backward” when assessing Trump’s pardons, he quickly contradicted himself by vowing a deep dive into the work of the Democrat-led Jan. 6 select committee, which concluded Trump was singularly responsible for the chaos and violence unleashed by his supporters.

Trump has railed against the committee, contending without basis that its members should be prosecuted for destroying evidence. Former President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for the panel’s members and staff in one of his final acts in office.

Democrats say they’re open to participating in the new GOP-led effort to revisit the Jan. 6 attack, though Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus would likely oppose its creation if it is constructed as a purely political effort.

“If it is a select committee to whitewash the events of Jan. 6 as it relates to a violent mob that clearly attacked the Capitol and police officers … then it's not something that we will support,” the New York Democrat said.

Among the charges that Trump ordered dismissed were those in the case of Garret Miller, a Texas man who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and was sentenced to 38 months in prison for pleading guilty to a series of felony and misdemeanor charges.

But unlike most Jan. 6 defendants, Miller also pleaded guilty to making a threat of violence against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeting “assassinate AOC” on the evening of Jan. 6.

Ocasio-Cortez told POLITICO she is concerned that Trump’s decision to dismiss the case against Miller could inspire “retaliation.”

“He definitely tried to target me,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

An attorney for Miller acknowledged that the case was dismissed as a result of Trump’s action but said the lawmaker does not need to fear reprisal from him.

“Mr. Miller has long recognized that his comments about the Congresswoman were completely inappropriate,” said the attorney Clint Broden. “Unfortunately, he was caught up in the rhetoric of January 6 at the time he made those statements and has now had time to reflect upon his actions. While Mr. Miller understands the Congresswoman's concerns, she has no need to worry about any acts of retaliation from him.”