An activist’s defense of the Jan. 6 pardons

I reached out to Matt Braynard, who has been an activist for years on behalf of the Jan. 6 arrestees. I granted that some of these folks were overcharged, and I asked him for two things: Examples of the most overcharged individuals, in his opinion, and a broader defense of the blanket pardon, as opposed to individual clemencies for specific folks who were grossly mistreated.

On the second question, Braynard gave me a long reply, which came after my deadline. I reprinted the relevant parts of his explanation below.

“I would make four cases for why the broad pardons are justified: First, according to the Federalist Papers, the pardon power exists to allow a President to heal national divisions caused by times of great strife. The

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