MaddowBlog-Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter convicted on child molestation charges, adding to pattern

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters were already indefensible. That so many of them ended up committing additional crimes makes the move look even worse.

Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters were already indefensible.

The fact that so many of those who received pardons went on to commit additional crimes, including many felonies, makes the move look so much worse.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-12T13:44:41.719Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pardoned-jan-6-rioter-convicted-on-child-molestation-charges-adding-to-pattern

At a White House event in October, a reporter asked Donald Trump for his reaction to the arrest of a pardoned Jan. 6 rioter after he allegedly threatened to assassinate a congressional leader. “You have thousands of people that we’re dealing with and, you know, if one goes haywire,” the president said, before changing the subject midsentence.

If he were right, and just one of the Jan. 6 criminals he pardoned had ended up in legal trouble again, Trump’s reaction might have been defensible. But the growing list isn’t limited to one name. NPR reported:

A Florida handyman who received a pardon from President Trump for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been convicted of multiple state charges of child molestation and exposing himself to children, prosecutors told NPR. Andrew Paul Johnson, the pardoned rioter, attempted to bribe one victim with money he claimed he would receive as part of restitution for Jan. 6 defendants, police reported. The conviction is the latest case of a pardoned Capitol rioter committing new crimes after receiving a pardon.

On Tuesday, a jury in Hernando County, Fla., found Andrew Paul Johnson guilty of five charges, including molesting a child under 12 and another under 16, as well as lewd and lascivious exhibition. Johnson was acquitted of one charge of sending sexual material to a child.

Johnson will be sentenced next month. A local prosecutor confirmed to NPR that he “faces up to life in prison.”

Complicating matters for the White House, however, is the familiarity of the circumstances surrounding pardoned Jan. 6 rioters who’ve been re-arrested after receiving clemency from Trump.

Last week, for example, another pardoned Jan. 6 rioter, Christopher Moynihan, who was arrested after threatening to assassinate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated harassment as part of a plea agreement.....

To be sure, when making a list of the worst things the president has done since returning to power, the competition is fierce, but his decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters, including violent felons, is near the top. But the fact that so many of these recipients went on to commit additional crimes makes Trump’s move look even worse.