Alleged Jan. 6 Pipe Bomber Not Covered By Trump's Blanket Pardon: Judge

Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,

The man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington prior to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, is not covered by President Donald Trump’s blanket pardon for individuals convicted of crimes over their participation in the Capitol breach, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

Suspect Brian Cole Jr. had requested that all his charges, including transporting explosives, malicious attempt to use explosives, attempt to use weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism, be dismissed because Trump’s day-one pardon covered his conduct. The judge denied that request.

“The pardon, by its terms, does not apply to Cole,” Judge Amir Ali, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said in his Monday decision.

On Trump’s first day back in office, he commuted the sentences of about 1,500 “individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” when Congress was certifying the 2020 presidential election.

Cole argued this proclamation applied to him because he was charged with planting two pipe bombs near the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021.

“The pardon applies to Mr. Cole because his alleged conduct is inextricably tethered to the events at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” Cole’s lawyers wrote in their March 16 motion for dismissal of his charges.

But the judge disagreed, writing that the wording of the president’s pardon prevented Cole from being granted clemency because he has not been convicted of any crimes.

“Even assuming that the conduct Cole is charged with is ‘related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,’ the pardon is expressly limited to people who had been ‘convicted of offenses’ related to those events,” Ali said.

Cole and his attorneys failed to explain how Trump’s pardon for those found guilty of crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, applied to him, the judge continued.

Cole’s motion for dismissal mentioned another section of the president’s proclamation that directed the U.S. attorney general to “pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments,” arguing this required his charges to be dropped as well.

“But this argument does not work either,” Ali said in his decision.

“Cole was first charged in December 2025 - months after the President’s proclamation... He therefore did not have ‘pending indictments’ at the time of the President’s directive.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had presented similar points in an April 10 filing in opposition to Cole’s motion for dismissal. At the time of Trump’s proclamation, the suspect belonged to neither category of those convicted of offenses related to Jan. 6, 2021, nor of those with a pending indictment.

“And even if the proclamation somehow could apply to this case, the Department of Justice’s contrary position is entitled to deference as a reasonable interpretation taken by the Executive Branch agency expressly charged with administering the proclamation,” the DOJ said in its filing.

Cole was arrested in early December, nearly five years after bombs were discovered and defused near the Democratic and Republican National Committee buildings. The bombs consisted of a pipe, endcaps, electrical wire, a battery, and other materials.

An affidavit alleged he purchased pipe and kitchen timers in 2019 and 2020 to use to build the devices.

Cellphone records placed Cole around the buildings on Jan. 5, 2021, the affidavit showed, and his Nissan Sentra was spotted in the area that evening.

Cole made his first appearance in court on Dec. 5, 2025. At the time, he only faced charges of transporting and attempting to use an explosive device.

Later in December, federal prosecutors said in a court filing that Cole had confessed during a post-arrest interview to building and planting the bombs.

He told authorities that “something just snapped” in him after “watching everything, just everything getting worse,” the filing said.

Cole’s attorneys had asked for his release, citing his lack of criminal history and diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorder, Level 1.

One of the character reference letters submitted along with the request by a business associate of Cole’s father described the man’s “peaceful nature.”

“Over the years of my interactions with him, I have never seen him emotionally angry, upset, or even frustrated,” one of the letters read.

A judge denied Cole’s request for release on Jan. 2, saying the evidence pointed to him being too great a danger to the public.

About a week later, Cole pleaded not guilty to the charges of transporting and attempting to use explosives.

The DOJ brought the additional charges in April, which Cole has also pleaded not guilty to. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

Cole’s attorneys could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.