<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the past few weeks, the Justice Department under President Trump has taken an <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/politics/justice-department-jan-6-pardons.html" title="">expansive view of the pardons</a> he issued to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Department officials, after initially concluding that the pardons covered only crimes that were committed at the Capitol on the day of the attack, have now decided that Mr. Trump’s mercy should also extend to other offenses — like possessing illegal firearms — that were uncovered later and in different places as federal agents investigated suspects for their roles in the events of Jan. 6.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">On Thursday evening, however, a federal judge in Washington issued an order strongly pushing back on the Justice Department’s broader interpretation of Mr. Trump’s clemency decree.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The judge, Dabney L. Friedrich, said the pardons should cover only crimes that were directly related to the Capitol attack and chided the department for the way it had “abruptly reversed its position” on the issue “with virtually no explanation.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“President Trump alone has the constitutional authority to pardon,” Judge Friedrich wrote. “He still may do so. But this court cannot — it is duty bound to enforce the presidential pardon as written.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Judge Friedrich’s order was the latest effort by the federal bench in Washington to criticize the Justice Department for how it has handled Mr. Trump’s sweeping reprieves. In January, days after the pardons were issued, several of the judge’s colleagues <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/us/politics/trump-pardons-jan-6.html" title="">handed down fiery decisions</a>, saying that while Mr. Trump’s decree was legally viable, it could not erase what happened on the ground on Jan. 6.</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171quhb"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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