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Lawyers for Brian J. Cole Jr. claimed in a court filing Monday that President Donald Trump’s sweeping presidential pardons for Jan. 6 defendants apply to him and the case should be dismissed.
Cole Jr. is accused of planting explosive devices at the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump issued the pardons on his first day in office, Jan. 20, 2025.
The motion to dismiss was filed in U.S. District Court by Cole Jr.’s lawyers, arguing the government’s own narrative in the case “inextricably” tethers Cole to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
“By the government’s own telling, this is exactly the kind of case that President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Presidential Pardon was invoked to reach,” defense attorneys Mario Williams and John Shoreman wrote.
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The defense lawyers cited Department of Justice connections between the bombs and Jan. 6, including the “timing and location,” and the allegation that Cole Jr. drove to D.C. “to attend a protest concerning the outcome of the 2020 election.”
“The Pardon — like it or not — applies to Mr. Cole, based on the ordinary and plain meaning of the Pardon’s language as applied to the relevant facts in this case,” the 23-page motion to dismiss concluded.
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“Wherefore, for the reasons stated above, Mr. Cole requests that this Motion be granted and the charges against him dismissed, in their entirety.”
The defense argues that because the 2025 Pardon applies to all individuals “convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Cole should be immune from prosecution.
To bolster their claim, Cole’s team pointed to the case of David Dempsey, who was sentenced to 20 years for what prosecutors described as “vicious and protracted” assaults on police officers. Despite being labeled a “domestic terrorist” by some officials, Dempsey received a full pardon.
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The defense argues it would be a “grave injustice” to prosecute Cole — whose devices never exploded and caused no physical injury.
READ THE MOTION TO DISMISS – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
The government is expected to challenge the motion.
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