'Street-muscle': Expert warns Trump aims for army of 'foot soldiers' with Jan. 6 pardons

A former federal prosecutor warned that Donald Trump's repeated vows to pardon Jan. 6 convicts could signal his willingness to lean into authoritarian tactics of using henchmen to do the "dirty work of intimidating citizens into obedience and silence."

Dennis Aftergut, currently counsel for the group Lawyers for American Democracy, wrote in The Bulwark that Trump ought to be asked during the Tuesday night debate on ABC News about his pledges to pardon violent insurrectionists.

"To a former prosecutor, Trump looks to be doing something even worse than reinforcing the backward-looking narrative that the January 6th Capitol invaders were patriots," he said. "By dangling in this way the prospect of a pardon, he appears to be looking to a future where he may well want these loyalists back on the street and acting on his behalf again — organized paramilitary groups performing sanctioned acts of violence."

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Aftergut said that if history means anything, is there "any reason" to think Trump won’t "enlist violent right-wingers" to challenge the outcome of the 2024 election and that if he wins, he won’t "condone any use of private violence against his critics and opponents?"

He noted that dictators turn to official and unofficial state violence by "signaling impunity for the foot soldiers" who use crime to bully critics.

As evidence, Aftergut pointed to Nazi "brownshirts" and even a convicted Russian assassin who — as the assassin predicted — was freed in a prisoner swap.

Similarly, Trump famously told the Proud Boys at a debate to "stand by and stand back" and leaders of the group later spearheaded the Jan. 6 insurrection, with some going to prison for it.

"Like Putin’s security operatives, Trump’s violent loyalists hear his beck and call," wrote Aftergut.

He added: "It may seem bonkers for a candidate who claims to believe in law and order to talk about pardoning violent insurrectionists, including those who assaulted police with flagpoles, bike racks, stolen police shields, and bear spray.

"But as we know, Trump doesn’t really believe in law and order. He only believes in himself."

As such, Trump ought to be asked, wrote Aftergut, if his "pledge to pardon those attacking Capitol Police and the nation on January 6th is meant to signal that they can count on him to get them off the hook if they serve as his street-muscle in the future."