A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s mass pardons for the Jan 6. Insurrectionists don’t apply to the man charged with planting pipe bombs near the D.C. headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
AP reports that on Monday, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr. In his ruling, Ali wrote that the pardons applied only to people convicted of crimes related to the storming of the Capitol. One of Trump’s first actions upon taking office last year was issuing a blanket pardon for anyone charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot.
Cole’s attorneys argued that the pardon applied to him because his alleged actions are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events of Jan 6. “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 lawyers wrote.
The prosecution understandably disagreed. They argued that “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.”
Ali ultimately sided with the prosecution in his ruling. “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 wrote in his three-page ruling.
Cole’s case was one of the biggest mysteries to come out of the events of Jan. 6. The night before the Capitol Riot, video showed a masked man planting pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC headquarters in Washington, D.C. Thankfully, the bombs never went off, and no one was injured, but investigators said that they would’ve been lethal had they detonated.
For nearly five years, there was no progress in the case, despite the FBI’s best efforts. So, of course, this led to several conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs being an “inside job” over those five years. The FBI eventually arrested Cole in December of last year, using credit card data, video surveillance, and other digital records from the area.
Cole initially denied being responsible for the pipe bombs, but prosecutors say he eventually confessed. He allegedly told investigators that he planted the bombs due to anger with both parties over the 2020 election being stolen. He said he was “bewildered” by the conspiracy theories perpetuated by Trump and the right-wing media and that “something just snapped.”
According to CBS News, Cole was charged with interstate transportation of explosives and malicious attempt to use explosives. Federal prosecutors added terrorism and weapons-of-mass-destruction charges against Cole in April. Cole potentially faces life in prison if convicted on all charges.
Cole’s defense is throwing some serious legal Hail Marys. In addition to trying to apply the pardon to Cole’s case, they’ve also signaled in a court filing that they may try to argue a discredited conspiracy theory that a Capitol Police officer planted the bombs.
Cole has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is due back in court on Wednesday for a status hearing, with no trial date currently set.
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