Brian Cole, the Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs at the headquarters of both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, is now arguing he is covered by President Donald Trump's sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 defendants. Cole was arrested in December. He was later charged with interstate transportation of explosives and with malicious attempt to use explosives for his alleged actions on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In a Monday court filing, Cole's lawyers noted that even by the government's own account, Cole's alleged conduct "was motivated by grievances about the 2020 presidential election; was directed at the headquarters of the two national political parties on Capitol Hill; and was timed 'on the eve of the January 6 certification of the electoral college vote.'" "Cole’s conduct is so inextricably and demonstrably tethered to the 'events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021' that he must be pardoned pursuant to the applicable Presidential Pardon of January 20, 2025," they wrote.

Source: Huffington Post March 16, 2026 15:49 UTC