President Donald Trump’s blanket pardon for more than 1,500 defendants convicted on charges related to Jan. 6 includes Ray Epps.
Epps, who was recorded encouraging others to enter the Capitol, was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay $500 restitution in January 2024.
Prosecutors offered Epps a misdemeanor plea deal after he cooperated with the investigation, recommending a six month jail sentence. Other Jan. 6 defendants received harsher sentences for their actions at the Capitol. (RELATED: ‘Clearly Got A Break’: Legal Experts Weigh In On Ray Epps’ Probation Sentence)
In one of his first actions Monday, Trump commuted sentences for 14 individuals and granted “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
Two weeks ago, Trump promised to “find out about Ray Epps,” the focus of a long list of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories. Yesterday, Trump pardoned Ray Epps for all conduct related to Jan. 6. pic.twitter.com/g9sOiljVh9
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 21, 2025
Video footage from the night before Jan. 6 shows Epps urged Trump supporters to go inside the Capitol.
“I’m going to put this out there. I’m probably going to jail for it. Tomorrow, we need to go IN to the Capitol. IN to the Capitol. Peacefully,” Epps said in the recording.
A federal judge in December dismissed Epps’ defamation lawsuit against the Daily Caller and the Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson. Epps sued after Carlson suggested, based on the video footage, that Epps may have been a government agent.
Others also questioned whether Epps could have been an undercover agent, including Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The FBI had 26 confidential human sources in Washington, D.C. to report on “domestic terrorism subjects” before Jan. 6, including more than two dozen who entered restricted areas around the Capitol, according to a report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General in December. However, the report notes that none of the informants who entered the Capitol complex were charged.
The White House and Epp’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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