U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali rules that President Donald Trump’s mass pardons for January 6 rioters do not cover Brian J. Cole Jr., who is accused of placing two pipe bombs near Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Capitol attack.The FBI says agents arrested Brian J. Cole Jr. after linking phone data and Capitol Hill surveillance and charged him with interstate transportation of explosives, attempted use of explosives and weapons-of-mass-destruction counts; he pleads not guilty.Prosecutors say
Brian J. Cole Jr. confessed, describing a psychological break and belief that the 2020 election was stolen, a White House official says the pardon never applied to acts on the night before the attack, and the ruling narrows the pardon’s reach to those convicted of offenses tied directly to January 6 events.