11/19/2025
Andrew Paul Johnson was not singled out for an individual pardon. On January 20, 2025 — his first day back in office after inauguration — President Donald Trump issued a blanket (mass) pardon covering virtually all ~1,600 people who had been charged, convicted, or were awaiting trial/sentencing for offenses directly related to the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol events.
• The executive order granted full pardons to everyone except 14 leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers (whose sentences were commuted to time served instead).
• Johnson’s Jan. 6 charges (pleaded guilty in 2024 to violently entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and parading/demonstrating in the Capitol) fell under this category, so he automatically received the pardon along with the rest of the non-violent or lower-level offenders.
• There is no public evidence or statement indicating Trump knew Johnson personally, reviewed his case individually, or had any specific reason to pardon him beyond the broad policy of blanket clemency for Jan. 6 participants.
