JD Vance showed a united front with Donald Trump on pardoning protesters prosecuted in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, a week before they are due to take power.
President-elect Trump has promised sweeping pardons for many of those charged in connection with the attack, declaring he would act 'very quickly' on Day 1 of his presidency.
The vice-president elect offered more details on how it might work.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday Vance drew a line saying the pardon question is 'very simple' stating how those who committed violence should 'obviously' not be pardoned, while peaceful protestors might deserve clemency.
He later said there was a 'bit of a gray area' in some cases, suggesting room for discretion.
'We're very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law, and there are a lot of people, we think, in the wake of January 6 who were prosecuted unfairly,' Vance said.
Trump has promised to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.
Critics have characterized it as Trump promising to undermine the rule of law.
But Trump told Time at the end of last year that not everyone would be entitled to a pardon.
Vice President-elect JD Vance defended Trump's stance on pardons
Trump has promised sweeping pardons for many of those charged in connection with the attack, declaring he would act 'very quickly' on Day 1 of his presidency
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the Capitol on January 6 2021
'I'm going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think they've been greatly punished,' he said. 'And the answer is I will be doing that, yeah, I'm going to look if there's some that really were out of control.'
Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on 'Day 1' of his presidency, which begins next Monday, January 20.
'Most likely, I'll do it very quickly,' he said recently on NBC's Meet the Press.
He added that 'those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it. I have to look. But, you know, if somebody was radical, crazy.'
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the siege that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory .
Hundreds of people who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor offenses for illegally entering the Capitol.
Others were charged with felony offenses, including assault for beating police officers.
Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump, the Republican incumbent, to Biden.
In a post on X, Vance responded to criticism from supporters of the Capitol rioters that his position did not go far enough to free all convicted. 'I've been defending these guys for years,' he said.
Donald Trump is seen speaking his "Save America Rally" near the White House in Washington, on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 minutes before he urged his followers to head to the Capitol
Trump has declared many times how 'freeing the January 6 hostages' is a priority of his
Shocking footage from the Capitol shows the MAGA mob battering a cop with flag poles
Vance insisted in an interview on Fox News Sunday Vance drew a line saying the pardon question is 'very simple' stating that those who committed violence should 'obviously' not be pardoned, while peaceful protestors might deserve clemency.
When he is inaugurated, Trump will become the first president of the United States to be convicted of felony crimes
'The president saying he'll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback,' Vance said.
'Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial,' he assured.
Some Republican lawmakers are pushing for Trump to pardon all theJanuary 6 rioters.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said those in prison over the attacks - no matter their crime - should be released.
'Even the ones that fought Capitol Police, caused damage to the Capitol, I think they've served their time, and I think they should all be pardoned and released from prison,' Greene said.
