It’s been nearly 22 months since Donald Trump pardoned every convicted and accused Jan. 6 rioter. In that time, quite a few of those who received presidential clemency have run into fresh trouble with the law. In fact, Lawfare, a nonprofit publication covering the legal world, published a study over the summer that found at least 97 people charged with crimes in connection with the assault on the Capitol have since been accused of new crimes.

Since that tally was released, the list has continued to grow. Take this week, for example. Politico reported:

A North Carolina man was pardoned by President Donald Trump for threatening to “put a bullet” in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s head after arriving in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, with a car full of guns and ammo.

Now Cleveland Meredith is facing new federal charges for allegedly threatening to murder the federal judges who presided over his — and thousands of other — criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

According to prosecutors, Meredith published a series of menacing messages via social media, including a Facebook post in which he allegedly wrote that all federal judges who oversaw Jan. 6 cases “will be EXECUTED.” He was taken into custody earlier this week. (Meredith’s attorney did not respond to multiple news outlets’ requests for comment.)

The nature of the case is striking, but as Politico’s report noted, it’s also of interest that Meredith was charged by Trump’s Justice Department — the same DOJ led by Attorney General Todd Blanche, who oversaw a failed effort to create a $1.776 billion compensation fund, widely panned as a “slush fund,” for former Jan. 6 criminals.

Even after Team Trump abandoned that initiative, Blanche told reporters that he and the president are still determined to reward those charged by the Biden-era Justice Department.

As for the broader pattern, and the remarkable number of Jan. 6 rioters who have faced charges after receiving clemency from Trump, the editorial board of The New York Times published an opinion piece earlier this year that argued, “The American public deserves to understand the mayhem that the Jan. 6 pardons have unleashed.”

Given the circumstances, that appeal was hardly unreasonable, and it’s likely to be taken seriously by the incoming Democratic majority in Congress.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

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