Man Charged in Jan. 6 Pipe Bomb Case Argues Trump Pardon Applies to Him

Brian Cole Jr. is charged with planting explosive devices the day before the Jan. 6, 2021, unrest at the Capitol.

This courtroom sketch depicts Brian Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Va., the man accused of planting a pair of pipe bombs in Washington, being sworn in before U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya, at Federal Court in Washington, on Dec. 5, 2025. Dana Verkouteren via AP

Lawyers for Brian Cole Jr., the man on trial for allegedly planting bombs at the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee offices, argued in court papers that Cole is covered by President Donald Trump’s blanket clemency of Jan. 6 suspects.

Cole, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was indicted in January of this year in federal district court in the planting of two improvised explosive devices on Jan. 5, 2021, at the headquarters of both major parties in the nation’s capital.