New Reporting Details How Andy Biggs Lied About His Support for Pardoning January 6 Criminals
8/27/26, 1:00 PM
New reporting by 12 News, KVOA, KTAR, Yellow Sheet Report, and KJZZ all caught Andy Biggs egregiously lying about his support for a full blanket pardon of January 6 rioters, including those who assaulted police officers.
Asked to respond to his documented support for pardoning January 6 defendants, Biggs called it an "absolute lie" and insisted he never commented on pardons at all, yet Biggs tweeted support for exactly that. It was also widely reported that Biggs was “outside the D.C. jail on Jan. 21, 2025, as pardoned defendants were released.”
The chief January 6 organizer, Ali Alexander, has credited Biggs as one of “the four guys who came up with a January 6 event.” Biggs voted to overturn Arizona’s 2020 election results, pressured Arizona officials to decertify electors, and worked with the White House to overturn the election. Afterward, he sought a presidential pardon and then ignored a congressional subpoena investigating the attack, further voting against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to all police officers who responded to the January 6 attack.
Read more about Biggs getting caught lying:
12 News: Gov. Hobbs sparks mini-debate with Biggs over his defense of Jan. 6 protesters
Brahm Resnik
August 26, 2026
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican Congressman Andy Biggs sparred Tuesday over who would do a better job of supporting public safety as Arizona's next governor.
The "Public Safety Policy Forum," sponsored by the Arizona Police Association, was the closest thing voters will get to a debate between the two front-runners.
In back-to-back appearances on the same stage, Hobbs and Biggs were asked the same six public safety-related questions that were scripted by moderator Mike Broomhead of KTAR radio.
After answering her six questions, Hobbs launched into an issue she wasn't asked about. The Hobbs' campaign has claimed that Biggs supported the January 6th rioters who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Many were sentenced to jail. But President Donald Trump issued unconditional pardons to anyone convicted in the attack on the Capitol, including those who had assaulted police officers.
Here's what Hobbs said of Biggs:
"He called for pardoning of the January 6th defendants, and called them J6 political prisoners. And when those pardons were issued, and those folks were being released, he went to the DC jail, and stood with supporters when those folks were being released."
During a gaggle with reporters after the forum, Biggs responded:
Biggs: 'That is an absolute lie'
"What she said is that I stood outside a DC jail to greet J-Sixers who'd received a pardon. That's what she said. That is an absolute lie. It is a fabrication. It's about as nutty as I've heard from her this campaign.”
Biggs told reporters he didn't support the January 6th protestors.
According to a report by the NBC affiliate in Washington D.C., Congressman Biggs and two other members of the House Freedom Caucus were indeed outside the D.C. jail on Jan. 21, 2025, awaiting the release of inmates after President Trump issued the pardons.
(The same day, Biggs disclosed he was considering a run for Arizona governor.)
The congressman was asked: Did you support the president's pardon?
"I never made a comment on the pardon," Biggs said. "Some of them deserved it. Some of them didn't. But that was his decision to make, not mine."
But in a social media post on Nov. 26, 2024 -- a few weeks after the presidential election that returned Trump to the White House -- Biggs said: "President Trump must pardon all J6 political prisoners on January 20" - the date of Trump's second inaugural.
KVOA: Decision 2026: Hobbs, Biggs clash over Jan. 6 at public safety forum
August 26, 2026
Monica Garcia: All right, tonight with less than 70 days until you vote for Arizona Governor, a mini debate between Gov. Katie Hobbs and Rep. Andy Biggs. The focus, support for public safety. The two at the same event in Phoenix, the back and forth after off-the-cuff remarks from the governor. News4 Tucson's Andrew Capaso has more.
Andrew Capaso: Good evening. The candidates, answering questions about who would do a better job supporting public safety from the governor's office. While we won't see these two on the debate stage ahead of the election, some off-the-cuff remarks by the governor leading to a back-and-forth between these two candidates. The candidates ask the same six questions here at the Public Safety Policy Forum. It's sponsored by the Arizona Police Association, a big event because potential endorsements from members of public safety organizations in the room are up for grabs.
Andrew Capaso: But tonight, the focus are off-the-cuff remarks by Gov Hobbs about January 6. The Hobbs campaign claiming Rep. Biggs supported the January 6th rioters who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results; that leading to a sharp denial from Biggs. Listen here to the candidates:
Gov. Katie Hobbs: He [Andy Biggs] voted against giving Congressional Gold Medals to the officers who protected the Capitol, and he called for pardoning of the January 6th defendants and called them J6 political prisoners. And when those pardons were issued, and those folks were being released, he went to the DC jail and stood with supporters when those folks were being released. Andy Biggs: What she [Gov. Katie Hobbs] said is, that I stood outside a DC jail, to greet J6’ers who'd received a pardon. That's what she said. That is an absolute lie. It is a fabrication. It's about as nutty as I've heard from her this campaign.
Reporter: Did you?
Andy Biggs: No.
Reporter: You didn't support the January 6th protesters?
Andy Biggs: No.
Reporter: You did not?
Andy Biggs: No.
Reporter: Did you support the pardon the President gave them?
Andy Biggs: I never made comment on the pardon. Some of them deserved it, some of them didn't. But that was his decision to make, not mine.
Andrew Capaso: According to a report by the NBC affiliate in DC, Congressman Biggs and two other members of the House Freedom Caucus were outside the DC jail awaiting the release of inmates after the President issued those pardons.
Yellow Sheet Report: A case of mistaken identity?
Reagan Priest
August 26, 2026
“When those pardons were issued, and those folks were being released, he [Andy Biggs] went to the D.C. jail and stood with supporters,” [Gov. Katie] Hobbs said Tuesday during an Arizona Police Association gubernatorial public safety forum. “I will never stand with folks who assault officers. I will stand with officers every single day.”
But Biggs told reporters after the forum that the governor is lying and called the claim “nutty.”
NBC Washington and NBC News reported that Biggs was one of several U.S. House Freedom Caucus members who visited a D.C. jail on Jan. 21, 2025, after Trump issued the pardons.
A Washington Post report confirms that Biggs and other members of Congress attempted to visit a D.C. jail in 2021.
Biggs told reporters Tuesday that he did not celebrate the pardons in 2025.
“I never made a comment on the pardon,” Biggs said. “Some of them deserved it. Some of them didn't, but that was [Trump’s] decision to make, not mine.”
However, Biggs did urge the president to pardon Jan. 6 protesters in November 2024 and thanked him for the pardons on Jan. 20, 2025.
KTAR: Katie Hobbs tells police forum Andy Biggs sided with Jan. 6 rioters over officers
David Iverson
August 26, 2026
Arizona’s gubernatorial candidates took turns attacking each other’s credibility on law enforcement Tuesday, one from the debate stage and the other in a press scrum.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, speaking after Biggs left the room under forum rules that kept the candidates separate, went further.
She told the room of police chiefs and officers that Biggs had voted against Congressional Gold Medals for Capitol Police, called Jan. 6 defendants “political prisoners,” and greeted their supporters at a D.C. jail after pardons were issued.
“I will never stand with folks who assault officers,” Hobbs said. “I will stand with officers every single day.”
Biggs denied the claim that he appeared at the jail to support Jan. 6 defendants.
“That is an absolute lie. It is a fabrication. It’s about as nutty as I’ve heard from her this campaign,” he told reporters after the forum.
Multiple news outlets, including NBC4 Washington, reported that Biggs was outside the D.C. jail on Jan. 21, 2025, as pardoned defendants were released.
Recent polls show the governor leading by double digits.
KJZZ: Hobbs, Biggs spar at a public safety forum over his record on Jan. 6 rioters
Camryn Sanchez
August 26, 2026
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and her gubernatorial opponent, GOP Congressman Andy Biggs, sparred at a public safety forum on Tuesday over his response to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Hobbs condemned Biggs for backing “J-6ers” and accused him of standing outside a D.C. jail with other supporters when President Donald Trump issued pardons in 2025.
“He called for pardoning of the Jan. 6 defendants and called them ‘J6 political prisoners,’” Hobbs said at the forum hosted by the Arizona Police Association. “And when those pardons were issued and those folks were being released, he went to the D.C. jail and stood with supporters.”
Biggs denied that to reporters following the forum.
“What she said is that I stood outside a D.C. jail to greet J-6ers who’d received a pardon. That's what she said. That is an absolute lie. It is a fabrication. It’s about as nutty as I’ve heard from her this campaign,” Biggs said.
NBC News reported live on the day of the pardons that Biggs was at the scene outside the jail. So did a local NBC affiliate station in Washington, D.C.
Biggs also said Tuesday that he didn’t support rioters or call for pardons.
“I never made a comment on the pardon. Some of them deserved it, some of them didn't. But that was [Trump’s] decision to make, not mine,” Biggs told reporters.
But in 2024, Biggs posted on X: “President Trump must pardon all J6 political prisoners on January 20, and Congress must hold accountable the bad actors involved in the sham J6 Committee.”
Biggs later celebrated the pardons on social media: “After four years of being held as political prisoners under a weaponized DOJ, @POTUS just pardoned more than 1,500 J6 hostages. Thank you, Mr. President. Promises made, promises kept.”
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