Attorneys representing Brian J. Cole Jr., the suspect in the DC pipe bomb case, assert that he deserves a full pardon under President Donald Trump’s extensive clemency for individuals involved in the January 6th riots.

Cole Jr., hailing from Woodbridge, Virginia, maintains his innocence against federal accusations of transporting and attempting to utilize explosive devices.

The charges are linked to two bombs reportedly placed outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters on the evening of January 5, 2021.

These events allegedly occurred just hours before Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory and prior to the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol by a group of rioters.

Now, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox 5 DC, defense attorney Mario Williams says Cole voted for Donald Trump twice, and he is preparing to argue in court that Trump’s sweeping January 6 pardon covers Cole’s case, too.

Cole’s legal team is not merely speculating; they are actively preparing for a direct legal challenge to seek his pardon.

‘For purposes of the pardon, I absolutely agree with it,’ Williams said. ‘I think you have to employ some kind of common sense as applied to the allegations.’

Williams set out his logic by tying the government’s allegations to the timeline and discovery of the devices.

Mario Williams, a lawyersfor Brian J. Cole Jr. says a January 6 pardon should wipe out charges tied to alleged pipe bombs outside party headquarters

Brian Cole Jr, 30, has reportedly confessed to planting pipe bombs outside of the Democratic and Republican national committees on January 5, 2021 

Cole’s arrest marked the first major breakthrough after the bureau offered a $500,000 reward and released new surveillance footage 

‘So, if the allegations are that he went out there and he set down these components and that they were found on January 6, the judge says that it’s a part of January 6 … and says that you were allowed to get a pardon for everything related to the events that occurred on or at the Capitol building on January 6,’ he said to Fox 5 DC

Asked directly whether he believes his client should be pardoned, Williams responded: ‘Oh, 100%!’

Cole’s legal team plans to file the argument in court soon.

Cole’s defense claim hinges on the breadth of Trump’s January 6 pardon language, which can be best summarized as extending to ‘offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.’

Prosecutors describe the pipe bombs as being planted the night before, steps from the political nerve centers of both parties, while the defense appears poised to argue the case is still ‘January 6 adjacent,’ in the judge’s words, and therefore pardon-eligible.

Federal prosecutors say Cole admitted building the homemade devices, traveling to Washington, and placing the pipe bombs outside the DNC and RNC headquarters.

According to prosecutors’ court filings as described by the Associated Press, Cole said he hoped the explosives would detonate and ‘hoped there would be news about it.’

Prosecutors also say Cole told investigators he believed someone needed to ‘speak up’ for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen, and that he targeted both parties because they were ‘in charge.’

Cole has pleaded not guilty to charges of transporting explosives and attempting to use them

Cole was allegedly caught on surveillance cameras around the capital on January 5, 2021

Cole told federal investigators that he was relieved that his weapons did not detonate, claiming he did not want to kill anyone

Federal authorities were seen searching the home Cole shared with his parents last month, but Cole told investigators he threw all of his bomb-making materials into a nearby dump

Attorney General Pam Bondi (at podium) announces the arrest of the man accused of placing pipe bombs in Washington, on December 4 2025

The defense argues the case is ‘January 6 adjacent’ – and therefore covered by President Donald Trump’s sweeping clemency

Williams is also attacking the government’s public portrayal of what it calls a confession.

After prosecutors included details of Cole’s alleged admissions in a public filing, Cole’s lawyers demanded to see the evidence, and Williams says he has now watched footage of Cole’s post-arrest interview.

Williams claims the government’s version strips out the context.

‘I believe the manner in which the government made those statements is incorrect and acontextual, and in some instances, absolutely false,’ he said. 

‘Some of the representations that the government made, in our opinion, are false.’

While the argument for Cole to be pardoned has yet to be made, a federal magistrate judge, Matthew Sharbaugh, ruled earlier this month that Cole should remain jailed until his trial. 

The judge concluded there were no conditions that could reasonably protect the public from the danger prosecutors allege he poses.

Sharbaugh, in the AP’s account of the ruling, wrote that the alleged plan could have been catastrophic.

‘Mercifully, that did not happen,’ Sharbaugh wrote of the failure of the devices to detonate.

Prosecutors said he took the same route as the bomber the night of January 5, 2021 

Cole was allegedly caught on surveillance footage placing the devices. The government alleges Cole hoped the bombs would detonate and ‘there would be news about it.’

A screengrab from surveillance footage released by the FBI of the suspected pipe bomber

Last month, Cole was charged with laying explosives outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters, which did not detonate

After confessing to planting the bombs, Cole allegedly told investigators how he built them

‘But if the plan had succeeded, the results … could have been devastating, creating a greater sense of terror on the eve of a high-security Congressional proceeding, causing serious property damage in the heart of Washington, D.C., grievously injuring DNC or RNC staff and other innocent bystanders, or worse.’

Defense attorneys argued for home detention with GPS monitoring. They also said Cole has no criminal record, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and lived with his parents in a stable home.  

‘Mr. Cole simply does not pose a danger to the community,’ defense attorneys wrote, according to the AP report. 

But prosecutors pointed to allegations that Cole continued buying bomb-making components for months after January 6, and that he told the FBI he planted the bombs because ‘something just snapped.’ 

Sharbaugh cited concerns about how quickly ‘abrupt and impulsive conduct might recur.’

Cole faces two counts. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years on one charge and up to 20 years on the other, with the longer count also carrying a five-year mandatory minimum.