Jan. 6 defendant pardoned by Trump wanted on older solicitation charges in Texas

A Houston man who was pardoned by President Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is wanted in Texas on older solicitation charges, a district attorney's office confirmed this week.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said Andrew Taake, 36, who was pardoned by Trump last week, is wanted over alleged online solicitation of a minor in 2016.

Taake was sentenced to six years in prison last June after pleading guilty to assaulting police officers with bear spray during the riot at the Capitol, Houston Public Media reported.

He was being held in a federal prison in Florence, Colo., but upon news of Trump pardoning rioters, the Harris County Sheriff's Office asked federal authorities to hold Taake over his pending warrant in Texas.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that the Bureau of Prisons informed its office there was a “certified warrant” that would prevent Taake from being released.

The district attorney’s office received that message via fax on Jan. 15, but Taake was released just days later when Trump took office and pardoned the Jan. 6 defendants.

“Re-arresting individuals, like Taake, who were released with pending State warrants, will require significant resources,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement. “Know that we are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for [the] 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.”

Taake is accused of pursuing a sexual relationship with a person he knew to be younger than 17 while using an online messaging platform. The case was still pending when he was arrested by the FBI in 2021 for his Capitol-related crimes, Houston Public Media reported.

Taake was arrested in 2021. He was turned into the police just days after the riot by an individual who communicated with him on the dating app Bumble while he was in Washington, D.C.

The Hill has reached out to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for comment, but the agency told the Houston-based outlet it doesn’t discuss details of individuals who are no longer in their custody.

As one of his first actions back in office, Trump pardoned nearly all the Jan. 6 rioters, commuting the sentences of the rest. It was something he promised on the campaign trail, and he made good on that promise in the early hours of his term with a “complete and unconditional pardon” for most of those who stormed the Capitol four years ago.

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