The now-pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who was notoriously photographed with his foot on a desk in Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s Capitol office said he has “no regrets” about his antics at “the bitch’s desk.”
Richard Barnett, one of the 1,500 pardoned by President Trump on his first day back in the White House, said he went “through hell” in prison, where he was sentenced to 54 months — but it’s a “great time to be alive” now he’s out early.
“I’m so happy I could be a part of [Jan. 6],” he told Newsmax host Greg Kelly on Thursday.
The image of Barnett sitting at Pelosi’s desk during the riots went viral. AFP via Getty Images“I’ve had a lot of anger issues to work through. I mean, I’ve been through hell. But I’m telling you what, I wouldn’t give it back for anything,” he said.
“As hard as it’s been, as much as it would have been nice for it not to have happened, it had to happen. You know, I have no regrets.”
Barnett, a retired firefighter from rural Arkansas who also goes by “Bigo,” became a symbol of Jan. 6 chaos over the viral image of him lounging in then-Speaker of the House Pelosi’s office with a wide grin across his face.
“Hey Nancy, Bigo was here, you biatch,” he famously scribbled on an envelope.
The stunt earned him a 54-month prison sentence after he was convicted in 2023 on eight counts, including theft of government property for taking and showing off an envelope, a charge he is most bitter about.
Barnett was pardoned this month by President Trump. Newsmax
Barnett holds up an envelope he took from Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6, 2021. Getty Images“Apparently because the government bought it, it was a $20 envelope,” he complained to Newsmax, saying he only took it because he bled on it.
“I left 25 cents on the — you might wanna bleep this — I left 25 cents on the bitch’s desk,” he said, though the famous photo of him was actually of his feet on one of her staffer’s desks.
