President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon the January 6, 2021 rioters charged and convicted for their roles in the assault on the U.S. Capitol. However, recent statements have left them wondering about whether the decision will indeed materialize and, should that be the case, if it will impact them all or a few.
Defense attorneys are reportedly scrambling to get clarify on the matter, especially after Trump told Time Magazine that he would look at rioters' cases individually. "If they were non-violent, I think they've been greatly punished," he said during the interview for the issue in which he was named "Person of the Year." "I'm going to look if there's some that really were out of control." However, he also said the pardons would "start in the first hour that I get into office."
CNN reported that the pardons won't follow the traditional application procedure, with a staff member telling defense attorneys that they will happen quickly after the inauguration. Over 1,500 rioters have been charged in federal court. Most of them have been convicted or admitted their guilty. About half have received jail time and many have already served their sentences. The Justice Department is still trying to identify some seen in footage of the fateful day.
In another interview, Trump seemed to suggest most would be pardoned and that there would be exceptions if "somebody was radical, crazy." "Those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it. I have to look," he told NBC News.
"The statements change every day. The latest is everybody's non-violent. But who knows what that means," one defense lawyer told CNN.
It is unclear what the criteria would be to determine who is deserving of a pardon and who isn't. One option is a blanket pardon to people charged with certain crimes, omitting other, more violent ones, according to the outlet.
Many defendants are already seeking to get leniency on their own, seeking delays similar to the one that Trump got after being elected in regard to his criminal cases.
However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has swiftly rebuked the pursuits, saying that Special Counsel Jack Smith's decision to pause his prosecution of Trump is no reason to do the same for others.
One such case involved defendant Stephen Baker, whose lawyer said that denying such a motion "in the face of the Justice Department's official position (in the Trump case) would run contrary to the interests of justice and likely subject the defendant to criminal convictions for no purpose other than expediency."
Prosecutors rejected the argument, saying that Trump's case is an 'unprecedented circumstance' of a criminal defendant being 'expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025.' The need to 'determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,' is not similarly implicated in this case, where the defendant is a private citizen."
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