[President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon US Capitol rioters on Day One, but a month before his inauguration, it remains unclear who among the hundreds of convicted rioters, defendants awaiting trial, and remaining fugitives would receive clemency.
Trump advisers are still solidifying their approach to January 6, 2021, pardons, while defense attorneys are scrambling to get clarity and convince the incoming administration that their clients are deserving.
In a Time Magazine interview, Trump said he would look at rioters’ cases individually, stating, “If they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished.” He also said that the pardons would “start in the first hour that I get into office.”
However, Trump’s frequent and vague pronouncements have given little clarity to the issue. Defense lawyers are left to wonder if their clients will be granted pardons and what exactly constitutes a non-violent rioter.
The January 6 pardons will not be doled out through a traditional application process, and the incoming administration does not want to “let people rot in prison while we figure out whether they should get a pardon.”
Despite Trump’s commitment to granting pardons, some judges have been publicly critical of his attempts to whitewash the riot’s causes and violence. Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee and the senior-most judge in DC’s federal district court, stated, “No matter what ultimately becomes of the Capitol Riots cases already concluded and still pending, the true story of what happened on January 6, 2021, will never change.”
Lamberth also emphasized that the rioters were not peaceful protesters and that every rioter is in their situation because they broke the law.
Trump’s advisors believe that President Joe Biden’s lengthy pardon for his son Hunter has given them political leeway on granting broad pardons to the rioters. However, two recent polls show that the public does not agree that the January 6 defendants should be freed.
One major question is where a line might be drawn among the Capitol riot defendants who would be eligible for Trump’s clemency and what would qualify as violent versus non-violent actions. Additionally, defense attorneys are left to wonder how the pardons will be secured, especially regarding how or if rioters and their attorneys may submit applications seeking one of the January 6 grants from Trump.
Many defense attorneys are concerned that Trump’s recent comments may not cover rioters who have completed serving their sentences. There are also questions about what will be done with people who fueled or led the mob, but were not violent themselves.
Leaders of the far-right groups the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who were convicted in the Justice Department’s landmark seditious conspiracy cases are among those who may be seeking pardons. Attorneys for these individuals are hoping that Trump will pardon them because they did not personally engage in any physical violence.
As the inauguration approaches, it remains unclear which rioters will be granted pardons and what exactly Trump’s pardon process will entail.
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