WASHINGTON – As it became clear Donald Trump was returning to the White House, the Florida man who posed for photos with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during the Capitol riot popped a bottle of Trump-branded sparkling wine. “Y’all are in trouble,” he said after taking a sip in a video shared on social media.
Rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are celebrating Trump’s victory and hoping he makes good on his campaign trail promise to pardon them.
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Trump didn’t mention the Jan. 6 defendants, whom he has called “hostages” and “patriots,” during his victory speech on Wednesday. But his defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris throws into doubt the future of the largest prosecution in Justice Department history over the unprecedented assault on a seat of American democracy.
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the riot that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. More than 1,000 defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial of charges, including misdemeanor trespassing offenses, assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
Trump's praise of Jan. 6 defendants was a centerpiece of his campaign, with rallies honoring them as heroes featuring a song he collaborated on with a group of jailed rioters. Trump hasn't explained how he will decide who gets pardoned. But he has suggested he would consider granting them even for those accused of assault as well as the former Proud Boys leader convicted of orchestrating a violent plot in 2020 to keep Trump in power.
During his first term as president, Trump deployed his pardon power in overtly political ways, granting clemency in his final days in office to a broad range of political allies -- including five defendants convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation -- as well as celebrities, Republican members of Congress and the father of Jared Kushner, his son-in-law.
Jacob Lang, a Capitol riot defendant who's jailed while awaiting a trial in Washington, posted within hours of Trump's victory that he and other Jan. 6 “political prisoners” were “finally coming home.”
“There will be no bitterness in my heart as I walk out of these doors in 75 days on inauguration day,” Lang wrote.
Lawyers for some Jan. 6 defendants cited Trump's victory in requests to hold off on sentencing their clients.
Defense attorney Marina Medvin said her client, Christopher Carnell, is “expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office.” Michelle Peterson, an assistant federal public defender, argued it would be "fundamentally unfair" to sentence a client whose case may be dismissed by Trump's Justice Department.
Judges swiftly denied both requests and refused to delay separate hearings for their respective cases on Friday.
Other defense attorneys on Wednesday asked for a Jan. 6 defendant's trial to be postponed. They argued that their client, Mitchell Bosch, cannot receive a fair trial in Washington so soon after the election given that voters in the nation's capital overwhelmingly supported Harris over Trump.
“Mr. Bosch understands that the President-elect’s proclamations of stolen elections and pardons for patriots are not relevant evidence in his trial. However, they are highly relevant to the ability of the jury pool to be fair and impartial,” the lawyers wrote.
A trial is scheduled to start next week for Steve Baker, a writer charged with Capitol riot-related misdemeanors. Baker, who has written articles about the Jan. 6 riot for the conservative outlet Blaze News, posted a photo of a press credential for him to cover Congress.
"I plan on covering J6, 2025 ‘inside’ the Capitol," he wrote on Wednesday, adding a winking face emoji.
Of the more than 1,000 convicted rioters who have been sentenced, over 650 have received prison time ranging from a few days to 22 years. Hundreds of people who went into the Capitol but did not attack police or damage the building were charged only with misdemeanors. The violence and destruction by other members of the mob have been documented in videos and other evidence heard in court, including testimony from police officers about being beaten and scared for their lives as they defended the Capitol.
Trump has said he would issue pardons to Capitol rioters on “Day 1” of his presidency. He told Time Magazine he would consider pardoning all of the Jan. 6 defendants, though later added: “If somebody was evil and bad, I would look at that differently.” He told NBC's “Meet the Press” last year that he would consider pardoning former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy. Trump said Tarrio was treated “horribly.”
When pressed during an event in July, Trump said he “absolutely” would pardon rioters accused of assaulting police — if they were “innocent.” When the interviewer noted she was talking about convicted rioters, Trump replied that they were convicted “by a very tough system.”
Kim Wehle, a University of Baltimore law professor and author of a book about presidential pardons, said presidents have the unfettered power to issue mass pardons.
“The pardon system is set up for winners and losers. Who gets them and who doesn’t get them is completely subjective. It’s completely arbitrary and based on the whims of the president,” Wehle said. “Donald Trump could fashion the pardon however he wants to fashion the pardon, and the general public wouldn’t be able to challenge it.”
Presidents have used their power to issue mass pardons for the sake of promoting national unity. George Washington pardoned Whiskey Rebellion rebels. Abraham Lincoln pardoned former Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam War draft dodgers.
Many of those expressing support for Jan. 6 defendants also echoed Trump's campaign talk of seeking retribution against political foes. Julie Kelly, a right-wing political commentator who calls herself a “J6 conspiracy theorist” on her social media profile, posted that Washington-based U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves' “reign of terror is going to end soon."
“Then we turn the tables,” Kelly wrote.
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed.