Trump Weighs In On January 6 Sympathy With Congress Is Planned To Ensure His Victory

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(Bloomberg) – Four years after a mob stormed the US Capitol in support of Donald Trump’s last-ditch effort to overturn his election loss, the events of January 6, 2021, turned into a political and cultural landmark – with little lasting damage to the president-elect.

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The attack faced condemnation from both sides after immediate results. But since Trump made the denial of the 2020 election a key part of his identity after the first term, downplaying the severity of the attack and criticizing the subsequent prosecution became a sign of loyalty and helped him take a second term.

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As Trump prepares to return to power in two weeks, expectations are high for him to reward that loyalty and fulfill his promises of immediate clemency for 1,000 convicted criminals and hundreds more with pending cases. Any early action on Jan. 6 pardons can set the tone for how he can use the presidency to reward the loyal and, critics fear, punish his opponents.

This year’s election certificate for Jan. 6 has been designated as a “special national security event” to be overseen by the US Secret Service. It is the first time that a vote counting event has been given to this category, according to the agency, and it allows more resources from the federal government and our regional and local partners to be used in the protection process.

Another risk for Monday’s event is the severe weather expected to hit Washington overnight. “We have a lot of snow coming to DC and we encourage all our colleagues: stay out of town,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “So whether we’re on the ice or not, we’re going to be in that room to make sure this gets done.”

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Major General John C. Andonie, who commands the Washington, DC National Guard, told reporters on Friday that 500 soldiers will be on standby to support the certification.

President Joe Biden received fresh criticism from Trump after he presented the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday to Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, the bipartisan duo who led the congressional task force investigating the January 6 attacks.

Meanwhile, prosecutors and judges in Washington are making a final push to create a public record of what Attorney General Merrick Garland has called the largest investigation in American history. The US attorney’s office continued to announce arrests in the weeks following the November election, focusing on people accused of assaulting police officers.

At the same time, the Justice Department’s special counsel ended his pursuit of two criminal charges against Trump, including one related to the 2020 election. The department has a long-standing policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Some judges criticized the emergence of mass pardons. Others say how Trump uses his power is none of their business, but it won’t change their assessment after spending the past four years listening to testimony from police and other witnesses who were in the Capitol and watching videos, documents and testimony. other evidence.

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A New Prelude

“It was treason. It was an interference with legitimate government operations, and it almost worked,” US District Judge Paul Friedman said in court during his December sentencing. Trump “encouraged and incited it,” the judge said, and members of Congress trying to “rewrite history” are “truly disgusting.”

Rizwan Qureshi, a former federal prosecutor, said Trump’s condonation of the January 6 attack would set a bad example of how Americans think about dealing with political losses.

Qureshi was part of a prosecution team that swept in mass arrests during the destructive protests during Trump’s 2017 inauguration. The office dropped a number of charges after the initial hearings ended peacefully.

“A complete pardon has the effect of eliminating any deterrent” to prosecution, he said.

Clemency from Trump could take the form of a full amnesty or pardon, short sentence commutations or some combination. He said it would be among his first actions after he was sworn in on January 20. He did not commit to the scope, focusing on his comments on “non-violent” offenders and said his administration “will look at each case individually.” ”

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Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who sits on the House committee investigating Trump’s role in the January 6 attacks, said Trump immediately “pardoning a large number of people who were involved in that violence” would send a “bad message” about democracy. “I think it would be a bad start,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Among those awaiting any leniency is Nicole Reffitt, whose husband Guy Reffitt was the first defendant in the Jan. 6 who was convicted and is serving almost seven years in prison. Her husband brought the gun to the Capitol and, in the words of the government, was “at the front of the charging pack” for the police.

Process Uncertainty

“There is anxiety in the Jan. 6 community because of the uncertainty of what the plan will look like,” said Nicole Reffitt, who participated in a vigil at a local Washington jail in support of the Capitol defendants and said she was not present. I am not aware of any direct communication from the Trump team to the families of those convicted.

He said the mediator, who he declined to identify, conveyed the change that families and defendants should feel “confident and secure.”

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Marina Medvin, an attorney for the minority defendants on January 6, told Bloomberg that she had not heard from the Trump team. A spokesman for the president’s transition declined to comment.

Tests revealed that people brought guns, knives, chemical sprays, tasers and an array of makeshift weapons to the Capitol.

As of December 6, about 1,572 people have been charged in connection with the attack, according to the US attorney’s office in Washington. About 600 were charged with assault or obstructing the law, and of those charges, 171 involved weapons or harming officers.

About 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty and more than 200 were found guilty at trial. Of those convicted, 645 were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, ranging from a few weeks to decades.

Rates of Imprisonment

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on the possibility of pardons and to share information on how many people will be incarcerated — either in pretrial detention or serving sentences — by the end of 2024.

Paula Calloway, the lead attorney who coordinated support for the defendants, said she knows of at least 236 people who are serving prison terms in federal facilities or awaiting trial in Washington, DC jails.

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Calloway, who said he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 but did not go inside and was not charged, said he would be disappointed if Trump did not sign a blanket pardon for everyone, regardless of the crimes they were accused of. commitment.

“They all need to go home,” he said, adding that he did not trust the government’s evidence.

With a slew of promises for the next 100 days, Trump may have more compassionate priorities, such as securing the border, said Republican strategist Lisa Camooso Miller. He will continue to say that the Biden administration over-politicized the January 6 investigation.

Trump’s decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris also “takes away the atmosphere and energy around that discontent” of January 6, he said.

—Courtesy of María Paula Mijares Torres.

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