'Literally holding our breath': Jan 6 rioters suffer 'anxiety' as Trump silent on promise

Scores of participants in the January 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol are hoping that President-elect Donald Trump will follow through on his campaign promise to pardon them. Others are now no longer sure they can trust him.

Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney reported that there is a heated debate among January 6 defendants over whether the incoming administration will issue blanket pardons, or only pardon a certain subset of defendants while leaving others out to dry. Trump supporter Brandon Straka — who was sentenced to three months of home confinement for his role in the insurrection — pushed for Trump to offer "a word of reassurance" that Capitol rioters could count on the president-elect to free them.

“The silence on the issue just exacerbates the victims’ anxiety," Straka said, notably using the word "victims" to describe people who broke past multiple police lines and violently breached the Capitol while Congress attempted to certify the 2020 election. "Hopefully some kind of messaging comes soon.”

READ MORE: Jan. 6 rioter asks judge to postpone case due to 'expected scope of clemency' from Trump

Previously, Trump was assumed to pardon the nearly 1,500 total defendants that Attorney General Merrick Garland's Department of Justice prosecuted since the attack. This reportedly included those held at the Washington, D.C. jail who served time for assaulting police officers. But Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt is now saying that the president-elect will evaluate January 6-related pardons on a "case-by-case basis."

“It is just a phrase. ‘Case by case,’ It isn’t a policy, or a strategy, or anything,” MAGA activist Suzzanne Monk wrote on X last week. “It is a catchphrase the media is using to push the ‘only some will be pardoned’ narrative.”

Cheney also reported that January 6 participants are unsure about whether they trust Attorney General-designate Pam Bondi to be open to pardons of rioters. She has so far been quiet about her plans for January 6 defendants, whereas previous Attorney General-designate Matt Gaetz — who pulled out of the confirmation process just eight days after he was nominated — was more vocal in his support for jailed insurrectionists.

Kari Hoffman, whose husband, Luke is in jail for what she calls "bogus assault charges," said she viewed Trump as a "smart man" who she hoped would pardon her husband. But she told Politico that the new "case-by-case" approach makes her nervous that he may remain behind bars.

READ MORE: 'Slap in the face': Ex-Capitol policeman rips Trump over promised pardons of Jan. 6 rioters

“We are literally holding our breath over here, hoping that my husband is under this pardon,” Hoffman told Cheney.

Some defendants have adjusted their legal strategy in hopes that Trump would keep his word to pardon them. After the election, an attorney representing defendant Christopher Carnell — who was 18 when he entered the Capitol on January 6 — asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to postpone proceedings in her client's case until more details emerged on Trump's presumed pardons.

"The Court has asked the parties to present status arguments on November 8, 2024, but as of today, Mr. Carnell is now awaiting further information from the Office of the President-elect regarding the timing and expected scope of clemency actions relevant to his case," read a filing by attorney Marina Medvin.

Earlier this week, Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) posted calls for Trump to issue blanket pardons on their respective X accounts. Greene referred to participants in the riot attempting to violently overturn election results as "patriotic Americans" while Biggs called them "political prisoners."

READ MORE: Nearly all J6 defendants Trump wants to pardon assaulted police officers: security experts