Jan. 6 defendants struggle to parse Trump pardon comments that 'change every day': report

Donald Trump has pledged to pardon his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol, but lawyers representing some of those defendants say his transition team has offered more clarity than the president-elect's public statements.

The once and future president has pledged to pardon at least some of those rioters within "the first hour" of his inauguration next month, but it's not clear whether he would extend clemency to all of them or only those convicted of non-violent crimes, reported CNN.

“The statements change every day," said one defense lawyer working on multiple Jan. 6 cases. "The latest is everybody’s non-violent, but who knows what that means."

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The Jan. 6 pardon won't go through the traditional application process, said one source familiar with the plans, and some lawyers representing Capitol rioters say at least one transition staffer reassured them Trump has prioritized the pardons as an attention-grabbing move that would happen quickly after his inauguration.

They don't want to “let people rot in prison while we figure out whether they should get a pardon,” said one person familiar with the Trump legal strategy.

About 200 of the rioters were convicted of assault, but there's a broad range in the degree of violence in those charges, and a lawyer for several Jan. 6 defendants has advocated for blanket pardons but understands why Trump might grant them on a "case-by-case" basis.

“Do I know for certain that members of the Jan. 6 community are going to be or are already disappointed in hearing this news?" said attorney Joseph McBride. "Of course."

Two recent polls show the public disagrees that Jan. 6 defendants should be released from jail, but the Trump team believes president Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter Biden gives them political cover to do it, and some of the right-wing extremists convicted of fomenting the insurrection – Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio and Joseph Biggs – are preparing to request one or have already.

“I think if he’s a man of his word then with the swipe of a pen that’s something he should do,” said James Bright, an attorney for Rhodes. “He’s a politician now, and I inherently don’t trust politicians.”