'Beyond frustrating:' Trump-appointed judge blasts Jan. 6 possible blanket pardons

WASHINGTON – Since President-elect Donald Trump's election victory, his past vows to pardon defendants from the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, has stoked a surge of people seeking to delay their cases and prompted a Trump-appointed judge to call the possibility “beyond frustrating and disappointing.”

More than 1,500 people have been charged for the riot and more than 1,000 have been sentenced in the attack by Trump supporters that injured 140 police officers and temporarily halted Congress from counting Electoral College votes certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. A Justice Department list of sentences in the cases through Oct. 7 ran 120 pages.

The longest sentences were for seditious conspiracy. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right street gang, got 22 years. Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers group of people with backgrounds in the military of law enforcement, got 18 years. Rhodes’ former wife, Tasha Adams, has told USA TODAY she feared he would kill her if he is released from prison.

Trump’s own federal charges of conspiracy and obstruction of Congress are in the midst of being dropped after his election, under a Justice Department policy barring prosecution of a sitting president. Trump has called the rioters “patriots” and said he was “inclined to pardon many of them.”

Amid a surge of defendants asking for delays in their cases, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump, voiced disappointment in the prospect of “blanket pardons.”

“Blanket pardons for all January 6 defendants or anything close would be beyond frustrating and disappointing, but that’s not my call,” Nichols said Tuesday, according to a transcript, in postponing the trial for Edward Jacob Lang of New York, who is charged with attacking police who were defending the Capitol. “And the possibility of some pardons, at least, is a very real thing.”

Here is what we know about the potential for pardons in Jan. 6 cases:

Trump has vowed to pardon Jan. 6 defendants

For years, Trump has repeatedly mentioned the potential for pardons.

In September 2022, Trump told Pittsburgh broadcaster Wendy Bell that he would issue full pardons and perhaps an apology to anyone involved in protests on Jan. 6. “We’ll be looking very, very seriously at full pardons because we can’t let that happen,” Trump said. “To many, an apology. They’ve been so badly treated.”

In March 2023, he posted an all-caps message on social media: "LET THE JANUARY 6 PRISONERS GO."

"I am inclined to pardon many of them," Trump told CNN in May 2023. "I can't say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, they got out of control."

In April 2024, Trump told Time magazine he would “absolutely” consider pardoning every Jan. 6 defendant.

Karoline Leavitt, who Trump has chosen as his White House spokesperson, issued a statement saying he would "make pardon decisions on a case-by-case basis."

Defendants ask judges for delays in cases while awaiting pardons

A number of defendants have already asked for delays in their cases, in anticipation of Trump pardons.

Lawyers for Christopher Carnell, of Cary, North Carolina, was convicted of obstructing Congress, may have been the first to ask for a pause ? on Nov. 6, the day after Trump's election victory ? by arguing “expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office."

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell refused request the same day and has set sentencing for Dec. 13.

Carnell, who was 18 when he entered the Capitol, was convicted of five misdemeanors including disorderly conduct for making his way to the Senate floor, where he rummaged through the documents in Sen. Ted Cruz's desk. Howell erased his felony obstruction conviction after a Supreme Court decision changed the interpretation of the statute.

Lawyers for Brandon Heffner, of Harford County, Maryland, asked Nov. 7 to pause action in his case by citing Trump's pardon vows. Heffner is charged with civil disorder and disorderly conduct for allegedly blocking a door for police to exit the building while wearing a black helmet and tactical vest.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected the request Nov. 11. "Defendant's speculation that he may receive a pardon is not good cause to stay this matter," Mehta wrote.

Zachary Alam, of Centreville, Virginia, who was convicted of assaulting officers, destroying government property and disorderly conduct. He jumped through a broken window to enter the Capitol and smashed the glass windows of doors leading into the House Speaker’s Lobby.

Alam said at his Nov. 7 sentencing he wanted a pardon, but U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich gave him eight years in prison.

Lawyers for Terry Allen, 65, of Spring Hills, Pennsylvania, who was convicted of assaulting police with a wooden flagpole, asked Nov. 8 to postpone his sentencing by arguing history has shown Trump “is not shy when it comes to exercising his pardon powers.”

Prosecutors opposed the request as "speculation and conjecture" of a pardon.

Mehta rejected the request on Nov. 12 and sentenced him two days later to two years in prison. Allen plans to appeal.

William Alexander Pope, is charged with civil disorder and obstruction of Congress after video showed him walking through Statuary Hall and being restrained by Capitol Police officers. He represents himself and filed a motion Nov. 9 to delay his trial then set for Dec. 2 because “the American people resoundingly rejected these prosecutions by electing President Trump to end them and pardon January 6 defendants.”

But prosecutors opposed the request, saying the case has been pending nearly four years.

"There is a public interest in the prompt and efficient administration of justice," prosecutors wrote. "At this time, the defendant’s expectation of a pardon is mere speculation, and the Court should proceed as it would in any other prosecution."

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras set a hearing Dec. 13 to discuss a new trial date.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Potential Trump pardons for Jan. 6 defendants spur hopes, concerns