‘The statements change every day’: Capitol rioters try to parse Trump’s pardon pledges

‘The statements change every day’: Capitol rioters try to parse Trump’s pardon pledges

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon US Capitol rioters on Day One, but one month before Inauguration Day it’s not clear who among the hundreds of convicted rioters, defendants awaiting trial and remaining fugitives would receive clemency. Trump advisers are still solidifying their approach to January 6, 2021, pardons, several people in touch with the transition told CNN. And defense attorneys are scrambling to get clarity and convince the incoming administration that their clients are deserving. In a Time Magazine interview conducted last month and published Thursday, the president-elect said he would look at rioters’ cases individually. “If they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” he said. “I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control.” He also said the pardons would “start in the first hour that I get into office.” Trump’s frequent – and vague – pronouncements still haven’t given much clarity. “The statements change every day. The latest is everybody’s non-violent. But who knows what that means,” one defense lawyer on several rioter cases said this week.