WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge nominated by Donald Trump says it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if the president-elect were to issue a mass pardon to rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol after the 2020 election, a rare example of court decisions. commentary on a politically divisive topic.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed to the court in June 2019, voiced his criticism Tuesday during a hearing in which he agreed to delay the trial of a Capitol riot suspect until after Trump returns to the White House in January .
During his campaign for a second term as president, Trump repeatedly referred to the January 6 rioters as “hostages” and “patriots” and said he would “absolutely” pardon rioters who attacked police “if they are innocent.” Trump has suggested he might consider pardoning former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after a jury convicted him of orchestrating a violent plot to bring Trump to power after the 2020 election to keep.
“A blanket pardon for all January 6 defendants or something similar would be extremely frustrating and disappointing, but that is not my decision,” Nichols said, according to a transcript. “And the possibility of some pardons is certainly very real. ”
Nichols is one of more than two dozen judges who have presided over more than 1,500 cases against people charged in the mob attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Many Capitol riot defendants have asked for their cases to be postponed after the election, but judges have largely denied their requests and moved forward with sentencing, guilty verdicts and other hearings.
Steve Baker, a writer for a conservative media outlet, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to riot-related crimes at the Capitol after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper refused to pause the case until after Trump takes office. However, Cooper acknowledged that the case may never reach the penalty phase given the possibility of a pardon.
Nichols commented on pardons during a hearing for Jacob Lang, a Capitol riot defendant who is jailed awaiting trial in Washington. Within hours of Trump’s victory this month, Lang posted on social media that he and other “political prisoners” from January 6 were “finally coming home.”
“There will be no bitterness in my heart when I walk out these doors on Inauguration Day 75 days from now,” wrote Lang, who was charged with repeatedly attacking police officers just days after the riot.
Nichols, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas before working for the Justice Department, said he has not postponed any trial based solely on possible pardons. He noted that his decision to postpone Lang’s trial was based in part on matters they discussed privately under seal.
“I very much agree with the government that there are costs associated with not going further here, both for the trial team, for the witnesses and victims, and for the public, who have an interest in determining guilt or innocence. a case that has been pending for as long as this one,” Nichols said.
Just days after the election, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras postponed a Jan. 6 trial that was scheduled to begin Dec. 2. The defendant, William Pope, argued that his trial would be a waste of the court’s time and resources “because there will never be a conviction, and I will be free.”
Contreras said he did not want to bring in dozens of potential jurors for a two-week trial, “just to have it go to waste.”
“Of course it is speculative, but there is a real chance that this will happen,” the judge said, according to a transcript.
A prosecutor objected to the delay, saying that “the speculative nature of what Mr. Pope hopes will be a pardon is not a sufficient reason to continue this process.”
Judges have largely adopted that argument. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton declined to postpone a Nov. 8 sentencing hearing for Anna Lichnowski, a Florida woman who believes she would be a good candidate for a pardon. Walton, who sentenced Lichnowski to 45 days in prison, wrote that the possibility of a pardon is “irrelevant to the Court’s obligation to carry out the legal responsibilities of the judiciary.”
___
