The Justice Department and defense attorneys have revealed they are in plea negotiations in a growing series of January 6 cases, including cases involving high-level defendants.
When former President Trump dangled possible pardons for some of the participants in the January 6,2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, it complicated the plea negotiations and prosecutions of some of the 730 individuals facing federal charges over their involvement. « If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly, » Trump said Saturday night during a rally in Conroe, Texas. « And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly. » On the day that Joe Biden’s victory over Trump was to be affirmed by Congress, thousands rushed the Capitol, assaulting police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol, breaking in by forcing open doors and shattering windows, vandalizing the Capitol, invading lawmakers’ offices and threatening them and their staffs. The Justice Department and defense attorneys have revealed they are in plea negotiations in a growing series of January 6 cases, including cases involving high-level defendants. With the former president’s recent comments, there is the possibility of reduced leverage in any case in which defendants think they might obtain an 11th-hour reprieve from Trump.
