By early next week, Donald Trump’s Justice Department may secure its first convictions of Jan. 6 felony defendants.
That’s because two jury trials launched this week by President Joe Biden’s DOJ have not yet reached verdicts and are slated to continue into the first days of the Trump administration. Unless Trump pulls the plug on trials that are already reaching their final phase, it will be his DOJ that sees them through, perhaps as early as Tuesday.
Trump could extend blanket pardons to all Jan. 6 defendants, which would short-circuit ongoing trials. However, his allies have signaled that he’s unlikely to summarily pardon people charged with felonies and would instead review them on a case-by-case basis.
The defendants on trial include Jared Wise, who is facing felony charges of assault and civil disorder, as well as Kenneth and Caleb Fuller, a father-son duo charged with civil disorder. Wise’s case is in the hands of the jury, which will deliberate Tuesday, while prosecutors are presenting the Fullers’ case.
It presents a thorny situation for Trump, who has signaled plans to wind down Jan. 6 prosecutions. Does he send the same DOJ prosecutors to complete the ongoing trials? And how will judges respond if his administration attempts to dismantle trials in which juries have already been selected and seated?
Expect these issues to come to a head quickly next week.
