Judge delays alleged January 6 rioter trial, citing "real possibility" of Trump pardons

A federal judge granted a requested delay in January 6 defendant William Pope’s criminal trial on Thursday, citing the “real possibility” that a pardon from Donald Trump would render the proceedings moot.

According to CNN, US District Judge Rudolph Contreras claimed in a hearing that the possibility of widespread pardons for accused and convicted U.S. Capitol rioters made him consider conserving the court's limited "resources."

Trump has promised to pardon January 6 rioters, claiming in October that the bunch “peacefully and patriotically” marched on the Capitol in a “day of love.”

Trump-appointed Judge Carl Nichols asked federal prosecutors on Thursday whether the incoming Department of Justice would continue prosecuting cases under Trump, pushing a trial date past Trump's inauguration date when they couldn’t answer, per Politico.

But not every judge presiding over a January 6 case believes the court should preemptively take pardons into account. One D.C. judge moved forward with sentencing two riot participants on Thursday.

“Whatever the President-elect may or may not do with respect to some of those convicted for their conduct at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is irrelevant to the court’s independent obligations and legal responsibilities under Article III of the Constitution,” US District Judge Paul Friedman said in a Thursday order.