POLITICO Nightly: The Trump campaign promise that everyone’s watching

By Samantha Latson Presented by  Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in protest of the 2020 presidential election. | Francis Chung/POLITICO MANY OF THOSE CHARGED WITH JAN 6 CRIMES HAVE VIOLENT CRIMINAL  HISTORIES THAT PRE-DATE JAN 6.  GET OUT OF JAIL FREE — Nearly three years after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, hundreds of cases against alleged perpetrators remain pending. The Department of Justice and the FBI have already tackled what has become the largest criminal investigation in American history, filing charges against 1,561 individuals. Of that total, 1,028 defendants so far have been sentenced, with 645 sentenced to time in prison and another 143 sentenced to home detention. President-elect Trump vowed throughout his campaign to shut down pending investigations and reverse that work, insisting he would pardon most Jan. 6 defendants. At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said, “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, they got out of control.” He repeatedly insisted he would “absolutely” pardon defendants and regularly compared their struggles to his own legal troubles. It was not one of his more popular campaign promises: according to a new poll from Ipsos , 64% of Americans oppose pardoning Jan. 6 protesters. The question of how broad Trump’s pardons will be and what specific form they might take is one that could define his first days in office. So, in order to get a better grasp on Trump’s decision-making process and learn what he might do when he returns to the Oval Office, Nightly spoke with POLITICO reporter Kyle Cheney, who has closely tracked the story of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and the legal fallout. This interview has been edited. What has Trump said or done as president-elect with regards to pardoning Jan. 6 defendants? Since he’s been elected, Trump hasn’t said much about how he plans to help Jan. 6 defendants. He made some slightly varying promises during the campaign about pardoning many of them, but it’s unclear whether he intends to simply blanket pardon the roughly 1,600 defendants (and their yet-to-be-charged compatriots) or take a more nuanced approach that could leave cases pending against some of those who assaulted police or committed other felonies. Are there any cases in particular that stand out? And is there an expectation for a blanket pardon for all defendants or only some? There’s no expectation at the moment. Many supporters in Trump’s base — especially those closest to Jan. 6 defendants — have called for a blanket pardon, suggesting it would be fruitless to try to parse the details of each case. But Trump himself has not said what his intention is. What are the Jan. 6 defendants expecting?  Defendants are uniformly eager for some kind of clemency — whether it’s a full pardon, a commutation of sentencing or even simply a decision by the Justice Department to pause cases and eventually drop charges. Many of them are likely to get their wish, but the details and timing are still murky. Some of them have grown a bit frustrated that Trump hasn’t simply said out loud what his plan is. If he did that, it might help judges begin to prioritize which cases to pause or which to continue advancing. What is the timing here? When might he start pardoning defendants or how long might it take? There’s no roadmap. Trump could pardon them all the minute he takes the oath of office or he could wait until his attorney general and U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. are confirmed. He could make some initial clemency decisions quickly while deferring on the more difficult assault cases. Are there any indicators in Trump’s high-profile law enforcement nominations that give us a hint on how he plans to handle this issue? The Matt Gaetz nomination for attorney general, despite its ultimate failure, was a pretty good indication that Trump planned to take a maximalist approach on pardons. Gaetz has called for using pardon authority for Jan. 6 defendants and had floated conspiracy theories that the federal government was largely responsible for the riot. Pam Bondi [Trump’s pick for attorney general after Gaetz withdrew last week] is an unknown quantity on this issue but is a Trump loyalist and expected to align with his view. What are some of the political calculations that Trump has to keep in mind? Though pardons are widely expected, setting free a large group of people convicted of assaulting police could have repercussions — and it would be an interesting use of political capital that has already seen its limits with the collapse of the Gaetz nomination. Beyond a hardcore group of supporters who say Trump must pardon every Jan. 6 defendant on day one, I would expect Trump to take a slower approach to those facing the most serious charges of violence. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly . Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at slatson@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @samanthalatson .   A message from Instagram: Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: limits for teens, peace of mind for parents Parents want their teens to grow and thrive - and to make sure they’re staying safe. That’s why Instagram is launching Teen Accounts, with automatic protections limiting who can contact teens and the content they can see. Putting built-in limits in place for teens, so parents can have more peace of mind. Learn more.   What'd I Miss? CEASEFIRE WITH LEBANON! — Israel announces cease-fire plan with Hezbollah in Lebanon: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that he has agreed to a cease-fire deal with the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon , a major breakthrough in efforts to avert a wider war in the region. In a speech delivered in Hebrew, Netanyahu said, “Tonight, I will bring before the cabinet a plan for a cease-fire in Lebanon.” While the Israeli Cabinet could vote to reject the deal, it is expected to approve it. President Joe Biden also touted the cease-fire deal today in a speech in the Rose Garden. RUDY GHOULIANI DUG A DEEP HOLE & KEEPS DIGGING! — As legal walls close in, Giuliani rants at judge: Rudy Giuliani lashed out in court today at the federal judge who ordered him to turn over his belongings to the two Georgia women who won a $148 million defamation verdict against him, telling the judge “every implication you make is against me.” “I don’t have a car. I don’t have a credit card,” Giuliani told U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, raising his voice from the defense table during a hearing. “They have put a stop order on, for example, my social security account,” he said of the women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. — Trump eyes quick rollback of Biden student debt relief: President-elect Donald Trump is poised to pull the plug on President Joe Biden’s yearslong push to cancel student debt for tens of millions of people as Republicans sweep into power in the coming months. Trump transition advisers and outside allies have been discussing ways to quickly unwind the various Biden-era initiatives that offered new or easier paths to loan forgiveness for borrowers, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The move would be the culmination of nearly four years of attacks by GOP lawmakers and attorneys general on Biden’s student debt relief policies.   Want to know what's really happening with Congress's make-or-break spending fights? Get daily insider analysis of Hill negotiations, funding deadlines, and breaking developments —free in your inbox with Inside Congress. Subscribe now .     THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION TRUMP TRANSITION! TRUMP FINALLY SIGNS — The Trump transition has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House , incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles announced today — a move that clears the way for coordination with the federal agencies they will soon take over. The Trump team’s unprecedented delay in signing these agreements, weeks after being declared the winner of the election, had alarmed former officials and ethics experts who warned it could lead to conflicts of interest and leave the new government unprepared to govern on day one. TEAM OF RIVALS — Two Trump transition insiders, Cliff Sims and Kash Patel, are angling to be deputy director of the CIA — and angering others who feel they're using their roles on the transition to undermine any would-be contenders, according to three people familiar with the matter. The No. 2 position at the powerful spy agency is one of the most sought-after national security posts that remains unfilled. It does not require Senate confirmation — a concern for other roles, like FBI director, Patel is said to be interested in — but wields enormous influence inside the U.S. intelligence community. The frustration toward Sims, the former White House and ODNI communications strategist, and Patel, the firebrand former House Intelligence Committee staffer and Pentagon official, stems from the fact that both are helping the transition interview candidates for the CIA role, said the three people, all of whom were granted anonymity to share details on the transition.   A message from Instagram:     AROUND THE WORLD The European flag flying in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on April 23, 2024. | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images JUICING THE ALGORITHM? — A top EU lawmaker is demanding that TikTok’s chief executive appear before the European Parliament to answer questions about the platform’s role in Sunday’s Romanian presidential election, as researchers warn of covert activity on thousands of fake accounts leading up to the vote. The first-round victory of the ultranationalist and pro-Russian Călin Georgescu has triggered shockwaves about the political trajectory of the EU and NATO country, with many concerns focused on how a TikTok campaign managed to propel an unknown candidate from obscurity. A second-round will be held on Dec. 8. “We call on the CEO of TikTok to come to speak in this house and to ensure his platform conducted to no infringement under the DSA,” said Valérie Hayer, head of the liberal Renew Europe group, told a press conference, referring to the Digital Services Act, Europe’s rulebook for online content. Hayer’s appeal comes only two days after Georgescu's shock victory. He had no party backing and polls had failed to pick up on his popularity — though researchers are now zeroing on a major TikTok campaign he led in the days leading up to the election. “We believed that Tiktok was misused and was led to be misused by him and an army of fake accounts that were used for his purpose,” said Bogdan Manolea, executive director of the Romanian campaign group, Association for Technology and Internet.   Don't just read headline s—guide your organization's next move. POLITICO Pro's comprehensive Data Analysis tracks power shifts in Congress, ballot measures, and committee turnovers, giving you the deep context behind every policy decision. Learn more about what POLITICO Pro can do for you .     Nightly Number 25 percent The size of the tariff that Donald Trump is now promising he will slap on every imported good from Canada and Mexico . Economists believe that this would drastically increase the price of many goods in America. WORTH READING!  RADAR SWEEP COMMAS AND CRIME — France’s best known unsolved murder case might be solved thanks to linguists . The murder of a young boy in 1984 was accompanied by a note. And after decades of numerous mistakes in the case and not finding perpetrators, a report submitted by a team of forensic linguists points to the victim’s great aunt. The evidence hasn’t yet been shown in court, but it speaks to a growing trend — linguists successfully using speech patterns and other clues to solve crimes. While the field here in the U.S. is still best known for the Unabomber case, it’s become much more advanced in recent years. Julie Webster Ayuso reports for The Dial. Parting Image On this date in 1979: An unidentified German woman claiming to represent human rights groups attempts to see American hostages held for three weeks inside the U.S. embassy in Iran. She was refused entry. The hostages were released over a year later, on Jan. 20, 1981. | AP Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here .   A message from Instagram: Instagram Teen Accounts: a protected experience for teens, guided by parents Instagram Teen Accounts are designed to address parents’ biggest concerns, providing automatic protections for who can contact their teens and the content they can see. The impact: Built-in limits give parents more peace of mind when it comes to protecting their teens. Learn more.     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   Follow us

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