Capitol riot trials: D.C. court awaits Trump’s return to office [Video]

WASHINGTON –

It’s the largest prosecution in Justice Department history — with reams of evidence, harrowing videos and hundreds of convictions of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now Donald Trump’s return to power has thrown into question the future of the more than 1,500 federal cases brought over the last four years.

Jan. 6 trials, guilty pleas and sentencings have continued chugging along in Washington’s federal court despite Trump’s promise to pardon rioters, whom he has called “political prisoners” and “hostages” he contends were treated too harshly.

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In a statement Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Justice Department prosecutors “have sought to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy with unrelenting integrity.”

“They have conducted themselves in a manner that adheres to the rule of …