How Trump’s renewed election rhetoric is complicating Capitol rioters’ legal fight

Trump’s refusal to accept the reality that he lost the 2020 election — reflected in a torrent of recent statements renewing discredited claims about a “rigged” vote — has become a feature of prosecutors’ latest attempts to jail Capitol riot defendants they deem too dangerous to release pending trial. Judges have started citing this argument — as part of broader analysis — in cases where they've decided to detain defendants for presenting a threat of future violence, and even in some cases where they’ve agreed to let defendants go free, pending trial. They’ve agreed that Trump’s rhetoric could spur his most radicalized supporters to attack again. And that could be bad news for dozens of additional riot suspects being hauled in on alleged conspiracy and police assault charges... Pretrial detentions are relatively rare in the federal system, and judges say they're meant only for extraordinary circumstances when public safety and justice itself are at risk. Most of the 400-plus Capitol riot defendants have been released on bond or personal recognizance — some with strict conditions like GPS monitoring or house arrest. But in dozens of cases, judges have agreed with prosecutors to detain Jan. 6 defendants considered an ongoing threat to public safety.