#PamBondi supported #Trump’s mass #pardons for thousands of his supporters who violently ransacked the US Capitol, including some who assaulted police officers. The #FBI described those involved in the planning & perpetration of that attack as “domestic violent extremists,” whom they had previously identified in threat assessments.
[hundreds of #Jan6 insurgents were convicted of crimes, the #ProudBoys & #OathKeepers were convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy among other crimes.]
Following the #Jan6 attack, there was a wave of #civil cases & #criminal prosecutions that splintered the [domestic terrorist] orgs & sent many members to prison before sweeping #clemency from #Trump. Among them were group leaders named alongside >30 others in the city’s suit, including #ProudBoys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio & #OathKeepers founder Stewart Rhodes, both of whom juries #convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy for their part in trying to block the peaceful transition of power.
The prosecutors were still under probationary status, allowing the firings w/o recourse under #DOJ policy….
Notifications went out Fri to people who served in the office’s now-disbanded Capitol siege prosecution section…. The cuts amount to about 8% of the office’s prosecutors. Combined with a recently announced freeze on hiring & promotions, the openings will have impacts across the office’s #civil, #appellate, #SuperiorCourt & #ViolentCrime divisions…
#Trump’s Interim US atty #fires more than 2 dozen #Jan6 #prosecutors in DC
Interim US Atty #EdMartin has dismissed roughly 30 federal prosecutors who worked on Capitol #insurrection cases in the Washington, DC, office over the past 4 yrs….
The employees were hired to permanent career positions after serving under special or short-term status as the office surged to manage nearly 1,600 prosecutions after the #Jan6, 2021, attack….
#law #Felon47 #SeditiousConspiracy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/01/31/jan6-prosecutors-fired-dc-martin/
Re #Trump’s mass #pardons of #Jan6 insurgents, #KashPatel said he does “not agree w/the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.”
It’s a very lawyerly answer. The 14 people who received sentence #commutations, not pardons, were accused of #SeditiousConspiracy — a crime that requires the defendants used #violent force against the govt. But those who got commutations were not involved in the most violent assaults against on J6.
The crazy just doesn’t stop…
#OathKeepers founder #StuartRhodes who was convicted of orchestrating his #FarRight #extremist group’s #Jan6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol, showed up Wed on Capitol Hill, a day after he was released from prison by #Trump.
Rhodes who was convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy in one of the most serious cases brought by #DOJ met w/at least one *LAWMAKER*& chatted w/others.
#criminal #law #Felon47 #MafiaState #TrumpPardons #PoliticalViolence
https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-pardons-trump-2e2275ff164550de29c34de8d12886ab
#EdMartin was a prominent member of the "Stop the Steal" movement. In a speech at the Capitol on Jan 5, 2021, he called on "die-hard true Americans" to work until their "last breath" to "stop the steal."
On #Jan6, Martin tweeted that he was "at the Capitol" & said the crowd was rowdy "but nothing out of hand," & he then tweeted, “Like Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy.”
A *#conservative* activist who has been on the board of a group supporting #Jan6 defendants has been named interim #USAttorney for Washington, #DC, the position that has overseen the hundreds of cases brought in the Capitol siege investigation.
#EdMartin will be the interim chief, #Trump #DOJ official Chad Gilmartin told NBCNews.
Somehow I missed this shit:
#EdMartin, advocate for #Jan6 defendants, named #DC's interim #USAttorney overseeing Capitol *riot* cases
The *#conservative* activist was on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, which advocated for Capitol riot defendants.
#criminal #law #insurrectionists #insurrection #Trump #Felon47 #PoliticalViolence #MafiaState #SeditiousConspiracy
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ed-martin-advocate-jan-6-defendants-interim-chief-us-attorney-dc-rcna188446
Two prominent far-right #extremists with central roles in the Capitol attack, #EnriqueTarrio of the #ProudBoys & #StewartRhodes of the #OathKeepers militia, have been set free.
#criminal #law #Felon47 #Jan6 #insurrection #PoliticalViolence #SeditiousConspiracy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/us/politics/jan-6-defendants-freed.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Most of the [#ProudBoys & the #OathKeepers] defendants were convicted on #sedition charges & were serving #prison terms of up to 18 years. Under the #commutations, their sentences will be reduced to time served.
The most prominent defendant convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy charges…was #EnriqueTarrio, the fmr leader of the ProudBoys, …[he received a full pardon, not simply a commutation, from #Trump].
What to Know About #Trump’s Broad Grant of #Clemency to #Jan6 *Rioters* [#insurgents]
He issued [full] formal #pardons to >1,550 *rioters* charged w/a wide range of #crimes &…commuted the sentences of 14 members of 2 #FarRight groups, the #ProudBoys & the #OathKeepers militia.
#criminal #law #Felon47 #insurrection #PoliticalViolence #SeditiousConspiracy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/trump-pardons-jan6.html?unlocked_article_code=1.q04.YlGa.SQDI64UgxNnn&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Here is a copy of #Trump’s proclamation granting #pardons & #clemency to #Jan6 #insurgents.
https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/03e3cc0f9ad2d5fb/df66b9c8-full.pdf
A representative for #EnriqueTarrio, the pardoned former leader of the #ProudBoys, says he has been RELEASED from a federal prison in Louisiana & is expected to return to Miami, his hometown, on Tuesday afternoon.
By including #EnriqueTarrio, the former leader of the #ProudBoys, in his extraordinary #pardons for the events of #Jan6, 2021, Trump granted clemency on to a man whom prosecutors have described as a savvy, street-fighting #extremist who helped his compatriots in “Trump’s army” initiate an assault on the Capitol.
Until the #pardons were issued, Tarrio, 42, was serving a 22-yr prison term after being convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy & other felonies for his role….
#law
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/20/us/trump-executive-orders/enrique-tarrio-proud-boys-pardon-jan-6?smid=url-share
That means that all those prosecuted by the #DOJ, from the plotters imprisoned for #SeditiousConspiracy & #felons convicted of assaulting police officers to those who merely trespassed on the restricted grounds on #Jan6, 2021, will soon be released from incarceration, if they were still in federal custody.
And #Trump ordered his AG to make sure that those who are “currently held in prison are released immediately.”
“We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” Trump said.
#Trump, from the Oval Office, has signed what he described as “full pardons” for about 1,500 #Jan6 defendants. He said he also signed commutations of sentences for 6 defendants but did not say who they were.
#criminal #law #democracy #insurrection #SeditiousConspiracy #judiciary
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/trump-pardons-jan-6.html?smid=url-share
The 2 #ProudBoys were convicted alongside 3 other co-defendants in 2023 for multiple felonies.
It's not clear if #Trump will pardon the leaders of the Proud Boys who were #convicted on #SeditiousConspiracy charges for their roles in the #Jan6 Capitol attack though he has alleged throughout his remarks that those prosecuted for breaching the Capitol on Jan 6 were politically persecuted.
"A federal grand jury... [charged] 11 defendants with #SeditiousConspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on #Jan6
The seditious conspiracy indictment alleges that, following the Nov 3, 2020, presidential election, Rhodes conspired with his co-defendants & OTHERS to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power by Jan 20, 2021"
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and
US citizens and concerned others should pay attention to this segment from the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC:
The story tries to make sense of the fact that Trump has repeatedly remarked in an ominous way that he's not too concerned about whether people vote, as if the plan is to win the election not on votes but court challenges.
She's drawing on this excellent reporting from Rolling Stone:
From that article:
«“I think we are going to see mass refusals to certify the election” in November, says Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias. “Everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, and more prepared.”»
I don't even know why anyone at MSNBC is surprised. I've been worried for now a couple of years that this was going to happen and it was because of reporting MSNBC and others did even back then, saying that the groundwork for this was being laid. That we have taken this long to recognize the threat is distressing.
If Biden does not have a task force in place to counter this threat, he needs to make one.
As I noted in my July 5 blog post Supreme Challenge (https://netsettlement.blogspot.com/2024/07/supreme-challenge.html), before Biden passed the baton to Harris, Biden now has considerable power he's opting not to use but must reconsider using to assure fair elections.
He could, for example, order DOJ to charge every one of these people who are conspiring in advance and without foundation to challenge an election with seditious conspiracy. Such powers, SCOTUS tells us, are absolute and not subject to legal review. Probably there are other actions he could take, too.
My more general point is that we don't have to sit idle and watch misdeeds play out as if there is nothing to be done. Certainly if Trump is elected, HE will use those same powers in exactly the same way but without foundation, hesitation, or remorse, and without the health of our democracy as his goal.
As noted by Marc Elias in the quote above, these guys are not kidding around, they are playing for keeps. The Dems better treat this as the serious threat it is. I'd say the GOP should likewise care, but they're in a hypnotic trance, operating in mindless lockstep, so it's up to those not under the spell to act.
Maybe, too, Kamala can see what Joe might not and use her newfound clout to get him to take the gloves off.
