Chuck Darwin<p>For nearly four years, federal prosecutors have tracked, charged and imprisoned hundreds of Donald Trump supporters who <a href="https://c.im/tags/stormed" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>stormed</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/the" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>the</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Capitol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Capitol</span></a> on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p>But what once seemed to be a shock-and-awe campaign of prosecutorial force <br>— one the department has regularly characterized as the largest and most complex investigation in history <br>— appears <br>💥increasingly squeezed by legal challenges and political threats.</p><p>🔸Ongoing court battles threaten to erase or undermine some of the 1,500 cases that have been brought against participants in the riot. </p><p>🔸And prosecutors’ tactical choices are the subject of new scrutiny from appeals courts. </p><p>🔸Those disputes could wind up in another high-stakes confrontation before the Supreme Court.</p><p>⚠️The high court has already gutted the key felony charge that prosecutors have used in hundreds of Jan. 6 cases, <br>leading the Justice Department to drop a slew of its most serious criminal counts. </p><p>And a federal appeals court rejected another tactic prosecutors had used to drive up sentences for Jan. 6 defendants, <br>forcing judges to recalculate prison time in some cases.</p><p>Above all, Trump’s promise to pardon the rioters <br>— even those who assaulted police <br>— looms. </p><p>His own criminal case for seeking to subvert the 2020 election is teetering and would collapse if he retakes the White House.</p><p>In other words, the legacy of accountability for the insurrection that threatened the 2020 transfer of power remains in limbo.<br><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/27/jan-6-cases-legal-challenges-political-threats-00181313" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">politico.com/news/2024/09/27/j</span><span class="invisible">an-6-cases-legal-challenges-political-threats-00181313</span></a></p>