Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol Attack and the Judiciary Case against President-Elect Donald J. Trump (R-Dem) Biden
One D.C. district court judge appointed by Trump, Carl Nichols, recently said in court that blanket pardons for the Capitol defendants would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing.”
More than 140 police officers in the United States were injured in a mass attack at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the largest-ever assault on law enforcement. U.S. Capitol and Washington, D.C., police persisted in defending the building, in the face of getting sprayed with harsh chemicals or beaten with flagpoles.
On the trail, Trump often featured stories of January 6 defendants he labeled “hostages” and “patriots.” A version of the national anthem was sung by a group of inmates at a Trump rally.
Federal judges in Washington, where the courthouse cafeteria boasts a view of the Capitol dome and the scene of the crime, generally imposed lighter punishments than the DOJ had requested in hundreds of Jan. 6 cases. But they also pushed back hard in their courtrooms against efforts to rewrite the history of that day, amid claims from Trump and his allies that the rioters had been unfairly targeted for prosecution.
Every FBI office, almost every US attorney’s office, is working on the matter, according to former Attorney General Merrick Garland. We’ve seized and examined thousands of electronic devices, examined terabytes of data, and thousands of hours of videos.
But the Justice Department’s case against Trump, for allegedly conspiring to cling to power and deprive millions of Americans of the right to have their votes count in 2020, ended with a whimper.
Special counsel Jack Smith secured a four-count felony indictment of Trump but said he was forced to abandon the case after Trump won the 2024 election, based on a longstanding DOJ view that a sitting president cannot be charged or face trial.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” Biden said in a statement issued hours before President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office.
There were pre-emptive pardons needed because of threats of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions by the incoming administration, according to Biden.
Investigating the “Fascist to the Core”: Report of the Commission on the COVID-19 Disaster in the U.S.
It is not clear that the incoming Trump administration intends to prosecute the individuals. During her confirmation hearing, Pam Bondi stated that there wouldn’t be political prosecutions on her watch. The nominee for FBI director has called for people who oppose the president to be investigated or prosecuted.
Fauci was a leading figure leading the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. An infectious disease specialist at the National Institutes of Health, he encouraged people to wear masks and social distance, but Trump allies accuse him of covering up the alleged real causes of COVID. Congress investigated Fauci after Trump called it a disaster.
Fauci pointed out that he had served under both parties’ presidents, Ronald Reagan and President Biden, so he was motivated to improve the health and lives of humankind.
“I believe and hope that my legacy is that of a dedicated and accomplished physician/scientist and public health official who, with the help of many teams of skilled and distinguished colleagues, saved millions of lives in the United States and around the world,” Fauci said.
Milley was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term and later called Trump “fascist to the core” in a book by journalist Bob Woodward. He said that he should be executed.
“Rather than accept accountability, those who orchestrated the attack have taken every possibility to undermine and intimidate those who were part of the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history and seek revenge, as well as threatening prosecutions,” Biden said.
Staffers for the committee were surprised by the news. A congressional aide said they were sorting whether they needed to accept the pardon or how the process worked. The announcement of the pardon did not include names or details of what was covered. However, the aide was not authorized to speak about the matter so he said that the staff were relieved by the news.
The final report appears to be the panel’s. Dozens of staffers will be covered by pardons. More than 50 were listed in the preliminary section of the panel’s final report. Consultants and contractors were listed in the report, but it was unclear if they were covered by the pardons.