Pardon Tracker: DOJ Fires Prosecutors Involved in U.S. Capitol Riot Cases
Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly signed dismissal letters notifying at least three prosecutors involved in Capitol Riot cases that they were 'removed from federal service effective immediately.'
The U.S. Department Justice (DOJ) reportedly “fired at least three prosecutors involved in U.S. Capitol riot criminal cases,” as prosecutors received a notification that they were “removed from federal service effective immediately.”
Greg Rosen, the former chief of the Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, recently said that “the underlying message of the pardons and the expressive nature of the pardons is that political violence is acceptable, particularly if it’s done for a specific purpose.”
A federal jury “awarded $500,000 to the widow and estate of a police officer who died by suicide nine days after he helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob of rioters,” and the jury directed David Walls-Kaufman, a pardoned Capitol Rioter who assaulted the officer, to pay “$380,000 in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages for the assault on her husband on that day.”
However, the judge presiding over the civil trial dismissed the “wrongful-death claim against Walls-Kaufman before jurors began deliberating,” and claimed that “no reasonable juror could conclude that Walls-Kaufman’s actions were capable of causing a traumatic brain injury.”
John Earle Sullivan, who was convicted and sentenced to 72-months in prison for participating in the Capitol Riot, is reportedly “seeking to recover forfeited money related to his filming of scenes inside the U.S. Capitol,” however, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth denied Sullivan's request and “ordered the government not to give him the funds unless Congress goes through an appropriation process.”
Kyle Travis Colton, pardoned Capitol Rioter who was also charged for possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), argued in court filings that “the investigation that led to his child pornography charge was inextricably tied up in the Jan. 6 case against him,” however, the DOJ stated in court filings that Trump’s pardon “does not cover his charge of receiving child pornography.”
Hector Vargas Santos, a former U.S. Marine who was convicted and sentenced to 4-months in prison for participating in the Capitol Riot, argued in court filings that he should be repaid the more than $2,000 fines and restitution he paid after his Capitol riot conviction — however, a federal judge ruled that a “pardon does not make one's conviction or the exaction of monetary penalties ‘erroneous.’”
Taylor Taranto, a military veteran and pardoned Capitol Rioter, was convicted by a federal judge on charges of “making a false threat toward a government facility in Maryland and unlawfully possessing firearms and ammo,” however, the judge also “delayed setting a sentencing date and instead directed prosecutors to swiftly respond to an anticipated motion from Taranto's attorneys seeking his release.”
Pardon Tracker is part of independent investigative journalism and data visualization project, investigating the pardons and commutations for individuals involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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