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As Insurrectionist Cases Are Dismissed, Meaning of Jan. 6 Pondered by Critics

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Criticism is coming from many corners -- Republicans, Democrats, and the judiciary -- even as courts process the dismissal of roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 criminal cases, to comply with Trump’s Inauguration Day order. As Politico reports, “Trump’s inauguration may have led to an abrupt end of the criminal cases stemming from Jan. 6, but it has ignited a new focus on its meaning in a Trump-led America.” On Wednesday, former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes — released by Trump from an 18-year prison sentence for conspiring to violently stop Congress’ role in the transfer of power — strode nonchalantly into the Capitol complex, took a seat in a Dunkin’ Donuts and held court with reporters in the same building that he had gleefully watched under attack. “My only regret is they should have brought rifles,” Rhodes had said, in a Jan. 10, 2021 recording played at his seditious conspiracy trial in 2022. “We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then and there. I’d hang fucking Pelosi from the lamppost.” Several Republican lawmakers reportedly granted Rhodes a meeting on Wednesday. But Rhodes’ mere presence seemed wrong – and unsafe – to Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chair of the House Democratic caucus. “It’s just incredibly sad that this is someone who House Republicans feel should be welcomed in this building -- someone who doesn’t support the rule of law, someone who actively worked against the peaceful transfer of power in our country.”


Though Speaker Mike Johnson said he had no interest in looking “backward” when assessing Trump’s pardons. But he vowed a deep dive into the work of the Democrat-led Jan. 6 select committee, which concluded Trump was singularly responsible for the chaos and violence unleashed by his supporters – a conclusion vehemently criticized by Trump. Judges who sentenced Jan. 6 defendants say that the failure to exact consequences for an attack on the transfer of power could invite future political violence. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson warned Thursday that the blanket dismissal of Jan. 6 cases called for by Trump is “contrary to the manifest public interest in upholding the rule of law” and would “dishonor” the police officers who protected the Capitol. “They are the patriots. Patriotism is loyalty to country and loyalty to the Constitution – not loyalty to a single head of state,” the Obama-appointed judge wrote. “No stroke of a pen and no proclamation can alter the facts of what took place on January 6, 2021.”

 

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A daily report co-sponsored by Arizona State University, Criminal Justice Journalists, and the National Criminal Justice Association

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