WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A federal judge decried efforts to rewrite the history of as he reluctantly dismissed the seditious conspiracy case against members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group .
The move Tuesday closes the book on the Jan. 6 cases that were wiped out with Republican President Donald Trump’s , freeing from prison people convicted of violent of assaults on police and other crimes.
The Department of Justice in April acted to vacate the convictions of and others who had their sentences commuted but did not receive pardons. It was a stunning reversal from the Democratic Biden administration, which hailed the guilty verdicts in one of the most serious cases stemming from the Capitol attack.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the Oath Keepers’ trials, criticized the department’s move, writing in his ruling that the government “asks to absolve these Defendants of crimes against the United States itself.” But Mehta wrote that he had no choice but to grant the administration’s request.
鈥淭his is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of Jan. 6. That book is now closed,鈥� wrote Mehta, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy 鈥� the peaceful transfer of presidential power 鈥� to buckle. The court cannot write a different ending,鈥� he wrote.
Juries in the nation’s capital convicted Oath Keepers leaders and members of another group, the Proud Boys, of to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump鈥檚 2020 election loss to Biden. after Trump commuted in the case.
Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, has denied any wrongdoing and described himself at his 2023 sentencing as a 鈥減olitical prisoner.鈥� James Lee Bright, an attorney who represented Rhodes at trial, wrote in a text message that he was 鈥渄isappointed in the tenor” of Mehta’s opinion, adding that it was 鈥渘ot necessary to inject his personal opinions in such a fashion.鈥�
Trump has argued that the Jan. 6 defendants were treated unfairly by the justice system, saying the pardons were intended to end 鈥渁 grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people鈥� and begin 鈥渁 process of national reconciliation.鈥�
More than 1,200 people across the United States were convicted of Jan. 6 crimes, including roughly 200 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement.
Most of the Jan. 6 defendants were granted 鈥渇ull, complete and unconditional鈥� pardons, while Rhodes and other defendants in the seditious conspiracy cases only had their sentences commuted. Trump also ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of roughly 450 cases that were pending before judges stemming from the .
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