The Justice Department sent a message Wednesday to Jan. 6 defendants: Accepting a pardon from Donald Trump is "a confession of guilt" for your crimes.
"[A] pardon at some unspecified date in the future ... would not unring the bell of conviction," federal prosecutors argued in a Jan. 6 case before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. "In fact, quite the opposite. The defendant would first have to accept the pardon, which necessitates a confession of guilt."
The pronouncement is the latest attempt by the Justice Department to salvage the legacy of its Jan. 6 investigation, which leaders say is the most sweeping criminal probe in American history.
Even as President-elect Donald Trump promised on Sunday to act "very quickly" on pardons for many of the protesters involved in the events of January 6, the Biden administration's Justice Department is continuing to arrest and try people for actions that occurred almost four years ago while opposing motions to delay trials because of the need for "the prompt and efficient administration of justice."
If the defeat of Kamala Harris constituted at least a partial repudiation of the lawfare against Trump and his supporters, the message appears to be lost on top brass at the DOJ. Prosecutors are pushing ahead with what they consider the department's crowning achievement: the so-called "Capitol Siege" investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
In what Attorney General Merrick Garland describes as the biggest criminal investigation in Department of Justice history, more than 1,560 people have been charged for federal crimes never before used against political protesters, including under a post-Enron obstruction statute overturned by the Supreme Court in June. At least 1,000 of these defendants have been convicted -- either at trial or by accepting plea offers -- with some 650 defendants ordered to serve time in a federal prison. Sentences range from a few days in jail to up to 22 years as the DOJ seeks "terror enhancements" to tack on additional time.
Activity in the J6 investigation accelerated the month before the election. At least 16 individuals were arrested; home security camera footage obtained by RCI shows the heavily-armed pre-dawn FBI raid of a subject in California on October 17.
Shortly after the election, DOJ officials instructed attorneys working on J6 cases to carry on regardless of the pending change in leadership. "[Federal] prosecutors in the Justice Department's Capitol Siege Section received guidance this week about how to proceed in pending Jan. 6 cases ... including a directive to oppose any Jan. 6 defendant's requests for delays," Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News reported on Nov. 9. "Prosecutors are instructed to argue that there is a societal interest in the quick administration of justice and these cases should be handled in the normal order."
At the same time, the Biden Justice Department is continuing to apprehend protesters. On Dec. 4, for example, the DOJ announced the arrest of a 44-year-old Alabama man, Robert James Bonham, charging him with a range of crimes, including "assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder."
If Trump shuts down the department's "Capitol Siege" section, as he is expected to do, Bonham will never go to trial. But this does not appear to concern Matthew Graves, U. S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Appointed by President Biden in November 2021, Graves has presided over the sprawling J6 investigation and now continues to advance related cases.
His office has opposed the J6 defendants' requests to halt proceedings until after Trump is sworn in next month. Judges began receiving a slew of defense motions starting the day after the election asking to postpone trials and hearings, but Graves said there is "public interest in the prompt and efficient administration of justice" as a reason to continue business as usual.
