Top Jan. 6 prosecutor resigns from DOJ, rips pardon decision
Share this @internewscast.com

Background: Supporters loyal to President Donald Trump gather at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Inset: Greg Rosen (Department of Justice)

The federal prosecutor who played a key role in leading the investigation into the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol has criticized the decision to pardon those found guilty of participating, indicating that this move influenced his decision to leave the Justice Department.

Greg Rosen, the former head of the Justice Department’s now-defunct Capitol Siege Section, expressed he was “shocked, if not stunned, by the extent of the pardons.”

“I think the message that they send is that political violence towards a political goal is acceptable in a modern democratic society,” he told CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane in an interview posted on Monday. Some 1,500 defendants were pardoned by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term in the Oval Office, and members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers had their sentences commuted.

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

To Rosen, it was the people who appeared to have violence in mind who gained the most from the president’s actions.

“The primary beneficiaries of those pardons were not the trespass-defendants who have talked about ‘walking through the Capitol,”” he said. “It were the individuals that — judges across the spectrum, appointed by both political parties, had determined were a danger to society. Individuals who were serving real, serious jail time.”

The Capitol Siege Section was shut down shortly after Trump returned to office. The Trump administration also fired and demoted prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations, suggesting such inquiries were due to a “weaponization” by government agencies under the Biden administration, arguments the former president and his Cabinet secretaries have firmly denied.

When MacFarlane asked Rosen what he made of these firings and demotions, which were announced to employees by then-interim U.S. District Attorney for Washington, D.C., Ed Martin, Rosen said he found them “ridiculous.”

“To see those talented prosecutors be marginalized or removed from office is an affront to the independence of the department,” Rosen added, touting the success in the conviction rate of those who went to trial.

“The reason those juries convicted — and the reason those judges convicted individuals — was not because of some bug in the due process,” Rosen said. “It was because the evidence was overwhelming. It was the most videotaped crime in American history.”

Law&Crime has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Rosen will be joining the boutique legal firm Rogers Joseph O’Donnell in Washington, D.C., where the firm says he will “bolster the firm’s capacity to advise clients facing significant government scrutiny.”

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

New Image Emerges: Melodee Buzzard Spotted in Wig Amid Ongoing Search for Missing 9-Year-Old

Recent developments in the case of Melodee Buzzard, a young girl from…

Breaking News: Gold Coast Stabbing Leads to Murder Charge in Shocking Unit Block Incident

A man has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a man…

Tragic New York Fire Claims Lives of Mom and Newborn; Boyfriend Faces Charges

A man in New York state faces charges for allegedly murdering his…

Father’s Outrage Over Snack Time Leads to Shocking School Threat: Police Report

Inset: David Scott Jr. (Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office). Background: The elementary school…

Indiana Father Sentenced for Neglect Leading to Daughter’s Death from Type 1 Diabetes Complications

An Indiana courtroom witnessed the sentencing of an Evansville father on Thursday,…

Tragic Turn: Mother and Boyfriend Arrested as Toddler Fights for Life on Life Support

Left: Chelsea Berg (Collin County Jail). Center: Christopher Alexander (Collin County Jail).…

Deputies Arrest Couple in Connection with Vietnam Veteran’s Tragic Death

Inset left: Tara Jackson (Catawba County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Cecil Ray…

Man Arrested Twice in Six Days Amidst Investigation for Allegedly Stalking Female College Students

Staff Report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Authorities have arrested 40-year-old Andrew Stephenson Wise…

Judge Criticizes Sarah Huckabee Sanders Over Controversial Special Election Decision

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during the Republican National Convention in…

Father Sentenced in Tragic Death of 12-Year-Old Daughter Due to Diabetes Neglect

Inset left to right: Brent Bredhold (Vanderburgh County Sheriff”s Office) and Alice…

Justice Sotomayor Issues Strong Critique of Colleagues in Death Penalty Ruling

Left: FILE – This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of…

Shocking Case: Mother Faces Charges in Alleged Attempted Drowning of Her Three Children

Background: The home of the family whose three children were allegedly found…