Judge Torches Trump’s DOJ Goons in Scathing Ruling

A federal judge slammed the Department of Justice as he “reluctantly” granted the Trump administration’s request to throw out the charges against nine members of an extremist organization that led the Capitol riot.

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On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 rioters, effectively wiping out about 1,270 convictions and ending criminal proceedings against the remaining defendants who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Judge Amit P. Mehta on Tuesday granted U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s motion to dismiss the charges against nine Oath Keepers, including its leader Stewart Rhodes, less than a month after against five Proud Boys.

Mehta’s scathing decision made it clear he was only ruling that way because he lacked the authority to deny the request, since the executive branch has final authority over charging decisions.

His ruling laid out the gravity of the crimes committed by the defendants and warned that in the court’s view, dismissal was not “in the public interest.”

“Today’s 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—the peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle,” Mehta, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote.

He also ripped into the DOJ for failing to provide a compelling reason for dropping the charges

“The government does not say that the charges were legally deficient or that evidence presented is insufficient to sustain Defendants’ convictions,” he wrote. “It confesses no prosecutorial misconduct, nor does it assert any denial or compromise of the defendant’s rights. And it does not identify any legal error that resulted in an unfair trial or wrongful conviction.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Rhodes and five other defendants had been convicted of the most serious crimes, including seditious conspiracy, for trying to violently overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump.

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Two others were convicted on other conspiracy charges, while another was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison, the second-longest of any J6 defendants, and had called on Trump to issue a full pardon so he could own a gun, vote in his home state of Texas, and receive veterans benefits.

Using encrypted communications, Rhodes helped recruit and train rioters, brought paramilitary gear and weapons to Washington, D.C., and helped breach the Capitol building. While the angry mob attacked police officers inside, Rhodes remained outside coordinating the attack, according to the DOJ.

He then continued plotting even after the riot failed to stop the election’s certification until he was arrested in 2022.

Rhodes and the other defendants had challenged their convictions in hopes of expunging their records.

They were facing an April deadline to file their arguments about why the government had overreached with its charges.

Defending the convictions would have likely required the DOJ to argue that the far-right groups were acting on behalf of Trump, who has long denied being responsible for the violence that took place at the Capitol, The New York Times reported at the time.