Reacting to claims from Donald Trump that he is seriously thinking about blanket pardoning all of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists on the same day that he is sworn in next January, federal judges are increasingly becoming more vocal about the threat he presents to the rule of law.
According to a report from Politico's Kyle Cheney, two prominent judges lamented the turn the country will take under the president-elect due to releasing convicted rioters which they believe will undermine the rule of law.
The report notes that U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan has previously told U.S. Capitol police "the rule of law still applies" and recently lamented, "I’m not sure I can do that very convincingly these days.”
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According to Politico's Cheney, "Chutkan’s comments, delivered this week as she sentenced another member of the Jan. 6 mob to eight months in prison, are emblematic of the increasing alarm and dismay expressed by federal judges in Washington D.C. at the likelihood Trump will grant clemency to people they view as responsible for a grave crime against democracy."
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell pointed the finger at Trump's supporters in Congress who are increasingly denying the severity of the attack on the Capitol where they work.
“The rewriting of the history of Jan. 6, 2021 is incredibly disturbing,” Howell lamented before adding, “There are politicians on the Hill still trying to rewrite the history.”
Ronald Reagan appointee, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth addressed the increasing denial about Jan. 6 riot from Trump supporters by writing last month, "On January 6, 2021, an angry mob of rioters invaded and occupied the United States Capitol, intending to interrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. No matter what ultimately becomes of the Capital Riots cases already concluded and still pending, the true story of what happened on January 6, 2021 will never change.”
Chutkan agreed this week, adding, "This is the United States Capitol — the people’s house. They trashed it. They treated it like a motel room after a concert. … Engaging in an act of destruction and violence in order to halt the peaceful transfer of power has to be met by consequences.”
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