Amid setbacks, prosecutors abandon some claims in U.S. Capitol riot cases

[Hoodat]

Amid setbacks, prosecutors abandon some claims in U.S. Capitol riot cases

By Sarah N. Lynch   |   MARCH 24, 2021   |   2:24 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prosecutors made some serious claims after the deadly U.S. Capitol attack, saying they had evidence rioters planned to kill elected officials, suggesting a Virginia man at the building received directives to gas lawmakers, and accusing another suspect of directing mayhem on Jan. 6 with encrypted messages.

But the Justice Department has since acknowledged in court hearings that some of its evidence concerning the riot - carried out by a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump to try to overturn his election loss - is less damning than it initially indicated.

The department suffered another blow this week when U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta threatened to impose a gag order on prosecutors after Michael Sherwin, its former head prosecutor on the Capitol cases, told CBS’s “60 Minutes” program that evidence pointed toward sedition charges against some defendants.

A charge of sedition - meaning incitement of a rebellion - has not been brought against any of the more than 400 people arrested to date.  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  On Jan. 19, prosecutors said they believed Thomas Caldwell, a retired U.S. Navy officer from Virginia, had a “leadership role” within the Oath Keepers. The FBI, in a criminal complaint, described Facebook messages Caldwell allegedly sent and received “while at the Capitol,” including one urging him to turn on the gas and tear up the floorboards.

“‘All members are in the tunnels under capital seal them in. Turn on gas,’” it read.

A prosecutor in Florida read those words aloud in February in a bid to convince a judge to detain two of Caldwell’s co-defendants. Prosecutors now acknowledge that Caldwell was not even a dues-paying member of the Oath Keepers and that they lack evidence he ever entered the Capitol.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-capitol-arrests-justice/amid-setbacks-prosecutors-abandon-some-claims-in-u-s-capitol-riot-cases-idUSKBN2BG30C


Any prosecutor who knowingly gives a false account to a judge in a criminal proceeding should be subject to prosecution him/herself as well as disbarment.  This prosecutor tried to keep Caldwell behind bars based on statements they knew to be untrue.  It is the prosecutor who should be behind bars.

[skeeter]

Yeah but all those now-abandoned claims made for some really frightening headlines and defiant floor speeches so its all good.

[mountaineer]

At the time, it looked like only a few dozen people - no more than 100 - actually entered the Capitol that day (after a cop moved the barricade and let them in). I don't know. 

It appears they've been filing charges against people who didn't really do anything, not to mention going all over the country questioning people who merely attended the rally on the Mall.

[txradioguy]

So has the FBI Director gotten around to answering the question he was asked the other day about how they were gathering location data on the people they were questioning?

Seems some of the people the Feebs have been questioning were in DC...some of them on the National Mall...but no where near the Capitol Building.

[PeteS in CA]

The corrupt prosecutorial practice of over-charging to intimidate the accused into a plea bargain guilty/no-lo plea hinges on two factors: the defendant being financially unable to defend himself/herself; the defendant having something to lose. If, as in this case, the defendants have nothing to lose by fighting, the over-charging tactic will fail. Further, I suspect their case will be handled reduced/free and the defendants will receive financial assistance.

IMO, prosecutors who use this over-charging intimidation tactic should be summarily canned, lose their law license permanently, and be forbidden from all jobs related to law.

[skeeter]

So has the FBI Director gotten around to answering the question he was asked the other day about how they were gathering location data on the people they were questioning?

Seems some of the people the Feebs have been questioning were in DC...some of them on the National Mall...but no where near the Capitol Building.

Instead of tracking Islamic terrorists who shoot up supermarkets they're busy building dossiers on people attending political rallies.

[Cyber Liberty]

The corrupt prosecutorial practice of over-charging to intimidate the accused into a plea bargain guilty/no-lo plea hinges on two factors: the defendant being financially unable to defend himself/herself; the defendant having something to lose. If, as in this case, the defendants have nothing to lose by fighting, the over-charging tactic will fail. Further, I suspect their case will be handled reduced/free and the defendants will receive financial assistance.

IMO, prosecutors who use this over-charging intimidation tactic should be summarily canned, lose their law license permanently, and be forbidden from all jobs related to law.

"The process is the punishment."

[txradioguy]

Instead of tracking Islamic terrorists who shoot up supermarkets they're busy building dossiers on people attending political rallies.

I wish our federal law enforcement agencies were as diligent about stopping nut job shooters and ISIS terrorists within our borders who've been "on their radar"...as they are fidning anyone and everyone who might have been in DC on January 6th.

[deb]

The corrupt prosecutorial practice of over-charging to intimidate the accused into a plea bargain guilty/no-lo plea hinges on two factors: the defendant being financially unable to defend himself/herself; the defendant having something to lose. If, as in this case, the defendants have nothing to lose by fighting, the over-charging tactic will fail. Further, I suspect their case will be handled reduced/free and the defendants will receive financial assistance.

IMO, prosecutors who use this over-charging intimidation tactic should be summarily canned, lose their law license permanently, and be forbidden from all jobs related to law.

Exactly!

[Hoodat]

IMO, prosecutors who use this over-charging intimidation tactic should be summarily canned, lose their law license permanently, and be forbidden from all jobs related to law.

@PeteS in CA , this goes way beyond overcharging.  These prosecutors submitted false evidence to judges - evidence they knew to be false - in a petition to secure arrest warrants against innocent people.

[sneakypete]

IMO, prosecutors who use this over-charging intimidation tactic should be summarily canned, lose their law license permanently, and be forbidden from all jobs related to law.

@PeteS in CA

I agree. The law is supposed to be a tool to secure justice,not a weapon to imprison people they can't prove are guilty.

[sneakypete]

I wish our federal law enforcement agencies were as diligent about stopping nut job shooters and ISIS terrorists within our borders who've been "on their radar"...as they are fidning anyone and everyone who might have been in DC on January 6th.

@txradioguy

No positive press reports written about arresting illegal aliens,so where is the fun and the profits from doing something like that?
 

[sneakypete]

@PeteS in CA , this goes way beyond overcharging.  These prosecutors submitted false evidence to judges - evidence they knew to be false - in a petition to secure arrest warrants against innocent people.

@Hoodat

So what? The judges know where their "bread gets buttered",and nothing bad will happen to them as long as they go with the flow.

History tells them the Republicans won't do diddly-squat to them for corrupting the justice system,and the Dims will hammer the hell out of them with accusations of "playing politics with the bench" if they try to follow the law.

Not that I think judges are vain creatures more concerned with promotions and status than justice,mind you!

[dfwgator]

The important thing is the media got their narrative that pretty much torpedoed Trump's chances of getting back into the White House.   Mission Accomplished.

[sneakypete]

The important thing is the media got their narrative that pretty much torpedoed Trump's chances of getting back into the White House.   Mission Accomplished.

@dfwgator

I get "Brain Freeze" from even trying to imagine the horrors the Dims will face if they have to run against Trump again in 2024,now that he is not beholden to the scum that run the RNC,and has the experience to understand they are NOT on America's side.

In fact,I suspect there is more than a small possibility that he will start a new party that will end up replacing the alleged Republican Party of today.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving group of people!