(FiveNation.com)- On Friday, Judge Beryl Howell, the chief judge of the United States District Court in Washington, D.C., said that Department of Justice prosecutors should consider how cooperative many of the January 6 “rioters” when deciding what sentences to pursue.
During a sentencing hearing, Judge Howell suggests that defendants who agreed to talk about what happened on January 6 with investigators from the federal government should be given some amount of leniency.
“I think that that kind of cooperation is helpful to this country and is helpful to making amends for what occurred on January 6 to the extent that that House select committee is able to be successful,” she said.
The judge was referring to the ultra-partisan House committee formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that alleges without evidence that former President Donald Trump incited a violent insurrection or riot on Capitol Hill last year. The committee, which claims to be investigating the origins of the so-called “insurrection,” did not seat a single Republican legislator who disagreed with the contested and unsubstantiated claims about the former president.
The comment came from the judge when a public defender representing one of the defendants accused of illegally entering the Capitol building said that the Justice Department would to punish harshly defendants who expressed remorse and even spoke to Congress.
“That doesn’t seem like a wise position for the United States to take,” attorney Eugene Ohm said.
Ohm’s client is Robert Schornak, a man who pleaded guilty last year to entering the Capitol building, taking photographs with other rioters, and taking an American flag from the property. However, he has since testified to the House select committee twice and taken dozens of questions.
The Biden Justice Department is not backing down, however. Assistant United States Attorney Anita Eve claimed that the man hasn’t expressed any remorse for his actions and recommended a sentence of up to six months in prison.
Even if Schornak got down on his knees and begged for forgiveness, there’s no way the Biden administration is passing up an opportunity to send Trump supporters to prison.
