With the stroke of a pen on his first day back in the White House, Trump's order upended the largest prosecution in Justice Department history, freeing from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss. Trump used his opening hours in his second term to erase the records of dozens of people who pleaded guilty to assaulting officers at the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021, and free from prison those convicted of trying to overthrow the government, as he granted reprieve to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection that was sparked after he refused to accept his loss in the 2020 presidential election. The motions were marked with the name of the man Trump named to lead, at least temporarily, the capital's U.S. attorney's office: Ed Martin, a board member of a group called the Patriot Freedom Project, which portrays the Jan. 6 defendants as victims of political persecution.
Author: ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press
Published at: 2025-01-21 23:00:00
Still want to read the full version? Full article
