Latest news with #GregRosen
The Guardian
03-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Former Capitol attack prosecutor slams Trump pardons of January 6 defendants
A federal prosecutor who helped lead the US Department of Justice's investigation into the January 6 attack on Congress has resigned – and, in a new interview, he criticized Donald Trump's decision to pardon about 1,500 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack, saying that it 'sends a terrible message to the American people'. Longtime assistant US attorney Greg Rosen, the former chief of the justice department's Capitol siege section, sat down with CBS News after resigning over the weekend. In the interview, Rosen said that he was 'shocked, if not stunned' by the breadth of the pardons Trump issued to those involved in the 6 January 2021 attack just hours after his second presidential inauguration. On 20 January, Trump granted 'full, complete and unconditional' pardons to those involved in the Capitol attack, including some convicted of violent acts. Trump also issued sentence-shortening commutations for more than a dozen cases while directing the justice department to dismiss all pending indictments against people related to the attack which unsuccessfully tried to keep him in office after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. 'I think the message that they send is that political violence towards a political goal is acceptable in a modern democratic society,' Rosen said. 'That, from my perspective, is anathema to a constitutional republic.' Rosen said that the 'primary beneficiaries' of the pardons were individuals that 'judges across the spectrum, appointed by both political parties, had determined were a danger to society, individuals who were serving real serious jail time'. 'The concept that these defendants were railroaded or mistreated is belied by the actual facts,' Rosen said. 'The reality is every single case was treated with the utmost scrutiny, and every single case required the same level of due process, maximal due process afforded by the US constitution.' The pardons, Rosen said, 'sends a terrible message to the American people'. 'Individuals who were duly – and appropriately – convicted of federal crimes ranging in culpability are immediately let loose without any supervision, without any remorse, without any rehabilitation to civil society,' he added. 'The reason those juries convicted – and the reason those judges convicted – individuals was not because of some bug in the due process,' Rosen continued. 'It was because the evidence was overwhelming. It was the most videotaped crime in American history.' Rosen also criticized the Trump administration's decision to fire or sideline some of the prosecutors who handled the January 6 criminal cases and to disband the Capitol siege section. 'It's ridiculous,' Rosen said. 'To see those talented prosecutors be marginalized or removed from office is an affront to the independence of the department.' Rosen has joined Rogers Joseph O'Donnell, a private law firm in Washington DC. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion In a LinkedIn post on Monday, Rosen said he was 'beyond excited' for the 'new adventure'. Speaking to CBS, he added that it felt like 'time for a change – and a time to take what I've been doing and what I've learned over the course of 15 years in state and federal practice – and bring it to the private sector, where I can benefit clients who are being scrutinized by the government'. In a statement, the law firm said that Rosen will join its white collar defense and government contract practice groups. It hailed Rosen for being 'entrusted with supervising more than 1,000 prosecutions connected with the January 6, 2021 breach and attack of the US Capitol, the largest federal prosecution in American history,' the release added. In a statement sent to the Guardian in response to Rosen's comments, a spokesperson for the Trump administration-led justice department said the president 'doesn't need lectures … about his use of pardons'. The spokesperson alluded, in part, to a pardon Biden gave his son, Hunter, who was convicted of federal gun and tax charges. And the spokesperson also said Trump was 'acting reasonably and responsibly within his constitutional authority'. In late May, one of the pardoned Capitol attackers was arrested on allegations of burglary and vandalism in Virginia in what was believed to be the first instance of new charges – since the president's clemency – for a person who took part in the uprising against Congress. The attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters was linked to nine deaths, including the suicides of police officers who were left traumatized after having defended the building.
CBS News
03-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Justice Dept. Capitol Siege Section head Greg Rosen resigns, says Trump Jan. 6 pardons sent "terrible message"
The federal prosecutor who helped lead the largest federal criminal case in American history has resigned his position in the Justice Department. Longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Rosen, the chief of the Justice Department's Capitol Siege Section, has departed for a post with a private law firm. In an interview with CBS News, Rosen said President Trump's pardons of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters continue to shock and alarm the federal investigators who handled the cases. "The message that [the pardons] send is that political violence towards a political goal is acceptable in a modern democratic society," Rosen said. "That, from my perspective, is anathema to a constitutional republic." Rosen helped oversee a team of Justice Department attorneys as the agency grappled with an historically large onslaught of criminal cases after the Capitol riot, which injured dozens of police officers and caused millions of dollars in damage to the Capitol complex. He said the president's decision to pardon all — not just some — of the Capitol riot defendants was a stunning decision that has caused damage. "It sends a terrible message to the American people," Rosen said. "Individuals who were duly — and appropriately — convicted of federal crimes ranging in culpability are immediately let loose without any supervision, without any remorse, without any rehabilitation to civil society." Rosen handled a range of criminal cases during his tenure at the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia, one of the largest and most powerful of the federal prosecutors' offices in the nation. In addition to drug and gun crimes, Rosen took on responsibility for the section handling Jan. 6 cases. He was a lead prosecutor in the case of Leo Kelly, an Iowa man who was convicted at trial in May 2023. He took note of the Justice Department's remarkable success rate in Jan. 6 trials, securing partial or full convictions in 100% of jury trials. Rosen blasted criticism from Trump supporters who allege the juries were biased or the prosecutions were politicized. "The reason those juries convicted — and the reason those judges convicted individuals — was not because of some bug in the due process," Rosen said. "It was because the evidence was overwhelming. It was the most videotaped crime in American history." Soon after Mr. Trump's Inauguration-Day pardons of the Jan. 6 defendants, Justice Department officials demoted or fired some of the prosecutors who handled the Jan. 6 prosecutions and disbanded the Capitol Siege Section. Critics have accused the administration of seeking vengeance or revenge, targeting attorneys with solid track records. "To see those talented prosecutors be marginalized or removed from office is an affront to the independence of the department," Rosen said. The Justice Department and the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Rosen will soon be starting his new job as attorney at the Rogers, Joseph O'Donnell law firm in Washington, D.C. He told CBS News, "I felt like it was time for a change — and a time to take what I've been doing and what I've learned over the course of 15 years in state and federal practice — and bring it to the private sector, where I can benefit clients who are being scrutinized by the government."
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jan. 6 prosecutors demoted by Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Washington
WASHINGTON — At least seven top prosecutors inside the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia — including some involved in Jan. 6 prosecutions — were demoted to entry-level positions by the new Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney, multiple officials told NBC News. Ed Martin, a conservative activist with no prosecutorial experience who President Donald Trump named interim U.S. attorney and who has been nominated to take over the critical office on a permanent basis, informed several supervisors that they had been demoted to handle misdemeanor cases or join a unit that initiates lower-level local cases, according to several multiple sources and messages seen by NBC News. The lead prosecutors on both the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy case and the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case, among the highest-profile Jan. 6 prosecutions, were demoted to work cases in D.C. Superior Court, multiple sources said. So was the chief of the Capitol Siege Section, which was disbanded when Trump took office and pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants. 'They really rubber roomed a lot of people,' one federal law enforcement official said. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington is unique in that it handles both federal crimes in U.S. District Court as well local crimes in Superior Court. Demoting leaders on the federal side of the office to the lowest level of the Superior Court team, one law enforcement source said, 'is the biggest f--- you that you can receive,' noting that many of these supervisors worked misdemeanors when they first started out as 'baby prosecutors.' Amongst the prosecutors demoted, multiple current and former law enforcement officials said, were Greg Rosen, who was in charge of the Capitol Siege Section. 'Greg Rosen, who ran the Capitol Siege Section, was, quite literally, the best boss and team leader I've ever seen," former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Ballou said in a statement to NBC News. "Like a great football coach, he brought the best out of every player. That Ed Martin is trying to demote or humiliate him speaks to the smallness of Martin and his agenda." This article was originally published on
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jan. 6 prosecutors demoted by Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Washington
WASHINGTON — At least seven top prosecutors inside the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia — including some involved in Jan. 6 prosecutions — were demoted to entry-level positions by the new Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney, multiple officials told NBC News. Ed Martin, a conservative activist with no prosecutorial experience who President Donald Trump named interim U.S. attorney and who has been nominated to take over the critical office on a permanent basis, informed several supervisors that they had been demoted to handle misdemeanor cases or join a unit that initiates lower-level local cases, according to several multiple sources and messages seen by NBC News. The lead prosecutors on both the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy case and the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case, among the highest-profile Jan. 6 prosecutions, were demoted to work cases in D.C. Superior Court, multiple sources said. So was the chief of the Capitol Siege Section, which was disbanded when Trump took office and pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants. 'They really rubber roomed a lot of people,' one federal law enforcement official said. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington is unique in that it handles both federal crimes in U.S. District Court as well local crimes in Superior Court. Demoting leaders on the federal side of the office to the lowest level of the Superior Court team, one law enforcement source said, 'is the biggest f--- you that you can receive,' noting that many of these supervisors worked misdemeanors when they first started out as 'baby prosecutors.' Amongst the prosecutors demoted, multiple current and former law enforcement officials said, were Greg Rosen, who was in charge of the Capitol Siege Section. 'Greg Rosen, who ran the Capitol Siege Section, was, quite literally, the best boss and team leader I've ever seen," former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Ballou said in a statement to NBC News. "Like a great football coach, he brought the best out of every player. That Ed Martin is trying to demote or humiliate him speaks to the smallness of Martin and his agenda." This article was originally published on
NBC News
28-02-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Jan. 6 prosecutors demoted by Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Washington
WASHINGTON — At least seven top prosecutors inside the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia — including some involved in Jan. 6 prosecutions — were demoted to entry-level positions by the new Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney, multiple officials told NBC News. Ed Martin, a conservative activist with no prosecutorial experience who President Donald Trump named interim U.S. attorney and who has been nominated to take over the critical office on a permanent basis, informed several supervisors that they had been demoted to handle misdemeanor cases or join a unit that initiates lower-level local cases, according to several multiple sources and messages seen by NBC News. The lead prosecutors on both the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy case and the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case, among the highest-profile Jan. 6 prosecutions, were demoted to work cases in D.C. Superior Court, multiple sources said. So was the chief of the Capitol Siege Section, which was disbanded when Trump took office and pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants. 'They really rubber roomed a lot of people,' one federal law enforcement official said. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington is unique in that it handles both federal crimes in U.S. District Court as well local crimes in Superior Court. Demoting leaders on the federal side of the office to the lowest level of the Superior Court team, one law enforcement source said, 'is the biggest f--- you that you can receive,' noting that many of these supervisors worked misdemeanors when they first started out as 'baby prosecutors.' Amongst the prosecutors demoted, multiple current and former law enforcement officials said, were Greg Rosen, who was in charge of the Capitol Siege Section. 'Greg Rosen, who ran the Capitol Siege Section, was, quite literally, the best boss and team leader I've ever seen," former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Ballou said in a statement to NBC News. "Like a great football coach, he brought the best out of every player. That Ed Martin is trying to demote or humiliate him speaks to the smallness of Martin and his agenda."
