Latest news with #Jan6
CBS News
27-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Trump's new pardon attorney discussed pardoning final Jan. 6 defendants — including Oath Keepers' Stewart Rhodes, lawyer says
New Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin has discussed pardon applications for some of the only remaining Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants who weren't given full clemency by President Trump, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer told CBS News. Peter Ticktin, an attorney working to secure full pardons for a number of Jan. 6 defendants, told CBS News he met with Martin last week to discuss pardon requests for Rhodes and 10 others. Martin was in his first full week in his new job as pardon attorney after Mr. Trump withdrew his nomination to serve as U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. Martin posted photos of his meeting with Ticktin on X last week, saying Ticktin had "recommendations for pardons" and "I listened." CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment. Ticktin said that in addition to a potential pardon for Rhodes, pardon applications were discussed for Proud Boys Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. Ticktin also mentioned applications for Dan Wilson and Elias Costianes, two other Jan 6 defendants who still face prison sentences due to firearm charges unrelated to the Capitol riot. Politico was first to report on Ticktin's conversation about Rhodes. Mr. Trump issued pardons to almost everybody convicted over the Jan. 6 riot on the first day of his second term, and he directed any pending charges to be dropped. However, a group of 14 current and former members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — including Rhodes — were only given commutations that allowed them to leave prison but left their criminal convictions in place. Many of those defendants were found guilty of more serious charges, like conspiring to use force to resist the transfer of power and seditious conspiracy. More than 1,500 people were charged as a result of their alleged conduct on Jan. 6, and at least 1,100 have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences, according to Justice Department data. More than 700 defendants completed their sentences or did not receive sentences of incarceration. More than 170 people were accused of using a deadly or dangerous weapon, such as a fire extinguisher or bear spray, against police officers, prosecutors have said. Ticktin is working with Jan. 6 defendant Trenniss Evans, who was sentenced to 36 months of probation and 20 days of prison time for his actions on Jan. 6. He pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building in 2022. Evans, who is CEO of the conservative nonprofit American Rights Alliance, told CBS News his expectation is that the 11 pardon applications submitted to Martin will go through the standard review process. He said his group had so far received no assurances from Martin or the Justice Department on whether the pardons will be granted. "The only assurances that we have is that we have people that are in the Justice Department now and in the proper places in the administration that are going to give a realistic and fair review to these cases because of the nauseating stance that the previous administration took against individuals related to January 6," Evans told CBS News. The next step in the pardon process, Ticktin said, is for Martin to consult with Alice Johnson, Mr. Trump's "pardon czar," who was granted clemency in Mr. Trump's first term after more than two decades of prison time for a nonviolent drug offense. "She's got a pretty important position at this point. I mean, she's the one that has to decide these things," Ticktin told CBS News. "Pardons need to be given out, but at the same time, none should be given out, you know, indiscriminately." Ticktin said he is working with Mark McCloskey, the man who infamously pointed a firearm at Black Lives Matter protestors back in 2020, to file civil suits against the government for their treatment of Jan. 6 defendants. "These are good American citizens, the kind of people that most people would enjoy being with, except that they were used as pawns here and incarcerated the way they were," Ticktin told CBS News. How Trump has used his pardon power So far in his second term, Mr. Trump has pardoned Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted on public corruption charges related to attempts to sell former President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat, and Ross Ulbricht, who was sent to life in prison for his role in creating and operating the darknet market Silk Road. On Monday, Trump said he was pardoning Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted of making several businessmen sworn law enforcement officers in exchange for cash bribes. The Constitution gives presidents virtually limitless power to pardon people for federal crimes. Many presidents have drawn controversy for how they've used this power: Mr. Trump issued pardons in his first term to his former campaign chair Paul Manafort and his son-in-law's father Charles Kushner, while Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter and Bill Clinton pardoned financier Marc Rich. But legal experts say Mr. Trump's clemency for Jan. 6 rioters — including people convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers — has been particularly broad, especially after Mr. Trump previously said he planned on offering "case-by-case" pardons to riot defendants. Ticktin said that he also spoke to Martin about former Arkansas State Senator Jonathan Woods, who was sentenced in 2018 to more than 18 years in prison for a bribery scheme. Woods' case was prosecuted in part by former special counsel Jack Smith when he led the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section between 2010 and 2015, before prosecuting Mr. Trump. In addition to the 11 pardon applications submitted last week, Evans said his group is working to "seek justice" for Tina Peters, a former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who was sentenced to over eight years in prison on state charges. Peters was convicted of giving a man affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated in the 2020 election — access to county election systems. Jurors found Peters guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with Colorado's Secretary of State. Since her charges were in state court, Mr. Trump is unable to pardon her.
CTV News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Trump administration agrees to pay nearly US$5M to settle suit over Ashli Babbitt shooting in Capitol
Micki Witthoeft, center, mother of Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by police inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, joins protesters outside of the Supreme Court on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, assault on the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Passerby Spits on Failed Trump Nominee During Wild TV Interview
It was a tough day to be Ed Martin. The Trump-loving lawyer got spat on by a passerby just hours after President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of his nomination for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin was being interviewed by Newsmax Thursday afternoon about his failed nomination when a woman came up to him and got aggressive. A clip of the wild interaction showed that Martin was in the middle of speaking to a Newsmax correspondent when someone exclaimed 'who the f--k are you?' off camera. 'You are Ed Martin,' a woman said as she entered the frame. 'How you doing?' Martin began to say, but the woman quickly spat on him and walked away with her dog in tow. 'You are a disgusting man,' she added. Martin was left speechless and quickly stepped off camera. The Briefing anchor Ed Henry described the passerby as a 'crazed leftist.' Rob Schmitt, another Newsmax host, called the woman 'a psychotic lib' in a post on X. 'Hope she's ready for a nice stretch in jail,' he said. Martin, a longtime MAGA fanatic who represented Jan. 6 Capitol rioters in court, had been serving as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia since Trump assumed office in January. He was soon hounded by controversy over his praise of a Nazi sympathizer and his numerous appearances—over 150 times—on Russian state media. Martin appeared set to breeze through the nomination process until Sen. Thom Tillis, a member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, declined to endorse him over his role in the Stop the Steal movement that sought to overturn former President Joe Biden's election victory in 2020. 'I have no tolerance for anyone who entered the building on Jan. 6, and that's probably where most of the friction was,' Tillis told reporters on Tuesday. 'At this point, I've indicated to the White House I wouldn't support his nomination.' 'He wasn't getting the support from people,' Trump said of Martin on Thursday. 'To me, it was disappointing, I'll be honest… That's just how it goes sometimes.' The president later announced his intention to nominate Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, former district attorney for New York's Westchester County, to the role. Martin, in turn, would be named director of the Weaponization Working Group at the Justice Department instead. 'Ed Martin has done an AMAZING job as interim U.S. Attorney,' Trump said on Truth Social. 'In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ed Martin Called Jan. 6 ‘Mardi Gras.' Now He's Trying to Put a Guy in Jail for a Nonviolent Protest.
Donald Trump's Justice Department is trying to jail a guy for trespassing on federal property in order to mount an illegal protest — a nonviolent version of what the president pardoned 1,500 people for doing. And the case is being handled by the office of interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, the Trump ally who once represented Jan. 6 defendants and described the day as 'Mardi Gras in D.C.' On taking office, Martin summarily demoted veteran prosecutors who pursued Jan. 6 cases, part of a controversial record that this week has suddenly put his nomination in jeopardy. Now this little-noticed prosecution looks likely to become a test of whether Trump's pardons have created new legal defenses for people who get arrested at Washington demonstrations. I spoke to a half-dozen lawyers who have worked both sides of protest arrests and they all said the legacy of Jan. 6 is likely to shape future proceedings, either in court or in the minds of jurors. The defendant's own attorney, Robert Haferd, signaled the strategy when he said in an interview: 'Why is this harmless, conscientious, respectful, nonviolent, organized demonstration being prosecuted seeking a conviction when, on the other hand, other violent, disgraceful mob-style vigilantism is being pardoned?' Indeed, when marauding rioters get off scot free, it has a way of changing the culture for everyone. The specifics of the case are laughably mild: According to charging documents, a longtime activist named Adam Eidinger was among a group that went to the front steps of the National Archives on Jan. 10, climbed ladders to the top of its Corinthian columns and raised a 40-foot banner urging then-President Joe Biden to recognize the Equal Rights Amendment. After police arrived, six demonstrators were arrested for unlawful entry, similar to the charge that faced 95 percent of Jan. 6 participants. The arrests happened without incident; the activists never went inside the building. 'I followed all orders' from law enforcement, Eidinger told me. There were no tasers, bear-spray canisters or purloined metal barriers involved. In a Washington still haunted by images of a frenzied pro-Trump mob beating up cops and trashing the Capitol, this isn't exactly the stuff of nightmares. In short order, the offending banner was gone, the original one was back and there was no indication that anything had happened. If Jan. 6 was Mardi Gras, the Archives incident was a sleepy Sunday morning in Lent. And yet Eidinger, unlike the pardoned mob that stormed the Capitol, still faces the possibility of jail time for this much more sedate stunt just a few blocks away. In February, Martin's office let the other arrestees take deferred-prosecution deals that should lead to dropped charges, a common outcome for arrests at demonstrations. Eidinger, with a record of left-wing protests and civil-disobedience arrests, didn't get the deal. He goes to trial in October. 'It doesn't seem fair on multiple levels,' Eidinger told me. 'I'm a peaceful demonstrator, I haven't been violent ever, and I wasn't even the one hanging the banner. Just because you're in the presence of a demonstration doesn't mean you're criminally liable for what others are doing. I find it ironic that the guy who made the same argument on behalf of so many people is now pursuing the case against me.' The U.S. Attorney's office declined comment about Eidinger's case and whether Martin's Jan. 6 record could imperil a prosecution. The office may have bigger concerns at the moment: Martin, who is serving in an interim capacity, must be confirmed by the Senate before May 20. His prospects have suddenly become iffy, with Democrats demanding a hearing in order to ask about an array of controversies that have dogged the prosecutor's brief tenure. Though Trump on Monday made a lengthy Truth Social post lobbying for Martin, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Tuesday announced that he would not vote to confirm the nominee, citing Jan 6. In fact, the question of how the Jan. 6 pardons affect criminal prosecutions is going to be with us for a while, and not just in cases involving people like Eidinger, a relentless activist who over the years has thrown himself into issues ranging from decriminalizing marijuana to blocking public stadium funding. Since the dawn of the republic, people have made their way to Washington to protest. And some portion of those people have gotten themselves arrested. The charges often get dropped, but for those who actually face trial, the pardons are going to be an awfully useful rhetorical device. 'There are those in higher levels of law enforcement authority who are celebrating and countenancing and supporting a violent attack on the Capitol, and have no problem with that, and yet wish to bring the entire force of the state to bear on nonviolent protesters,' said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a longtime lawyer for free-speech causes and activists in Washington. 'I think people would use it to show the nature of the prosecution, that it's an ideological prosecution." Alyse Adamson, a former D.C. prosecutor, said she expected that prosecutors would try to keep Jan. 6 from coming up in a trial, raising objections that invoking the assault could inflame the jury's emotions. But she said that defense attorneys would still lean heavily on it in pretrial motions, perhaps by noting the administration's warm treatment of the rioters. 'I would say, 'Your honor … why is my client not being treated the same?'' Even if a judge puts the kibosh on courtroom invocations of the insurrection, it's pretty hard to erase memories of that day. A savvy lawyer can conjure them without overtly discussing Trump's pardons or the U.S. Attorney's praise of Jan. 6. 'There are ways to present this case that will allow the jury to see those parallels,' Adamson said. 'They can say, 'What my client did is nonviolent,' without even having to mention Ed Martin. If a skillful defense attorney finds a way to powerfully contextualize what his guy did, it could invite jury nullification.' As a veteran of the office Martin now runs, Adamson views jury nullification as a terrible outcome. But it may be an inevitable byproduct of the administration's Jan 6 actions. To use a phrase once favored by law-and-order pols, we've defined deviancy down. That'll make it hard to bust others for anything similar. And it'll make it especially hard to convict them for something so much less frightening, like helping hang an ERA banner at the Archives. So far, there aren't a lot of test cases. D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department estimates that only a couple of dozen people have been arrested at protests this year; the U.S. Capitol Police says there are a few hundred protest arrests annually, usually for the charge of 'crowding, obstructing and incommoding.' Most of those cases, including last week's arrest of activist minister William Barber during a 'Moral Monday' protest that blocked the Rotunda, wind up with a 'post and forfeit' situation. That's the equivalent of a ticket with no further proceedings. As for Eidinger, he said he would have taken the deferred-prosecution deal given to his compatriots. And he said he's not looking forward to the six months of jail time he could face in the event that he's convicted by a jury. But he did say he was happy with how the protest turned out. Soon afterward, Biden announced that he agreed that the ERA had indeed been legitimately ratified by enough states to become the 28th Amendment. Of course, a couple days after that, the Trump administration was in office, and it doesn't agree with the interpretation. The matter will likely be settled by a court. Ironically, Martin himself got his political start as a close aide to conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, who rose to fame in the 1970s as the face of opposition to the very same amendment. 'I have never been involved in a demonstration that had such a response from the White House,' Eidinger said. 'It's taken over 100 years to get this amendment in. We're part of the story now.'
CBS News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Ed Martin's judicial nomination may be at risk as Tillis says he'll vote against him
The nomination of Ed Martin, President Trump's controversial pick to be the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, may be in jeopardy as the "Stop the Steal" advocate who backed Jan. 6 rioters struggles to find sufficient Republican support in the Senate. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Tuesday that he won't support Martin's nomination. And with that, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Martin's nomination may not make it out of the judiciary panel for a floor vote. The committee has 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats, meaning that if everyone votes along party lines and Republicans lose no one else, Martin's nomination would end in a tie. "I think that would suggest that he's not probably going to get out of committee," Thune told reporters Tuesday. Tillis told reporters that he "indicated to the White House I wouldn't support his nomination." "Most of my concerns are related to Jan. 6," Tillis told reporters, adding he has "no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on Jan. 6, and that's probably where most of the friction was." "If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any district except the district where January 6 happened, the protests happened, I'd probably support him," Tillis said. Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, said the "writing's on the wall" for Martin. President Trump nominated Martin to run the office that prosecuted more than 1,500 Capitol defendants, although Martin previously worked to defend some of those very same people. Martin has been serving as the District's top prosecutor in an acting capacity since Inauguration Day. Martin has said he shares Mr. Trump's view of the Capitol attack as a "day of love," and he has already fired some of the prosecutors who handled Jan. 6 cases. Martin's term as interim U.S. attorney expires May 20. Asked by reporters at his weekly news conference later Tuesday whether he would move to discharge Martin from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thune said, "we will cross that bridge if and when we come to it, but it's ultimately going to be a decision that the Judiciary Committee makes first." and contributed to this report.
