Latest news with #StewartRhodes
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump's pardon attorney considers full clemency for Oath Keepers and founder Stewart Rhodes over Jan. 6 crimes
The man Donald Trump appointed to review pardon requests at the Department of Justice is already reviewing full clemency for Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia group who was convicted of treason-related charges in connection with the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin recently met with lawyer Peter Ticktin, who delivered 11 pardon applications — including one for Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison in connection with the Capitol assault. Hours after taking office, Trump commuted his sentence, along with the sentences of 13 other Capitol rioters, including Oath Keepers and Proud Boys members who were similarly convicted. Rhodes was released from prison hours later. Martin, a prominent 'Stop the Steal' activist who defended Jan. 6 defendants, was briefly Trump's top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., tasked with running the office that handled those prosecutions. Trump recently withdrew his name for consideration for the role and instead installed him as the pardon chief and head of the Justice Department's 'Weaponization Working Group.' According to Politico, the renewed effort to fully pardon Rhodes and other Jan. 6 offenders was arranged by Ticktin and Treniss Evans, who help run the right-wing nonprofit legal group American Rights Alliance. Proud Boys members Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl are also seeking full pardons through Ticktin and Evans. 'I know Ed Martin and I felt it was important to bring these particular applications to his attention,' Ticktin told Politico, which first reported the pardon requests. 'I listened! Cuz he's wise,' Martin said about the meeting. The Independent has requested comment from Ticktin and the White House. A fresh round of pardon requests from defendants charged with the most serious crimes surrounding the attack will now head to White House pardon czar Alice Johnson. Trump is meanwhile expected to issue pardons for reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud and sentenced to several years in prison. The president also recently pardoned Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes. The pardon was issued one month after Walczak's mother attended a Mar-a-Lago fundraising dinner charging $1 million per person. The president has pardoned nearly 1,600 defendants charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol. Rhodes and his allies spent weeks discussing a violent response to the 2020 election on encrypted messaging apps, then organized a weapons and supply cache at a nearby hotel before joining the mob. After several members breached the Capitol, shouting 'this is our f*****g house' and 'we took the f*****g Capitol,' Rhodes hailed them as 'patriots.' He told an ally that his only regret that day was that the group wasn't armed. Rhodes did not enter the building. Days after Jan. 6, Rhodes typed a message intended for then-President Trump, calling on him to 'save the republic' or 'die in prison.' That message was ultimately never delivered, but it echoed another message published on the Oath Keepers website weeks earlier, urging Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and deputize Rhodes and the Oath Keepers to take up arms. 'It's better to wage it with you as Commander-in-Chief than to have you comply with a fraudulent election, leave office, and leave the White House in the hands of illegitimate usurpers and Chinese puppets,' Rhodes wrote at the time. He followed up with another message demanding that Trump deliver a 'crushing blow' to his enemies 'while they sleep, wrapped in their arrogance.' Rhodes also instructed his allies to 'get gear squared away and ready to fight,' adding that 'Trump has one last chance right now to stand but he will need us and our rifles too.' More than 1,000 Jan. 6 defendants pleaded guilty. More than 200 people were found guilty at trial — including 10 defendants like Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Judges who presided over Jan. 6 cases have barely hidden their contempt for Trump's sweeping pardons for virtually every member of the mob — and have issued stark warnings against attempts to rewrite the history of the attack. Last year, the federal judge who presided over Rhodes's case said the prospect of a pardon for his crimes 'is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country.' 'You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and its democracy and the very fabric of this country,' District Judge Amit Mehta told Rhodes during his sentencing hearing in 2023. 'You are smart, you are compelling, and you are charismatic. Frankly, that is what makes you dangerous.' District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over Trump's federal election interference case, wrote that Trump's pardons 'cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake.'
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Trump's pardon chief reveals who could get clemency next after Todd and Julie Chrisley: Live updates
Donald Trump 's new pardon chief Ed Martin had a busy first few days on the job helping the president issue clemency for individuals in high profile convictions. Martin personally reviewed a pardon application for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and is considering wiping clean the record of this controversial figure, according to multiple reports. Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy for helping organize the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. He was sentenced top 18 years in prison. Trump said on Tuesday he would pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were sentenced in 2022 for submitting false documents in a conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Justice Department pardon attorney's first recommendation was successful on Monday when the president said he would pardon former Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of corruption charges and set to start his 10-year sentence this week. Peter Ticktin, a lawyer and former classmate of Trump's at the New York Military Academy, delivered 11 pardon applications to Martin last Thursday – including the one for Rhodes.
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.
