(WASHINGTON) — A day after the Justice Department withdrew a sentencing memo that described the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as being carried out by “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters,” the convicted Jan. 6 participant accused in the case is scheduled to appear at a sentencing hearing Thursday.
Federal prosecutors Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White were informed Wednesday that they would be put on leave after filing the memo in the case of Taylor Taranto, who was convicted on firearms and threat charges related to a June 2023 arrest near the home of former President Barack Obama, after Taranto was pardoned by President Donald Trump over his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
“On January 6, 2021, thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol while a joint session of Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election,” the prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum said. “Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building.”
The memo also detailed how Taranto traveled to former President Obama’s home only after a Truth Social post from then-former President Trump that included Obama’s address.
It’s unclear if Valdivia or White were given a reason for their suspensions, though the moves come following months of turmoil in the Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney’s office where multiple career prosecutors faced removals or demotions related to their involvement in prosecuting the more than 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
Late Wednesday, the Justice Department, in a highly unusual move, withdraw the original sentencing memo and replaced it with one in which the references to Jan. 6 and Trump’s Truth social account were eliminated.
Taranto was scheduled to appear at Thursday’s sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump-appointed judge who has described the Jan. 6 attack in serious terms.
Following Trump’s reelection victory in November, Judge Nichols said it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if Trump were to pardon Jan. 6 defendants.
Trump subsequently granted sweeping pardons and commutations to all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office.
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