Former Jan. 6 prosecutor warns Trump's pardons could encourage future political violence

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Romano spent much than 17 years astatine the Justice Department, yet becoming a supervisor connected the squad that would prosecute much than 1,500 radical charged successful the onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol.

The infinitesimal helium watched the largest probe successful section past get wiped distant with the changeable of a pen — connected President Donald Trump's archetypal time backmost successful the White House — Romano knew helium had to leave.

“I knew connected January 20th, erstwhile the pardons were announced, that I needed to find my mode out," Romano said successful an interrogation with The Associated Press weeks aft his resignation from the Justice Department. “It would beryllium untenable for maine to stay, fixed the pardons and fixed the mendacious narratives that were being dispersed astir January 6."

Now, Romano says helium fears Trump’s determination to pardon adjacent the astir convulsive rioters — whom his ain vice president erstwhile said “obviously” shouldn’t beryllium pardoned — could embolden right-wing extremists and promote aboriginal governmental violence.

“The mode that the pardons person been received by the January 6th defendants and by different right-wing extremists, arsenic I recognize it, is to admit that if you enactment the president and if you perpetrate unit successful enactment of the president, that helium mightiness insulate you from the consequences, that helium mightiness support you from the transgression justness system,” Romano said. “And truthful that mightiness promote radical to perpetrate these benignant of acts.”

Romano is among dozens of Justice Department lawyers who person resigned, been pushed retired oregon fired successful the weeks since Trump's caller enactment has taken implicit and begun making sweeping changes to align the instrumentality enforcement bureau with the priorities of the Republican president whom the section erstwhile prosecuted.

Trump's instrumentality to the White House has ushered successful a dizzying alteration for galore successful the Justice Department, but possibly fewer person felt it much than the lawyers who spent years moving connected the largest-scale superior onslaught connected the Capitol since the warfare of 1812.

As a lawman main of the now-disbanded Capitol Siege Section that prosecuted the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, Romano had a close-up presumption of the evidence, including harrowing videos and tribunal grounds detailing the unit that unfolded erstwhile the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol arsenic lawmakers met to certify erstwhile President Joe Biden's 2020 victory.

Romano joined the Justice Department successful 2007 consecutive retired of instrumentality school, and was moving successful the conception successful Washington that handles nationalist corruption cases connected Jan. 6, 2021. He recalled watching the riot unfold connected television, and rapidly deciding helium wanted to assistance with the prosecution of what helium described arsenic a “crime of historical proportions.”

Trump’s pardons cemented the president's yearslong run to rewrite the past of the Jan. 6 attack.

While vying to instrumentality to the White House, Trump repeatedly downplayed the unit that near much than 100 constabulary officers injured, and lauded the rioters arsenic patriots and hostages whom helium contended were unfairly persecuted by the Justice Department for their governmental beliefs. Only 2 Capitol riot defendants were acquitted of each charges, which Trump supporters cited arsenic grounds that Washington juries can’t beryllium just and impartial. Some Jan. 6 defendants are present considering moving for office.

The scope of Trump's clemency hours aft the inauguration came arsenic a astonishment to many, considering the president had suggested successful the weeks anterior that alternatively of broad pardons, helium would look astatine the Jan. 6 defendants connected a case-by-case basis. Trump's proclamation described the prosecution arsenic “a sedate nationalist injustice" and declared that the pardons would statesman “a process of nationalist reconciliation.”

Trump's pardons led to the merchandise from situation of the leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating convulsive plots to halt the peaceful transportation of powerfulness arsenic good arsenic rioters convicted of brutal attacks connected constabulary — galore of whose crimes were captured connected camera and broadcast connected unrecorded TV. Trump has defended his pardons, saying the sentences handed down for actions that time were “ridiculous and excessive" and that “these are radical who really emotion our country.”

Romano said the conception that the Jan. 6 defendants were not treated reasonably by successful the justness strategy oregon not fixed the owed process they were entitled is “simply not true.” In galore cases, helium said prosecutors had overwhelming grounds due to the fact that the defendants “filmed themselves proudly committing crimes.”

“They had the afloat extortion of rights guaranteed to them by the American justness strategy and the Constitution," Romano said. “It was my acquisition erstwhile dealing with these cases and seeing the mode that the rioters and immoderate of their attorneys behaved successful court, that their instrumentality was that they should beryllium treated similar heroes and not prosecuted astatine all.”

Despite the pardons, Romano said helium inactive believes that the Capitol Siege Section's enactment was important due to the fact that it near down a “historical record” of what happened connected Jan. 6 that cannot beryllium changed.

“In airy of the efforts to whitewash the past of that day, successful airy of the efforts for radical to prevarication astir that time for their ain benefit, which is what’s happening, it’s important that radical truly recognize the information astir what happened connected January 6th,” helium said.