WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case condemned efforts Friday to rewrite the history of the attack on the U.S. Capitol as she handed down what she said could be the final punishment for the January 6 riots imposed promised pardons by the Republican president-elect.
At the courthouse within sight of the Capitol a few days before Trump’s inauguration, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan acknowledged that the Virginia man she sentenced may never actually serve his 10-day sentence for his role in the riots. But Chutkan said she would not allow talks about pardons to influence decisions in her courtroom, telling the defendant: “There must be consequences.”
“I just wish the rest of the country could see what I saw,” Chutkan said before sentencing Brian Leo Kelly, who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. She dismissed the portrayal of the rioters as peaceful protesters as “nonsense,” arguing that even those who did not participate in violence and destruction were part of the effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
“I know what happened,” said Chutkan, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama. “I can’t say it won’t happen again.”
In the weeks since Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, the judges overseeing the more than 1,500 criminal cases against the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol have continued to accept guilty pleas, preside over plea bargains and impose sentences, even as some judges hinted they might not The fact is that the largest prosecution in the history of the Justice Department is likely coming to an abrupt end.
Nearly 1,300 of the defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials by a judge or jury of charges including seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers with threatening weapons. Over 1,000 of them were convicted, and around two thirds received prison sentences ranging from several days to 22 years.
Trump has called the rioters “patriots” and “hostages” and claimed they were treated unfairly by the same Justice Department that charged him in two cases that have since been dropped.
Trump has repeatedly tried to downplay the violence caught on camera as members of the enraged mob pushed past police lines, smashed windows and attacked police with flagpoles and other makeshift weapons as Congress met to celebrate Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory to be confirmed in 2020.
However, the scope of possible pardons for the January 6 defendants remains unclear. Trump has said he will consider defendants on a case-by-case basis, but he has not explained how he will decide who gets such relief. Vice President-elect JD Vance recently said, “If you committed violence that day, of course you shouldn’t be pardoned.” But he later added that there was a “bit of a gray area” in some cases.
Prosecutors said Friday that several convictions took place on Jan. 6, when Chutkan led the case against Kelly, who was inside the Capitol for about 36 minutes while ignoring police orders to leave the building. Kelly, 57, of Fairfax Station, Virginia, captured images of the riot on his cellphone and “viewed the events unfolding as a spectacle,” prosecutors said.
Kelley’s attorney noted in court papers that his client was not involved in any violence or destruction and recognized “the gravity of the situation as soon as he entered the Rotunda.” Kelly told Chutkan he was only there to support Trump – not to (*6*)
In another case in the courtroom next door, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta handed down a one-year prison sentence to the Oath Keepers’ former general counsel and a close associate of the far-right group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes. Kelley SoRelle, 45, of Granbury, Texas, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for encouraging others to destroy electronic evidence.
SoRelle was photographed outside the Capitol with Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in what prosecutors described as a violent plot to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. During the uprising, SoRelle posted a chat message for other Oath Keepers that said, “We are acting like the Founding Fathers – we can’t step down.” Per Stewart, and I agree.”
SoRelle’s case remained on hold for months amid questions about her mental health. She described suffering from delusions before she was admitted to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in November 2023 for a competency evaluation and released several months later.
In a tearful statement to the judge, SoRelle said she deeply regretted her association with Rhodes and the Oath Keepers and opposed anything other than adherence to the “peaceful electoral process.”
Mehta, another Obama nominee, described SoRelle’s actions as an attempt to cover up “the most serious behavior Americans can commit: sedition.” Mehta did not mention the possible pardons under the Trump administration. However, the judge said he hoped the events of Jan. 6 would not be forgotten “any time soon.”
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