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pam bondi
DOJ Suspends Prosecutors Who Accurately Described January 6 as a ‘Riot’ by a ‘Mob’
"The Trump administration is explicitly pro-January 6," wrote one critic. "You can get suspended from your job as a federal prosecutor for even acknowledging that there was a riot at the Capitol."
Oct 29, 2025
In the Trump administration's latest attempt to rewrite the history of the January 6, 2021 insurrection attempt at the US Capitol, the Department of Justice has suspended a pair of federal prosecutors who referred to the attack as a "riot" carried out by a "mob."
The Washington Post reported that assistant US attorneys Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White were told they were suspended on Wednesday, "hours" after filing a sentencing recommendation against Taylor Taranto, a Washington state man accused of participating in the attack on the Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of President Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election.
Taranto allegedly entered the building and fought with Metro police officers as they tried to control the crowd, as well as other riot participants.
The case was not related to Taranto's actions at the Capitol in 2021—the charges against him were dropped after Trump issued blanket pardons to more than 1,500 people who took part in the riot.
Taranto was instead being sentenced for a "hoax" he perpetrated when he returned to Washington, DC two years later: He livestreamed himself making threats to several high-profile individuals, including former President Barack Obama, whose address he'd driven to after Trump had posted it to social media. He claimed—falsely, it turned out—that he'd outfitted his van with a car bomb that he planned to detonate outside the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The sentencing document recommended that Taranto serve a 27-month sentence. However, what appears to have drawn the ire of the DOJ and led to the suspension of the prosecutors is how the document referred to the events at the Capitol, which it mentioned in passing as part of the case's factual background:
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. Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, DC, by entering the US Capitol Building. After the riot, Taranto returned to his home in the state of Washington, where he promoted conspiracy theories about the events of January 6, 2021.
As Politico reporter Kyle Cheney noted on social media, this description of the events of January 6 is "flatly accurate." Numerous pieces of video evidence show rioters using physical force and violence in an attempt to occupy the Capitol building.
As the New York Times described at the time, it was "perhaps the most widely documented act of political violence in history." Participants were recorded bashing through doors and windows. They were shown beating police officers with objects from flagpoles to fire extinguishers and attacking them with chemical irritants. They were also heard chanting for the execution of members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence, who'd refused to take part in Trump's effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
A report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office released in 2023 found that the attack resulted in the injury of 174 law enforcement officers, while DOJ and Capitol administrators say it required over $3 million worth of cleanup and repairs.
According to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, White and Valdivia's description of these events as a "riot" and its participants as a "mob" resulted in their near immediate punishment.
They were told they were being furloughed due to the government shutdown and would be placed on administrative leave once it ended. According to ABC News, the pair of prosecutors was also locked out of their government-issued devices.
Notably, Trump's own handpicked US Attorney, Jeanine Pirro—a former Fox News host renowned for her undying loyalty to the president—also signed off on the document. However, unlike White and Valdivia, she has not reportedly received any punishment.
The DOJ has not issued a public comment on the decision, and it remains unclear whether the suspension of White and Valdivia will affect Taranto's sentencing. But it's not the first time the DOJ, headed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has sought to punish those who prosecuted January 6 insurrectionists.
Dozens of the top prosecutors and FBI investigators who worked on cases against January 6 defendants and against Trump for inciting them have been fired.
Early in Trump's second term, the DOJ also demanded that the FBI turn over the identities of the more than 6,000 agents and other employees involved in investigating the attack. After Brian Driscoll, then the acting FBI director, attempted to resist the order, he was pushed out, and the identifying info was handed over.
Trump, meanwhile, has openly embraced the insurrectionists, describing them as "patriots," and attempted to push false theories attesting to their innocence—including that hundreds of agents placed by the "Biden FBI" started the insurrection, a claim that his own FBI director, Kash Patel, would refute.
On Wednesday, just hours before news broke of White and Valdivia's suspensions, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the "thugs" at the FBI who investigated Republican lawmakers over their roles in allegedly supporting the insurrection "should all be investigated and put in jail" and called Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who investigated the case against him for inciting the mob, "deranged" and "a criminal."
"The Trump administration is explicitly pro-January 6," wrote Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, on social media. "You can get suspended from your job as a federal prosecutor for even acknowledging that there was a riot at the Capitol."
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As Trump Weaponizes DOJ, NJ and California Poll Monitoring Called Election Interference
"Deploying these federal forces appears to be an intimidation tactic meant for one thing: Suppress the vote," said California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Oct 24, 2025
With a majority of Americans now recognizing that President Donald Trump is weaponizing the US Department of Justice, the DOJ's Friday announcement that it will send election monitors to California and New Jersey is generating alarm.
Republicans in both states had written to the DOJ, requesting monitors for the November 4 general elections in which Californians will vote on Proposition 50, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's answer to Trump's mid-decade gerrymandering in GOP-led states, and New Jersey residents will pick their next governor.
While the DOJ's statement noted that its Civil Rights Division "regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities across the country," and US Attorney General Pam Bondi insisted that her department "is committed to upholding the highest standards of election integrity," legal experts have accused the Trump appointee of "serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice."
The head of the Civil Rights Division, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, has also faced scrutiny, including for gutting the Voting Section—which, as the DOJ pointed out Friday, "enforces various federal statutes that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and the Civil Rights Acts."
This DOJ deployment of poll watchers targets New Jersey's Passaic County and five California counties: Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside.
Newsom's office said on social media Friday that "this is not a federal election. The US DOJ has no business or basis to interfere with this election. This is solely about whether California amends our state Constitution. This administration has made no secret of its goal to undermine free and fair elections. Deploying these federal forces appears to be an intimidation tactic meant for one thing: Suppress the vote."
Rusty Hicks, chair of the state's Democratic Party, said that "no amount of election interference by the California Republican Party is going to silence the voices of California voters."
Democratic New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin was similarly critical, saying in a statement that "the Trump Department of Justice's announcement that it is sending federal 'election monitors' to Passaic County is highly inappropriate, and DOJ has not even attempted to identify a legitimate basis for its actions."
"The Constitution gives states, not the federal government, the primary responsibility for running elections, and our state's hardworking elections officials have been preparing for months to run a safe and secure election," he added. "We are committed to ensuring that every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot and make their voices heard."
Early voting in New Jersey begins Saturday. In the gubernatorial race, former Republican state legislator Jack Ciattarelli is facing Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. As the Associated Press pointed out earlier this month, "New Jersey is one of two states, along with Virginia, electing governors this fall—and the contests are widely seen as measures of how voters feel about Trump's second term and how Democrats are responding."
Democracy Docket reported Friday that "already in recent months, voting rights advocates and leading Democrats have warned that the administration is laying the groundwork to deploy troops or law enforcement to the polls in key cities next year and in 2028. Friday's announcement has intensified those fears."
After the DOJ's election monitoring announcement, journalist Keith Olbermann said on social media: "Trump has started his direct assault on local elections. This fascist interference must be prevented."
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Majority of Americans Agree Trump Is Weaponizing DOJ to Target Political Enemies
"The American people see exactly what's happening: Trump has corrupted the Department of Justice, turning it into his personal revenge machine," said the Not Above the Law coalition's co-chairs.
Oct 24, 2025
As President Donald Trump's ex-adviser John Bolton, former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, and Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James fight the various charges against them, polling published Thursday shows a majority of American adults think the Republican leader is using US law enforcement "to go after his enemies."
Reuters/Ipsos asked 4,385 adults on October 15-20 whether Trump was abusing federal law enforcement in this way. Fifty-five percent of all respondents said yes, including 85% of Democrats, 29% of Republicans, and 55% of adults who identified as "other." Just 26% of all respondents said no. The other 19% said they didn't know or skipped the question.
The Not Above the Law coalition's co-chairs—Praveen Fernandes of the Constitutional Accountability Center, Kelsey Herbert of MoveOn, Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen, and Brett Edkins of Stand Up America—have forcefully spoken out against Trump's abuse of the US Department of Justice (DOJ). They responded to the survey results in a statement.
"The American people see exactly what's happening: Trump has corrupted the Department of Justice, turning it into his personal revenge machine," they said. "When 55% of Americans—including 3 in 10 Republicans—recognize that the president is abusing law enforcement to prosecute his enemies, it's clear this isn't a partisan issue anymore. It's a threat to the rule of law that transcends party lines."
"The pattern is undeniable: James Comey, Letitia James, John Bolton—all Trump critics charged after he publicly demanded their prosecution. DOJ has been co-opted to serve the president, not the public," the co-chairs continued.
Trump-appointed US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the DOJ, and FBI Director Kash Patel, whose bureau is in the department, have both been accused of abusing their positions and politicizing their agencies for the president.
More than half of Americans, including about three in 10 Republicans, believe President Donald Trump is using federal law enforcement to go after his enemies, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.www.reuters.com/world/us/maj...
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— Brad Heath (@bradheath.bsky.social) October 23, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Comey pleaded not guilty earlier this month. His legal team is seeking the dismissal of charges stemming from his congressional testimony, arguing that the case is politically motivated and that Trump "defectively appointed" Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance lawyer, as interim US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
James—who successfully prosecuted Trump for financial crimes—pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud charges Friday morning, a day after her attorneys told the same court that she is also seeking to have her case dismissed and challenging "the unlawful appointment" of Halligan.
After James' Friday arraignment, Stand Up America executive director Christina Harvey said: "Let's be clear: The Department of Justice is targeting Attorney General James because she dared to hold Trump accountable and won. Meanwhile, the Department turns a blind eye as Trump and his cronies cash in on the presidency, even when they're caught red-handed taking $50,000 in exchange for promised government contracts."
"Trump is acting like a wannabe dictator—trying to jail his political enemies, defying the courts, and deploying the military against his own people. That’s not leadership, it's tyranny," Harvey stressed. "This isn't just about one case or one prosecutor. The weaponization of the justice system is a threat to every American. If Trump is allowed to abuse the DOJ to punish his critics, then no one is safe."
Halligan is not handling Bolton's Espionage Act case in Maryland, which began under the Biden administration. While he has also pleaded not guilty, experts have pointed out that, as University of Alabama law professor and former US attorney Joyce Vance put it, "instead of the factually deficient indictments we're seen in the other cases, this is the sort of detailed indictment we are used to seeing in a serious matter."
Regardless of how those cases play out, the coalition co-chairs said that "this poll confirms what we've been warning about: Trump's abuse of power is eroding faith in federal institutions as neutral enforcers of the law and deepening the divisions tearing our country apart. Trump's actions threaten the freedom and safety of all Americans."
The poll also found that Americans are increasingly concerned about "US political division and conflict"—43%, up from 39% two years ago. Additionally, 61% of respondents believe ongoing redistricting efforts aimed at next year's midterm elections are bad for democracy, and the same percentage said it is no longer possible to draw political maps fairly.
In addition to the DOJ prosecuting Trump's political enemies and Republican state lawmakers gerrymandering in the middle of the decade to appease him, the president has designated antifa—an anti-fascist movement with no central organizational structure or leaders—as a domestic terrorist group and, relatedly, issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7.
While dozens of congressional Democrats warned last week that "the sweeping language and broad authority in these directives pose serious constitutional, statutory, and civil liberties risks, especially if used to target political dissent, protest, or ideological speech," Congressman Lance Gooden (R-Texas) urged the DOJ to investigate the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) for "close ties with left-wing extremists and domestic terrorist organizations like antifa."
Responding on Thursday, the group said that "we all know that this is not the first time the NLG has faced political attacks from the US government. Since our founding in 1937, NLG members have been at the frontlines of defending those who challenge fascism and have been the target of state repression. This is a history we are proud of... The NLG will continue to speak out in support of activists and movements most targeted by state repression."
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