The Justice Department is placing two federal prosecutors on administrative leave after they described the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as an attack carried out by “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters,” according to multiple reports.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White said Wednesday that they were locked out of their government devices and told they’d be placed on leave, according to ABC, who first reported on the matter. It’s unclear if the Justice Department gave the prosecutors an explanation for their suspensions.
The attorneys said they were informed of the decision just hours after they filed a 14-page sentencing memorandum in the case of Taylor Taranto, one of many Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by President Donald Trump. The memorandum concerned a separate conviction on firearms and threat charges related to Taranto’s June 2023 arrest near former President Barack Obama’s home.
“On Jan. 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 memo read. “Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building. After the riot, Taranto returned to his home in the State of Washington, where he promoted conspiracy theories about the events of Jan. 6, 2021.”
