Trump's J6 Pardons Reward Political Violence!

In this episode of Justice Matters, host Glenn Kirschner sits down with former federal prosecutor Greg Rosen, chief of the Capitol Siege Unit at the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office, to examine the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol attack and the sweeping pardons issued by the current administration. Rosen recounts the unprecedented scale of the criminal investigations and prosecutions that followed the attack, including over 1,600 defendants charged, nearly all of whom were convicted or pleaded guilty. He emphasizes the immense effort required to build the legal case in real time—'building the airplane as you were flying'—and expresses deep personal and professional anguish over the pardons that erased those convictions. He highlights the particularly damaging impact on law enforcement officers like Aquilino Gonel, who received repeated notifications of released attackers. The episode also exposes a wave of retaliation against prosecutors who worked on the January 6th cases, with many demoted or terminated for doing their jobs. Rosen condemns the Department of Justice’s recent motion to dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, calling it an unprecedented and unjust erosion of justice. He warns that such actions send a dangerous message: political violence can be rewarded, and accountability is negotiable.