A judge has agreed to dismiss election interference charges against Donald Trump, allowing the rioters convicted on January 6th to travel to Washington, D.C., for the president-elect's upcoming inauguration.
Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday approved Eric Peterson's request to return to the Capitol for the Jan. 20 inauguration. Despite pleading guilty to joining a group of rebels who infiltrated the country. Court records from June 2021 show.
Peterson, a Kansas City, Missouri, resident, military veteran, and business owner, pleaded guilty on Nov. 1 to entering or leaving a restricted building or grounds and faces up to one year in prison at his Jan. 27 sentencing. He will be punished.
Peterson will remain free without bail until his sentencing, but until then he must follow certain other rules, including limits on the distance he can travel. D.C. is outside of those limits, so they needed special permission from a judge to travel that far.
The inauguration is a ticketed event, but those without tickets typically gather on the nearby National Mall to watch the ceremony on at least one Jumbotron.
Mr. Peterson's attorney, Michael Bullotta, last week pointed out that Mr. Peterson had not been charged with violence or property damage during the eight minutes inside the Capitol, and asked Mr. Chutkan to attend his client's celebration. requested permission to attend. The attorney argued that his client had no knowledge at the time that the other person was assaulting him or causing property damage.
Mr. Bullotta also said that Mr. Peterson's sentence is “likely to be invalidated” because the incoming Trump administration has already announced plans to pardon all of the Capitol rioters, court documents said.
Prosecutors did not file documents opposing Peterson's request.
Federal authorities allege that Peterson traveled to Washington, D.C., that day to participate in a “Stop the Steal” rally protesting Trump's loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. There is.
Federal authorities said Peterson eventually entered the Capitol and entered a restricted area on the east side of the Capitol. He then allegedly stood outside the Rotunda until a nearby mob burst inside, shouting “This is our home!”
Peterson then went inside with others and “walked right past a police officer stationed at the door…Peterson indicated that the building was cordoned off and that he did not have permission to be there.” knew,” court documents allege. Surveillance camera footage showed him wearing a bright pink shirt.
At least two other rioters who committed more serious crimes have made similar requests to attend the inauguration, but prosecutors are fighting those requests and judges in those cases have yet to decide. I haven't put it down. According to a report in Law & Crime.
On November 25, Chutkan dismissed charges that Trump interfered with the 2020 election results. Special Counsel Jack Smith had asked that the case be thrown out after Trump's reelection because the president would be immune from federal prosecution.
A separate federal lawsuit accusing Trump of storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago was dismissed earlier this year.
Trump has two other charges pending in New York and Georgia courts, the latter of which recently resulted in a Georgia court dismissing Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis and her office. I prosecuted the case and won.
But Manhattan Judge Juan Marchan last week rejected Trump's bid to throw out the hush money conviction based on presidential immunity. Judgments in the case have stalled since Trump's election victory.
Mr. Bullotta and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment Monday.
