Jan. 6 defendants, supporters welcome news of pardons
At a Washington, D.C. detention facility Jan. 6 defendants and supporters welcomed the news of pardons from President Trump while experts worry about criminal histories.
WASHINGTON April 4 (Reuters) – Washington, D.C.’s, top federal prosecutor announced on Friday that he is launching investigations into whether people improperly leaked information about the prosecutions of President Donald Trump’s supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin said in an email seen by Reuters that the alleged leaks to the media about evidence in the criminal cases “damaged the parties, witnesses, and LEOs,” referring to law enforcement officers.
“All of this was used by the media and partisans as misinformation,” Martin added. “It was bad all around.”
A spokesperson for Martin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Martin’s email did not provide any examples or evidence of any specific leaks.
Martin, a key Trump alley who repeated the president’s false claims of election fraud in 2020, has admitted to being on Capitol grounds on the day of the riots.
The office he now leads prosecuted some 1,600 of Trump’s supporters who stormed the building in a failed bid to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump granted clemency to all of them on his first day in office.
Martin has moved to align his office with the White House in ways that are unusual for U.S. attorneys, who traditionally work with some degree of independence.
He has used his personal X account to make statements about criminal investigations and to promise that his office would investigate “targeting” of people working for Elon Musk in overhauling the federal government.