Federal Judge Reverses Ruling Barring Pardoned J6ers From Entering DC
A federal judge on Monday reversed his prior order restricting Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and seven other group members from entering Washington, D.C., without court approval. This decision follows President Trump’s commutation of their sentences for their roles in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee who oversaw the Oath Keepers conspiracy trials, vacated the restriction, citing that altering their original sentences “post-commutation” would be “improper.”
“It is not for this court to speculate on President Trump’s reasoning for commuting Defendants’ sentences, nor to judge the wisdom of his decision,” Mehta wrote in his ruling. While denying the Justice Department’s request to entirely “dismiss” the supervised release terms, he acknowledged that the commutations nullify enforcement of those conditions. “The court’s sole responsibility is to determine the legal impact of the commutations,” he added.
“The U.S. Department of Justice’s motion is granted in part and denied in part,” Mehta wrote. “The court will not ‘dismiss’ the non-custodial portions of the sentences, but defendants are no longer subject to the court-imposed supervised release conditions.”
This reversal comes just days after Mehta had imposed the restriction on “Defendants Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerchel, and Joseph Hacket,” whose sentences were commuted. Those who received full pardons were not affected by the order, according to Fox News.
The order stated, “You must not knowingly enter the District of Columbia without first obtaining the permission from the Court,” adding, “You must not knowingly enter the United States Capitol Building or onto surrounding grounds known as Capitol Square.”
Jonathan Turley, a contributor for Fox News and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, described the order as “very unusual” when it was issued last week.
“The judge is relying on the fact that the sentences were commuted, but the defendants did not receive full pardons,” Turley told the outlet. Trump pardoned nearly all defendants from January 6 earlier this week after promising to do so during his inaugural parade.
Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of conspiring to use force to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, The Hill reported.
Mehta noted that following Trump’s commutations, it appeared those involved would comply with the terms of supervised release. He pointed to Rhodes’s public statement that he would “report to [his] probation officer” after being released from prison.
Although stay-away conditions were not originally included in the sentences for Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers members, Mehta said he consulted with the probation office, which confirmed that adding such an order would be appropriate.
However, Trump’s Justice Department swiftly opposed the order, arguing that the terms of supervised release fell under the scope of Trump’s commutations and requesting Mehta dismiss the added conditions.
“If a judge decided that Jim Biden, General Mark Milley, or another individual were forbidden to visit America’s capital — even after receiving a last-minute, preemptive pardon from the former President — I believe most Americans would object,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin said in a statement. “The individuals referenced in our motion have had their sentences commuted — period, end of sentence.”
Trump commuted the sentences of 14 Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders to time served, The Hill noted.
“The unconditional quality of President Trump’s Proclamation thus can reasonably be read to extinguish enforcement of Defendants’ terms of supervised release,” Mehta wrote.
Trump has been widely criticized by Democrats and some Republicans for his near-blanket pardon of J6 defendants. But Biden was also blasted for his raft of last-minute pre-emptive pardons for members of the January 6 Committee and his family, as well as commuting the death sentences of most federal prisoners currently on death row.