Judge sentences former Jan. 6 defendant for hoax threat near Obama’s home : NPR

Supporters of President Trump clash with police and security forces as they push through barricades to storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021.

Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

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Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge sentenced a man to prison for making a hoax threat near former President Barack Obama’s Washington residence two years ago, prompting a massive law enforcement response that included a bomb squad and sniffer dogs.

Taylor Taranto, of Pasco, Washington, spent 22 months in the troubled Washington D.C. jail awaiting trial on allegations that he suggested his van was rigged with explosives. Authorities never found any such devices, although they did recover guns and a machete.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols noted that Tarente had no criminal history — in part because the Justice Department had already decided to dismiss several charges related to Tarente’s participation in the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

President Trump granted clemency to Taranto and virtually all of the Jan. 6 defendants on his first day back in the White House this year.

But the storming of the Capitol and the Justice Department’s response continue to reverberate, particularly within the US attorney’s office in Washington.

Trump and his Cabinet officials are trying to rewrite the history of that day, in part by firing or expelling law enforcement officials who investigated cases related to the riot.

This week, the Justice Department removed two veteran prosecutors who had worked on the Taranto case and took the rare step of withdrawing a sentencing memo they had filed.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro declined to comment on the personnel decisions, but said in a statement “we want to make it very clear that we take violence and threats of violence against current or former law enforcement and government officials extremely seriously.”

“We have and will continue to vigorously pursue justice against those who commit or threaten violence without regard to the political party of the offender or target,” Pirro said in the statement.

Original condemnation note sealed, replaced

The original sentencing memo in Taranto’s case detailed how a “mob of rioters” attacked the seat of government as Congress was meeting to certify the results of the 2020 election.

He also mentioned that Taranto headed to Obama’s house after Trump reposted the address of a location on social media.

A superseding sentencing memo, filed by a new pair of DOJ lawyers, erased both of those references. Last night, the court’s electronic docket indicated that the original memo was sealed.

Judge Nichols said it was “not entirely clear” how this memo was sealed and that he intended to release it unless the DOJ could justify keeping it hidden.

The judge did not press the new attorneys for details about the rare last-minute personnel change. But he went out of his way to praise sidelined prosecutors Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White.

“I just want to express my view that they have done a commendable and excellent job in this case,” Judge Nichols said. “They also had the highest standards of professionalism.”

During a news conference on a crime issue in Washington, Pirro declined to answer whether she had ordered the revocation of the original sentencing memo in the Taranto case.

“I think the newspapers speak for themselves and what’s happening in this office is not something I’m going to comment on to the press,” Pirro said.

Valdivia and White listened to the audience in the sixth-floor courtroom, surrounded by some of the lawyers who had overseen hundreds of Capitol riot cases — only to be fired or forced to leave the Justice Department this year.

Taranto, a Navy veteran and father of two, has since returned home to Washington state. He will have to serve three years of supervised release, undergo a mental health evaluation and avoid firearms and controlled substances.

“In fact, he didn’t do anything violent,” said defense attorney Carmen Hernández. “The firearms were in a locked compartment in a van.”

Taranto said he would appeal in the coming weeks. He used his brief time before the judge to address what he called “deeply troubling issues regarding our founding, our history” and “voter fraud in the 2020 election.”