The first Capitol riot defendant received her sentence today, more than six months after the insurrection. Ken White and Josh Barro analyze the sentencing memos from the woman’s lawyer and the government. Both agreed that a lenient sentence with no jail time was appropriate for her one misdemeanor count (to which she pleaded guilty) and the government seemed to set a standard for the hundreds of sentences that are expected. What is the criteria and will it determine how other people are sentenced?
Next: some legal analysts worry that because the government will continue to defend Donald Trump in the defamation lawsuit against him E. Jean Carroll, that indicates the government would also defend the former president in civil cases arising from the insurrection. Ken says that the government actually has a better reason to do so in that case than they do in the E. Jean Carroll case. Also: Trump’s attempts to use the Department of Justice and the FCC to get SNL to stop making fun of him were amusing and predictable but not legally feasible.
Also in this episode: the swear jar runneth over as Ken and Josh discuss a Ukrainian oligarch named Pavel Fuks with ties to Rudy Giuliani. Finally: the DOJ drops its fight with John Bolton, Manhattan prosecutors appear to be investigating another Trump Organization exec, and the Trump Organization sues the entire city of New York for canceling its contracts to run a golf course, two ice rinks and a carousel.
