This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
It seems there may have been an active agenda under the Joe Biden administration to accelerate prosecutions over the Jan. 6, 2021, protest-turned-riot at the Capitol after President Donald Trump was elected in 2024 and it was clear Biden soon would be out of power.
It was under the Biden administration that judges uniformly held people suspected of offenses like trespassing for months, even years, in prison.
The cases were brought up as if there were serious charges like treason or insurrection involved, when there weren't.
Sentencing by the judiciary in the leftist enclave of Washington was harsh, and judges routinely refused permission for cases to be moved to other jurisdictions because of the obvious bias that existed.
Now it appears there may have even been a concerted campaign by the Biden administration to hurry up prosecutions and sentencings after Trump was elected last November, and it was clear Biden soon would be out of power and Trump even would have a free hand to pardon those J6ers, which he eventually did.
It is Judicial Watch, a government watchdog organization, that has confirmed it has filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records on accelerated Jan. 6 prosecutions.
Those happened after Trump's election last November.
"The Biden administration, anticipating President-elect Donald Trump's promise to issue pardons for January 6, 2021, defendants, is believed to have accelerated prosecutions in the final months of Biden's term," Judicial Watch reported.
Its case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came after the Justice Department failed to respond to a November 2024 FOIA request for the records of then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, then-Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, and then-Special Counsel Jack Smith "regarding a) pardons of any person(s) incarcerated due convictions in federal court in the District of Columbia related to crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 b) directives or orders to focus on arresting additional suspects by type of offense allegedly committed. The timeframe of the request is from January – November 2024," Judicial Watch reported.
"On January 6, 2025, the Justice Department reportedly considered charging up to 200 additional people for their alleged involvement at the U.S. Capitol disturbance. About 1,583 people already had been facing federal charges. On January 17, 2025, it was reported that the FBI and federal prosecutors continued to make arrests and 'pursue hefty sentences for those who breached the U.S. Capitol grounds.' Authorities made four arrests just days before Trump's inauguration," the watchdog confirmed.
"The corrupt Biden Justice Department tried to undermine the Trump administration by maliciously prosecuting American citizens tied to January 6. Judicial Watch's lawsuit aims to get to the truth about this last-minute abuse of power," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.
The organization previously has sued over "lawfare" targeting Trump and his supporters several times.
One fight it handled was for the benefit of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the unarmed Air Force veteran shot at point blank range and killed during that Jan. 6, disturbance. The government reached a $5 million settlement with her family and granted her military honors.
Another case involved the lawfare against Trump, a created organized crime allegation, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who later was ordered off the case because of her conflict in that she hired a paramour to do investigative work for her.
Judicial Watch also has been investigating how much Willis, Smith and others doing lawfare for the Democrats coordinated with Nancy Pelosi's partisan commission investigating J6.
It also has sued over IRS records suggesting targeting of Capitol protesters and their supporters, two conference calls involving Biden officials about the election certification that year, and a meeting in which Biden officials pressured each other to target "far right" Americans.
