(Trends Wide) — A federal judge attacked former President Donald Trump on Monday for lying about electoral fraud during the 2020 presidential elections: he said former Vice President Al Gore was in a better position to challenge the results of the 2000 elections, but that he was “a man.” and walked away.
“Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump, but he acted like a man about what happened,” Chief District Judge Reggie Walton said of Gore’s decision to end his presidential candidacy after weeks of legal battles. “He accepted it and walked away.”
Walton’s comments came during a plea hearing for Capitol riot defendant Adam Johnson, who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern through the Capitol building. On Monday he pleaded guilty to a low-level charge of entering and staying in a restricted building or compound.
“What concerns me, sir, is that you were gullible enough to come to Washington from Florida based on a lie,” Walton said, “and the person who inspired you to do what you do keeps making those statements, and my The concern is that you are gullible enough to do it again. “
Walton, who was named after the man who defeated Gore, former President George W. Bush, is the latest to add his voice to a chorus of judges who criticize Trump for lying to his followers. Last week, a federal judge also suggested that Trump had some responsibility in the attack on Capitol Hill and called the agitators “pawns” who were provoked to act.
Johnson, 36, told Walton he accepted responsibility for being “carried away by the moment,” saying a “hard couple of years” led to spending a lot of time “listening to a lot of information and reading things” on the internet.
Investigators identified Johnson days after he was photographed smiling and waving as he carried the lectern through the Capitol building on January 6. According to prosecutors, Johnson began running into the Capitol building from the “Stop the Steal” rally on the Ellipse after someone in the crowd yelled “Pence didn’t do it!” Johnson admitted that he brought a knife to Washington, but threw it in the bushes on the way to the Capitol.
Once inside the building, Johnson wandered until he found Pelosi’s office. According to prosecutors, he wiggled the door handle, but it was locked. Then he took the lectern and led it to the rotunda of the Capitol, posing for several photos along the way.
After ditching the lectern, Johnson joined a crowd trying to enter the House of Representatives. At one point, under the plea deal, Johnson said a nearby bust of George Washington could be a “great ram” to get through the chamber doors.
Capitol Shaker Adam Johnson
During the hearing, Johnson revealed that he could write a book about his involvement in the riots. He accepted that the government can confiscate all the money he makes advertising the event for the next five years as part of his plea deal.
Johnson was originally charged with three federal crimes, including theft of public property, but those charges will be dropped as part of his settlement. He could face a sentence of up to six months in prison, according to the agreement with the prosecution that was read at the guilty plea hearing on Monday. You will also have to pay US $ 500 in compensation for the damage caused to the Capitol during the riots.
So far, more than 130 defendants have pleaded guilty to charges related to the Capitol riots, and most of them have admitted misdemeanor charges.
Bus trip organizer sentenced to 60 days in prison
Frank Scavo, who told local media and the FBI that he organized several buses to take people from eastern Pennsylvania to Washington for the Jan.6 rally, was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail and received the maximum fine. of US $ 5,000.
The sentence, handed down by District Judge Royce Lamberth, was much harsher than the 14 days incarceration that the Justice Department had requested. Scavo pleaded guilty to demonstrating illegally on Capitol Hill, a misdemeanor, in September.
Before sentencing, Lamberth told Scavo that he gave him “credit for not putting anyone in danger” or engaging in violence, but said that without him and others the attack on the Capitol “would not have happened. happened “.
Scavo told the judge he had a “deep sense of regret” for his actions on January 6, adding later that “it was a crime.”
“From the moment the event ended, you did everything you could,” Lamberth told Scavo in a short comment after sentencing. “Good luck”.
According to the Justice Department, Scavo had captured assaults on Capitol police officers while recording with his phone and bragged about “storming” the Capitol. On his Facebook page that day, Scavo posted that “PENCE IS OUT OF THE CAPITOL” and “No certification today !!!”
“He had more or less a front row seat” to the Capitol siege, said Seth Meinero, a US Deputy Attorney General, during the hearing, adding that Scavo saw the crowd push toward the east front of the Capitol after the rally of Trump.
