The U.S. attorney whose office spearheaded prosecutions in cases related to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, announced on Monday that he will step down before President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Matthew Graves, a longtime federal prosecutor who has held the role of U.S. attorney in the nation’s capital for a little more than three years, is set to resign effective January 16, four days before Inauguration Day. The principal assistant U.S. attorney in D.C., Bridget Fitzpatrick, is slated to become acting U.S. attorney after Graves departs.
“Serving as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has been the honor of a lifetime,” Graves said in a statement. “I am deeply thankful to Congresswoman Holmes Norton for recommending me; to President Biden for nominating me; and to Attorney General Garland for placing his trust in me.”
Graves dealt with all sorts of issues during his stint as a U.S. attorney, ranging from those focused on national security matters to cryptocurrency. However, it was his record with January 6 cases that became a political lightning rod: the Department of Justice says nearly 1,600 defendants have been charged, many of whom pleaded guilty or were found guilty, and several hundred of them were sentenced to prison.
Some have been heavily critical of Graves, including Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who responded to the U.S. attorney stepping down by saying “the pawn at the helm of DOJ’s targeting of Joe Biden’s political opponents — just resigned ahead of President Trump’s inauguration,” and noting, “The Swamp knows that justice is coming.”
The inspector general for the Department of Justice recently published a report that said the FBI had at least 26 confidential human sources (CHSs) in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, including some who committed offenses but are not among the hundreds who had been charged with crimes.
Graves’ office responded by saying it “generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on January 6, 2021 was to enter the restricted grounds surrounding the Capitol, which has resulted in the Office declining to charge hundreds of individuals; and we have treated the CHSs consistent with this approach.”
During an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press” earlier this month, Trump said his team was “looking at” the prospect of pardoning January 6 defendants on the first day of his second term. Trump declared, “Those people have suffered long and hard,” though he also conceded “there may be some exceptions” when it comes to dolling out pardons.
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