The Department of Justice (DOJ) placed two federal prosecutors on leave Wednesday, according to multiple news reports, a day after they filed a sentencing memo describing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as a “riot” carried out by “thousands of people comprising a mob.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White were told they would be suspended from their posts on Wednesday and were locked out of their government devices, ABC News and MSNBC reported.
The development came hours after they filed a sentencing memo recommending the court issue a 27-month sentence for Taylor Taranto, who was a recipient of the blanket pardon President Trump issued to those convicted for Jan. 6.
Taranto is set to be sentenced on Friday for unrelated crimes, including threatening the National Institute of Standards and Technology and driving through former President Obama’s neighborhood with a van full of firearms and munition.
In their 14-page sentencing memo, the federal prosecutors dedicated just three sentences to describing the Capitol attack.
“On January 6, 2021, thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol while a joint session of Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building,” they wrote in the sentencing memo.
“After the riot, Taranto returned to his home in the State of Washington, where he promoted conspiracy theories about the events of January 6, 2021,” they continued.
Valdivia and White were the primary authors of the sentencing memo, which also included the signature of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host and Trump appointee who leads the office prosecuting Taranto.
The U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Pirro issued a statement, reported by Politico, but declined to comment on the personnel move.
“While we don’t comment on personnel decisions, we want to make very clear that we take violence and threats of violence against law enforcement, current or former government officials extremely seriously,” Pirro said in the reported statement.
“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 the target,” she continued.
