Al Gore ‘was a man’ about his election loss, unlike Donald Trump, says federal judge

“Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump, but he was a man about what happened to him,” senior District Judge Reggie Walton said of Gore’s decision to end his presidential election after weeks of legal battles. “He accepted it and walked away.”

Walton’s comments came during a prayer hearing for Capitol rebel accused Adam Johnson, who was photographed carrying the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s rostrum through the Capitol building. He pleaded guilty Monday to a low-level charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or area.

“What worries me, sir, is that you were gullible enough to come to Washington, DC, from Florida based on a lie,” Walton said, “and the person who inspired you to do what you do. , still come up with these statements, and my concern is that you are gullible enough to do it again. “

Walton, who was named by the man who defeated Gore, former President George W. Bush, is the latest to add his voice to a chorus of judges criticizing Trump for lying to his supporters. Last week, a federal judge also suggested that Trump had some responsibility for the attack on the Capitol and called the troublemakers “peasants” who were provoked into action.

Johnson, 36, told Walton he took responsibility for being “caught by the moment” and said a “hard year” led him to spend a lot of time “listening to a lot of information and reading things” online .

Investigators identified Johnson a few days after he was photographed smiling and waving as he carried the podium through the Capitol building on January 6th. According to prosecutors, Johnson began running to the Capitol building from the “Stop the Steal” rally at Ellipse after someone in the audience shouted “Pence did not!” Johnson admitted he had a knife with him to Washington, but discarded it in the bushes on his way to the Capitol.

Once inside the building, Johnson wandered around until he came across Pelosi’s office suite. He jerked a door handle, prosecutors say, but it was locked. He then grabbed the podium and carried it to the Capitol rotunda while posing for several photos along the way.

After discarding the podium, Johnson joined a mob trying to break into the house’s chamber. At one point, Johnson said according to the agreement, a bust near George Washington would be a “big slag” to get through the doors of the chamber.

During the hearing, Johnson revealed that he may want to write a book about his involvement in the riot. He agreed that the government can seize all the money he earns to publicize the event for the next five years as part of his grievance deal.

Johnson was originally charged with three federal crimes, including theft of state property, but those charges will be dropped as part of his charges. He risks a sentence of up to six months in prison, according to his agreement with the prosecution, which was revealed by his prosecutor on Monday. He will also pay $ 500 in compensation for damages to the capital during the riot.

More than 130 defendants have so far pleaded guilty to charges related to the Capitol riot, most of which to date have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor.

Man organizing bus travel, sentenced to 60 days in prison

Frank Scavo, who told local news media and the FBI that he organized several buses to bring people from eastern Pennsylvania to Washington for the January 6 demonstration, was sentenced Monday to 60 days in prison and received the maximum fine of $ 5,000.

The sentence handed down by Senior DC District Judge Royce Lamberth was much heavier than the 14 days of jail requested by the Department of Justice. Scavo pleaded guilty to illegal demonstration in the Capitol, a misdemeanor, in September.

Before handing down the verdict, Lamberth Scavo said he gave him “credit for the fact that you did not put anyone in danger” or engaged in violence, but said that “without you and other people” the attack on the Capitol “would not have happened. “

Scavo told the judge he had a “deep sense of remorse” for his actions on Jan. 6, adding later that “it was a crime.”

“From the moment the arrow was up, you did everything you could,” Lamberth told Scavo in a brief comment after the sentence. “Good luck.”

According to the Justice Department, Scavo had caught attacks on Capitol police officers while filming on his phone, boasting of “storming” the Capitol. On his Facebook page that day, Scavo wrote that “PENCE IS OUT OF CAPITOL” and “No certification today !!!”

“He more or less had a front row seat” to the Capitol siege, Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Meinero said during the hearing, adding that Scavo saw the crowd penetrate the eastern front of the Capitol after the Trump rally.