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U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves says that Jan. 6 has “probably the most recorded crimes in all of our history”
As the 2024 election nears, Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, remains focused on cases tied to the last time former President Donald Trump was on the ballot.
The Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that disrupted the counting of the electoral votes triggered the largest prosecution in U.S. history. Trump has called the rioters “hostages” who’ve been treated unfairly and has said he’s “inclined to pardon many of them.” Top prosecutor Matthew Graves said the process has been “the picture of due process.”
“No one is being prosecuted for their views. They’re being prosecuted for their acts,” Graves said.
January 6 convictions
More than 1,000 Americans have been convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, with about 350 trials still pending and the FBI still searching for suspects. Just two people have been acquitted of all charges.
Graves explained the process of prosecuting the Jan. 6 rioters began the very next day under the Trump Justice Department. It set the standards for the prosecutions. Decisions were made by “career” prosecutors, who work at Justice for years regardless of who the president might be.
60 Minutes
“The career prosecutors quickly realized that you needed guidelines in place, determinations about who was gonna be charged, who wasn’t gonna be charged, and what they would be charged with,” Graves said. “That process started in January 7th, 2021, during the prior administration. To this day, we continue to use guidelines that the career prosecutors put in place during the prior administration.”
Those guidelines have prosecutors focusing on people who entered the Capitol, people who engaged in violent or destructive behavior, people who illegally carried firearms or other weapons on Capitol grounds and people who helped others to get into the Capitol building, Graves said. The Justice Department is not charging everyone who was there that day.
“We have turned down hundreds of cases where the FBI is saying, ‘There is evidence here, it’s your determination, prosecutors, whether you think this should be prosecuted,'” Graves said.
Graves explained that some of the cases have been turned down because they don’t fit within the guidelines career prosecutors have been using. In some cases, prosecutors don’t feel there’s sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The best evidence prosecutors have
Thousands of hours of video and thousands of photos show the events unfolding.
“The crimes that occurred that day are probably the most recorded crimes in all of our history,” Graves said.
Video from that day captured the attack on Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who spoke with 60 Minutes in his “personal capacity and not on behalf of my employer or the city.”
“Someone was pinning me with a police shield, and another member of the crowd grabbed my gas mask by the filter in front and just started essentially punching me in the face while holding onto it, and then eventually ripped it off my head,” Hodges said. “And then he stole my riot baton out of my hands and beat me in the head with it.”
60 Minutes
Many of the defendants have also admitted what they’ve done. More than 900 rioters — 80% of those convicted — have pleaded guilty.
Charges range from trespassing to the most serious charge, seditious conspiracy, of which 14 people have been convicted. One, a militia leader, was sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest Capitol riot sentence thus far.
“We’ve seen defendants in the January 6th [cases] take full advantage of all the protections afforded under the constitution,” Graves said. “To me, that’s the picture of due process.”
Fighting claims of bias
All of the trials have taken place in open court in Washington, D.C., before judges or juries; the defendants choose which. Retired federal Judge Thomas Griffith, a conservative who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, worked with most of the 29 judges who’ve heard Jan. 6 cases.
60 Minutes
“None of these judges is politically biased,” Griffith said. “These defendants had every chance in the world to defend themselves against these charges. And they didn’t succeed.”
Some have claimed that the Biden administration is guiding prosecutors’ work in the trials, but Graves disputes those claims. He noted that the Jan. 6 cases have been handled by career prosecutors and career supervisors across two administrations.
“I’ve never met President Biden,” he said. “Which is normal, I would add, because there are walls for very good reasons between the Department of Justice and the White House so that prosecution can focus on what it should be focused on, whether there are violations of law, and whether those violations of law consistent with the rules that we follow should be federally prosecuted.”
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Craig Newmark, the founder of online classified-ads site Craigslist, thinks the U.S. has a cybersecurity problem.
The entrepreneur turned philanthropist has pledged to donate $100 million to help safeguard the country from potential future cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Newmark will allocate $50 million to protect infrastructure, like power grids, from cyberattacks, including from foreign nations. The other half of his donation will be put toward educating the general public about how to safeguard their personal information, according to the report.
Newmark, 71, retired from the company he founded in 2018.
“The country is under attack,” Newmark told the Wall Street Journal. He said that cybersecurity experts who are working to protect the country from attack “need people to champion them.”
Today, many households make use of connected appliances or smart devices that can make them vulnerable to being hacked by criminals. At the corporate level, cyberattacks have become increasingly common.
“In the current cyberwar, the fight is on our own shores, and we all need to play an active role for the protection of our country and ourselves,” Newmark writes on his website.
In June, a hacking group took down CDK Global’s software platform, crippling auto dealerships across the U.S. CDK said that hackers demanded a ransom in order to restore its systems. In February, hackers infiltrated payments manager Change Healthcare, paralyzing segments of the U.S. Health care system. They are but two examples of the tremendous repercussions a cyberattack can have on an industry.
As part of his latest commitment, Newmark, who has pledged to give away nearly all of his wealth to charity, is making donations to a project out of the University of Chicago’s public policy school that trains cybersecurity volunteers to strengthen local infrastructure. Child internet-safety group Common Sense Media, is another beneficiary, according to the WSJ report.
The large majority of the $100 million pledge has not yet been allocated, and organizations can apply for donations through Newmark’s philanthropic organization, Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
On the foundation’s website, Newmark says he likes to donate to organizations that he believes in and lets them spend the money as they see fit. “Okay, what I do is find people who are really good at their jobs, and who can tolerate my sense of humor. I provide them with resources, and then get outta their way,” he states.
In addition to cybersecurity, other causes Newmark champions include support for military families and veterans, safeguarding trustworthy journalism and pigeon rescue.
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Borrowers saddled with higher interest rates on everything from mortgages to credit cards received some welcome news on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve announced a half a percentage point cut to the federal funds rate. That brings the range down to 4.75% to 5.00%, a major reduction from the elevated position the range was frozen at for more than a year.
While it will take some time for that reduction to reverberate, it will inevitably make borrowing cheaper in the weeks and months to come. And with other cuts possible for when the Fed meets again in November and December, borrowing could become even more affordable by the end of the year.
That doesn’t mean, however, that borrowers stuck with high-interest-rate debt should wait for relief. There’s a strong argument to be made that these borrowers should take action now instead. Below, we’ll break down why.
Learn how the right debt relief service can help you here now.
Why borrowers shouldn’t wait for rate cuts to fix their debt
While waiting for rate cuts to echo throughout the economy may be tempting, particularly if you’re suffering from high-rate debt, that could be a mistake. Here’s why:
Rates may not fall dramatically
Credit card interest rates have surged in recent years, averaging over 20% right now. But those rates won’t fall as rapidly as they’ve grown. That’s because credit card rates are determined by a series of complex factors, only one of which is the federal funds rate. And even if credit card rates came down by the same half a percentage point that the federal funds rate did, that’s likely to make very little difference in what you have to pay each month, especially if you’re making minimum payments. So if you’re waiting for the Fed to help reduce what you have to pay on your credit card you could be waiting a very long time.
Start exploring your credit card debt relief options here instead.
Your debt will accrue in the interim
Even if you could rely on multiple rate cuts to come, your existing debt will continue to accrue interest and, possibly, penalties and fees if you’re already struggling to pay what you’ve borrowed. And if you can’t make adequate payments right now, it’ll become even more difficult to do so when dealing with a higher debt total (with compounded interest).
Take a multi-pronged approach
There are multiple debt relief options available right now. From debt consolidation loans to debt management programs to credit card debt forgiveness and even bankruptcy in extreme circumstances, there’s likely a path forward for you now. But that doesn’t mean that you still can’t try to position yourself to take advantage of lower rates. Since rate cuts have broad effects, you may be able to consolidate your debt with a debt consolidation loan now, for example, and then refinance it when rates drop later this year or in 2025. Just don’t sit idle, as debt, no matter the form, can quickly become debilitating if not properly addressed.
Speak with a debt relief servicer now who can help.
The bottom line
It’s never a good idea to let your debt accumulate, even if you’re confident that rate cuts on the horizon could help. Rate cuts, instead, will offer gradual relief, not the significant help you may need. Plus, your debt, fees and penalties will compound in the interim. Instead, consider taking a multi-pronged approach by researching a series of debt relief options that can help you now. And keep rate cuts in mind for the future when you may be able to capitalize by refinancing instead.
