By Allan Lengel
After taking office, President Trump pardoned about 1,500 people who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including those who violently attacked police. Then a short time later, many in the Justice Department who prosecuted those cases were fired.
Two of those fired prosecutors — Sara Levine and Sean Brennan — spoke out in interviews aired Sunday night on “60 Minutes.”
“The Justice Department is under attack,” Levine said. “They’re coming after the people that want to uphold the laws that exist. And that should be terrifying to everyone.”
When reporter Scott Pelley asked why they were fired, Levine said:
“Because I did my job. I mean, it’s really that simple, is, I went in. I followed the facts. I followed the law. And I got fired because I did exactly what I was supposed to do.”
Brennan remarked:
“I think we know what we did was right. No regrets, absolutely none.”
Levine went on to say:
“What we did was justice. Justice for 140 police officers wounded January 6th, 2021…The evidence was overwhelming.”
Brennan went on to say:
“Anyone who has watched videos of what happened on January 6th, knows that the grave national injustice was not the decision to prosecute the rioters. The grave national injustice has been the Department of Justice turning its back on those law enforcement officers, those members of Congress, and all of those victims who were affected.”
60 Minutes also spoke with Peter Keisler, who served as acting attorney general in 2007 under President George W. Bush.
“This was a decision to protect people who had committed serious crimes because they were doing so in support of the president’s reelection,” Keisler said of the pardons and commutations for the rioters.
“I don’t think anybody believes that these people would’ve been pardoned if they had engaged in exactly the same acts, but had stormed the Capitol, say, in opposition to the president and his policies.”
He went on to say:
“It says that you can commit some very serious crimes, but if you do so as an identifiable supporter of the president’s agenda and political interests, you may be able to get off. And I think it was designed to send that message.”
