Two federal prosecutors were placed on leave just hours after they described the January 6 protest as a “mob of rioters” in a sentencing memo for Taylor Taranto, a pardoned January 6 defendant who was facing charges on an unrelated crime.
Taylor Taranto was arrested in the summer of 2023 for firearms crimes after he drove near Barack Obama’s DC home in a van full of explosives.
Federal prosecutors said Taylor Taranto went to Obama’s DC neighborhood after Trump posted the former president’s alleged address to Truth Social.
DC Law enforcement arrested James Taranto in Washington, DC, several blocks from Barack Obama’s home. CBS says he had “materials to make explosives” akin to a Molotov cocktail in his vehicle.
At the time, Taranto allegedly had a January 6-related warrant out for his arrest.
CBS previously said Taranto was in Washington, DC, and attended the nightly vigils for the January 6 political prisoners outside of the DC Gulag.
The FBI was reportedly monitoring Taranto for more than two years, but they decided to arrest him after he made it to Obama’s DC neighborhood.
The feds named Trump in their court filings in the case.
“On June 29, 2023, Former President Donald Trump posted what he claimed was the address of Former President Barack Obama on the social media platform Truth Social. Taranto used his own Truth Social account to re-post the address. On Telegram, Taranto then stated, “We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s.”” federal prosecutors said.
“Shortly thereafter, Taranto again began livestreaming from his van on his YouTube channel. This time, Taranto was driving through the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington D.C.” the prosecutors alleged.
According to the court filing, Taranto had 20 guns registered in his name.
On Wednesday, ABC News and Politico reported that the two federal prosecutors who described the January 6 protest as a “mob of rioters” on Taranto’s sentencing recommendation were placed on leave.
NEWS – Two federal prosecutors were informed Wednesday they will be put on leave after filing a legal brief that described the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol as being carried out by “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters,” sources tell me & @alex_mallin
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) October 29, 2025
Per ABC News: The two prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, were locked out of their government devices and informed Wednesday morning they will be placed on leave just hours after filing a sentencing memorandum in the case of Taylor Taranto, the sources said.
The two prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, were locked out of their government devices and informed Wednesday morning they will be placed on leave just hours after filing a sentencing memorandum in the case of Taylor Taranto, the sources said. https://t.co/WLedmQ0NXk
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) October 29, 2025
Excerpt from Politico:
Two federal prosecutors have been placed on administrative leave just hours after describing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as perpetrated by “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters,” according to two people familiar with the move who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White urged U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols to sentence Taranto to more than two years in prison for a hoax threat against the National Institute of Standards and Technology and for driving through former President Barack Obama’s neighborhood with a van full of firearms and ammunition.
In their 14-page memo, the prosecutors briefly note Taranto’s involvement on Jan. 6 and indicate that 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.”
The post BREAKING: Two January 6 Prosecutors Placed on Leave Hours After They Described the January 6 Protest as a “Mob of Rioters” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.