A federal prosecutor told Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell that the Department of Justice was still “very early on” in bringing charges against people who participated in the January 6th Republican-led domestic terrorist attack on Congress, and that as many as 2,000 criminal cases are possible.
NBC News reports that during the sentencing hearing for insurrectionist Matthew Bledsoe of Tennessee–who received a 48-month prison sentence, less than the 70 months recommended by prosecutors, Howell noted, but in line with sentences handed out to other convicted January 6th secessionists. Howell noted that Bledsoe’s testimony that he did not realize what as happening around him constituted criminal activity. “You knew what was going on,” Howell said to Bledsoe.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Carter told Howell that there will be a steady flow of January 6th cases coming before the court, with the pace determined only if the Justice Department could “get bodies” to bring the cases to court. Republicans, who believe they are going to take control of at least the House in the midterm elections, have vowed to cut funding for prosecutions by limiting the ability of the Justice Department to hire additional prosecutors, just as they wish to disempower the Internal Revenue Service from conducting audits and enforcing tax law.