In a solemn courtroom as yet another Jan. 6 defendant was sentenced to prison, Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, expressed his frustration at the lack of respect for the law exhibited by many of the insurrectionists:
“The Court is accustomed to defendants who refuse to accept that they did anything wrong. But in my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream.”
Judge Lamberth then issued a powerful rebuke to those attempting to rewrite the history of that fateful day, saying he was “shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history,” by “claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists,” and “martyrizing convicted Jan. 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages.’”
Calling the behavior “preposterous,” he warned: “The Court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”
Lamberth’s broadside took direct aim at Donald Trump and the leaders of the Republican Party. Trump has described the Jan. 6 rioters as having “love in their hearts.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who helped to barricade a door to keep rioters out of a House chamber on Jan.6, has depicted those who breached the Capitol that day as being on a “normal tourist visit.”
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has described the cowardice exhibited by several House Republicans who refused........