Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with CBS News correspondent Scott MacFarlane’s reporting, including a statement from United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
Two federal prosecutors have been 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," according to ABC News Washington managing editor Katherine Faulders.
The two prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, Faulders posted on X, "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."
Taranto is a military veteran and Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendant who was convicted in May 2025 on separate firearms and hoax-threat charges. He had been previously pardoned by President Donald Trump for his involvement in the January 6th insurrection.
A day before Taranto's arrest in June 2023 when he was found near the home of former President Barack Obama with two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as a machete, he claimed he would use a car bomb to drive into the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
"In their sentencing memorandum, Valdivia and White used only two sentences to detail Taranto's involvement in the Jan. 6 attack," reported Faulders and ABC's Alexander Mallin.
"On January 6, 2021, thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol while a joint session of Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election," the memorandum said. "Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building. 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."
Valdivia and White were furloughed due to the government shutdown and were informed they would be put on administrative leave when the government reopens, the sources told Faulders.
"It's unclear if Valdivia or White were given a reason for their suspensions, though the moves come following months of turmoil in the Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney's office where multiple career prosecutors faced removals or demotions related to their involvement in prosecuting the more than 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack," Faulders and Mallin noted.
"The news of this move is reverberating around the Justice Department — it's another warning. You cant, as a prosecutor, tell what you believe as the truth about the January 6 riots without having some risk to your future on the job," said MSNBC justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian.
According to CBS News correspondent Scott MacFarlane, the Justice Department accused the two prosecutors of citing “conspiracy theories” about Jan 6, "and [ascribing] blame to Trump for posting Obama home address."
"While we don’t comment on personnel decisions, we want to make very clear that we take violence and threats of violence against law enforcement, current or former government officials extremely seriously," read a statement from former Fox host turned United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. "We have and will continue to vigorously pursue justice against those who commit or threaten violence without regard to the political party of the offender or the target."