Many rioters who stormed the Capitol received long prison sentences. Sidney Powell, an architect of the effort to subvert the election, negotiated a misdemeanor plea deal and cooperation agreement.
When Sidney Powell, a top ally of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty Thursday to crimes associated with the 2020 election, lawyers for many Jan. 6 defendants were stunned by her relatively meager sentence: six years of probation and a modest fine.
For years, those lawyers — and some judges — have lamented that the thousands who breached the Capitol were used as pawns and dupes by Trump, Powell and their associates in a bid to subvert the election. So Powell’s plea was the first taste of accountability for Trump’s inner circle. Yet her punishment, Jan. 6 defense lawyers noted, paled in comparison to even some of the low-level offenders who entered the Capitol that day and now face consequences that may dog them for life.
Wow I wish there was some penalty for lawyers who deliberately made statements with this much bad faith. First off it’s State vs. Federal, so fuck off. Then we’re talking breaking into a building to prevent Congress from doing it’s job, while assaulting federal law enforcement, versus non-violent document, election, and conspiracy charges, so fuck off again. And by far most important, we’re talking about know-nothing foot soldiers who committed blatant federal felonies and had nothing to bargain with, vs Sidney the Goddamn Kraken Powell who must have hard evidence by the boatload that she forked over to score this deal, and who can directly testify about Trump’s words and actions and meetings she was in. There’s no comparison here, no equivalence, and these J6 defense lawyers trying to gin one up is just offensive.