In a recent speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) blocked Democratic efforts to deny the use of federal funds to compensate anyone prosecuted for their involvement in the January 6, 2021 (J6) riots at the U.S. Capitol.
The No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act would broadly prohibit the use of federal funds to compensate anyone prosecuted for his or her involvement in the events at the Capitol and stop ongoing refunds of fines paid as part of their convictions. This bill is carried in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
The bill was filed before President Donald Trump officially announced a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund created for individuals who believe they have been unfairly targeted by the federal government earlier this month. However, it was in response to calls last year to create a special fund.
Tuberville, while objecting to the bill on the Senate floor, argued that it would preclude review of claims of government misconduct on the merits and deny relief based solely on prosecution. He claimed the bill would give carte blanche for federal persecution of civilians, without granting them the option of recourse.
"Democrats claim this bill is about stopping so-called 'rewards' for January 6th rioters," Tuberville said. "But in reality, the legislation says if the federal government prosecuted you, Congress can't even ask if the prosecution was fair; if the sentence was appropriate; if the evidence was handled properly; if detention conditions were lawful; or whether the government threw the book at you because you are supportive of a political opponent."
Tuberville placed the blame for the security failures of J6 on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and said that federal agents instigated the chaos.
"It first started with the tampering of the 2020 presidential election results to oust President Trump and install their woke globalist favorite, Joe Biden," Tuberville said. "As a result, great American patriots gathered in Washington to peacefully protest the illegal tampering of the 2020 presidential election. When the leader of the Democratic Party at the time, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the Deep State learned of Trump supporters […] were headed to Washington, D.C. to peacefully protest the fraudulent 2020 presidential election results, they saw a great opportunity. Speaker Pelosi spearheaded the true January 6 insurrection. This has all been proven to be true. Everybody knows it. She said it on tape. She admitted the responsibility for massive security failures that day."
He continued, "The FBI has confirmed that there [were] 274 FBI agents in plain clothes at the Capitol here that day. Then Speaker Pelosi set up Capitol Police to fail by refusing to bring the National Guard in as backup. She admitted that. And then, of course, Democrats placed all the blame on President Trump and Republicans. I can remember vividly that night, about midnight. We all took the blame here. As we came back that night, Democrats called all the Republicans in this room everything that you can imagine, here on this floor. It was clear that they were planning, that day, that they were going after President Trump."
Tuberville also bemoaned the $3 billion spent by the DOJ to prosecute the J6ers in what he described as a politically motivated witch hunt by the Biden administration to "intimidate their political opponents and the greater MAGA movement."
"Hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of innocent patriotic Americans sat behind bars for the past five years over this made-up witch hunt," Tuberville added. "Now, there were some guilty, but a huge number of them were innocent. They even arrested grandmas for making phone calls on the Capitol steps. And the only person who died that day on January 6 was Ashley Babbitt, an unarmed Air Force veteran who was shot that day in this very building. Ashley Babbitt was wrongfully killed on January 6, 2021. The federal government admitted it, and they actually paid money to her family."
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