A judge who agreed to dismiss election-interference charges against Donald Trump is allowing a convicted Jan. 6 rioter to skirt his bail restrictions and go to DC for the president-elect’s inauguration.
DC federal Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday approved Eric Peterson’s request to travel to the country’s Capitol again to be on hand for inauguration day Jan. 20 — despite the fact that Peterson pleaded guilty last month to joining hoards of insurgents who broke inside the Capitol building Jan. 6, 2021, court records show.
Peterson — a Kansas City, Mo. resident, military veteran and business owner — pleaded guilty Nov. 1 to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and he faces up to one year behind bars at his Jan. 27 sentencing.
Peterson has been allowed to remain free without bail until he is sentenced, but he must follow certain other rules until then, including limitations on how far he can travel. DC is outside those limits, which is why he needed the special dispensation from the judge to travel that far.
The inauguration is a ticketed event, but those without tickets typically gather on the National Mall nearby and watch the ceremony on at least one JumboTron.
Peterson’s lawyer, Michael Bullotta, last week asked Chutkan to allow his client to attend the festivities, noting Peterson wasn’t accused of any violence or vandalism during his eight minutes in the Capitol. The lawyer claimed his client wasn’t aware that others were carrying out assaults and property damage at the time.
Bullotta also noted that since the incoming Trump administration has already announced plans to pardon all of the Capitol rioters, Peterson’s sentencing, “will likely be rendered moot,” the court papers say.
Prosecutors did not file papers opposing Peterson’s request.
The feds claim that Peterson traveled to DC that day to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally opposing Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Peterson eventually made his way inside the Capitol, entering restricted grounds on the east side of the complex, the feds claim. He then allegedly stood outside the Rotunda until rioters nearby busted inside chanting, “This is our house!”
Peterson then went inside with the others, walking “right by a police officer posted at the doors … Peterson knew that the building was off limits and he was not authorized to be there,” allege court papers, which include a slew of screen grabs of surveillance footage showing him wearing a bright pink shirt.
At least two other rioters involving more serious offenses have also made similar requests to attend the inauguration, but prosecutors are fighting those requests, and the judges in those cases have yet to rule, according to a report by Law & Crime.
On Nov. 25, Chutkan dismissed the charges accusing Trump of interfering with the 2020 election result. Special counsel Jack Smith had moved for the case to be tossed after Trump’s reelection since a president is immune from federal prosecution.
Another federal case against Trump, charging him with hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, was dismissed earlier this year.
Trump is fighting two other pending prosecutions in New York and in Georgia state courts, with a recent win in the latter case when a Georgia court booted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from it.
But Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan last week knocked down Trump’s bid to throw out his hush-money conviction based on presidential immunity. Trump’s sentencing in the case has been in limbo since his election win.
Bullotta and the Department of Justice both did not immediately return Post requests for comment Monday.
