Judge blasts Capitol rioters’ $1.5million contribution to damage as taxpayer pays $500million

Those involved in riots face up to a $2,000 fine, and often avoid prison time through plea deals with government

A judge has blasted federal authorities for only requiring people charged for being part of the 6 January attack on the Capitol around $2,000 at the most in restitution, when Congress has spent nearly a billion dollars in taxpayer money fixing the damage the riot caused.

On Monday, US district judge Beryl Howell of Washington DC took prosecutors to task for the disparity during the plea hearing of one such alleged rioter.

“I’m accustomed to the government being fairly aggressive in terms of fraud when there have been damages that accrue from a criminal act for the restitution amount,” she said, adding, “Where we have Congress acting, appropriating all this money due directly to the events of January 6th, I have found the damage amount of less than $1.5 million — when all of us American taxpayers are about to foot the bill for close to half a billion dollars — a little bit surprising.”

At the end of July, Congress overwhelmingly passed a spending passage to begin repairs, including $521 million in reimbursements to the National Guard, $70 million to US Capitol Police, and another $300 million for Capitol security improvements.

In response to this damage, prosecutors are requiring Capitol riot defendants to pay $2,000 in restitution if they plead guilty to related felonies, or $500 for misdemeanor charges.

Though it’s unclear exactly how officials reached these numbers, the office of the Architect of Capitol told The Washington Post that it gave the Department of Justice damage estimates following the attack, as well as briefing Congress on the wider security costs.

In June, prosecutors said in a court filing the damage totalled about $1.5 million dollars, likely the cost of direct repairs to the building.

In court on Monday, assistant US attorney Clayton Henry O’Connor said the government would explain further about how it calculated the financial penalties later this fall.

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 500 people in more than 40 states so far for their involvement in the 6 January attack, according to a database from USA Today.

The congressional investigation into the riot remains ongoing, and lawmakers have already heard emotional testimony from police officers who were on the scene that day during the attack, which killed five people on 6 January, as well as multiple officers who later died by suicide.

Investigators are now weighing whether to subpoena top Republicans who communicated with Donald Trump during the attack like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and representative Jim Jordan, as well as Mr Trump himself.

Calling the former president would likely trigger a bitter legal battle over congressional subpoena power.