A former Jan. 6 attacker was on trial for two felony counts and four misdemeanors when he was pardoned by President Donald Trump upon entering office. Now, that man, Jared L. Wise, is being named an adviser or counselor to Justice Department official Ed Martin.
Wise, who pleaded not guilty to his charges around Jan. 6, will be advising the so-called "weaponization working group," a program under Trump's Justice Department to target prosecutors and investigators who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
Speaking about the matter on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" on Wednesday, former Republican National Committee spokesman Tim Miller called the new hiring part of the "dark hearts" of the MAGA movement.
Stand-in host Alicia Menendez called it "lionization" of the Jan. 6 attackers. "The placing, not just in the public domain, but in an actual position of power, a person who has undermined American democracy."
Miller noted that the "Back the blue element is very selective" when it comes to the conservative support of law enforcement.
"This is an appointed position, but, you know, across the country people that were there on January 6th or participating at various levels, you know, ran in Republican primaries for offices that were supported," he pointed out. A friend, he said, ran a campaign where the Jan. 6 participation "was a plus for them with the electorate, according to all their polling."
"So, I mean, this is kind of the dark heart of what we're seeing in the MAGA movement. So, it's not particularly surprising that some of these folks will have positions in the Trump administration," said Miller.
He also said that Wise isn't the only one, there are others in the Trump administration who are "horribly unqualified, who have been advanced horribly" due to their "extreme views."
Tim Heaphy, former lead investigator for the House Select Committee that investigated Jan. 6, called the matter "discouraging," but said that they'll never find the "weaponization" they seek because it wasn't there.
Instead, he explained, Wise was "charged and prosecuted for conduct, not his beliefs about the election."
Wise worked on the FBI's terrorism task force when he went to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
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