In a rather bizarre move, an individual was convicted and sentenced for his participation in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building in secret, leaving the American public in the dark about the reasons behind the covert proceedings. Samuel Lazar’s case, while not being widely covered by the press, creates even more questions about the fallout from the incident, which still remains a prominent topic in political discussion more than two years after it happened.
Hundreds of rioters and individuals who were present at the riot have faced prosecution and lofty sentences for their alleged involvement in the violence. But the clandestine nature of Lazar’s conviction has raised a few eyebrows. It is customary for the Justice Department to make court hearings and records open to the public. But in Lazar’s case, the agency has remained tight-lipped about the matter. The judge presiding over the case has refused to allow media access to the records. Randall Eliason, a George Washington University criminal law professor, told reporters that he could not recall any case during his tenure as a federal prosecutor in which a sentencing hearing was sealed. He noted that “either there’s some kind of security concern about him personally, or maybe more likely that he’s cooperating in some respect that they don’t want the people he’s cooperating against to know about.” However, many in Lazar’s position have cooperated with the authorities without the details being under lock and key. “The fact that he also got sentenced, went to prison and is already out, that whole situation is just unusual,” Eliason explained. This story raises a series of questions about the riot and the Justice Department’s handling of the matter. Could Lazar potentially have been working with the federal government before the riot? If not, what cooperation might he have given that would prompt the authorities to keep it under seal? Of course, the most important question of all is: Why is the government insisting on keeping his conviction and sentence concealed from the American public? |
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