Thread by @ZoeTillman

Back to regularly scheduled programming: Hello from Judge Royce Lamberth's virtual courtroom, where sentencing is underway for Capitol rioter Frank Scavo. Govt seeking 14 days, Scavo wants probation.

"Capitol steps stormed."
"It’s going down."
"No certification Today!!!"

Scavo's charging doc: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2053…

Govt sentencing memo: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2110…

Scavo sentencing memo: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2110…

AUSA Seth Meinero is up, and begins with a focus on evidence that Scavo would have understood there was a riot happening — he notes Scavo came in through Rotunda doors, where rioters clashed with the "thin line" of USCP officers trying to stop people from getting in

Meinero is playing video from that part of the Capitol — I'm listening through the remote line so I can't see it, but you can hear all the chaotic noise of the crowd, shouting, chanting, etc. Govt says Scavo was there for all this and recorded some of it:

AUSA concludes by noting Scavo's sentencing memo IDs hardships for him and his family, says it "brings no joy" for the govt to ask to take away someone's liberty. But also notes Scavo's history as a local elected official, bids for state office: "He should have known better"

Scavo is up now reading a statement to the judge and trying to distance himself from responsibility for participating in the riot — he says he only went up the steps to the Rotunda doors to take pictures, didn't feel he could move, and the mob "surrounded me"

Scavo says that when the doors opened and the crowd surged, he entered the Capitol, and that the description in the statement of offense that was part of his plea was accurate

Scavo straddles the line between downplaying his participation in the mob and the riot and not blowing up his guilty plea. Lamberth says Scavo was "careful" in what he just said but is concerned the defense memo was trying to "quibble" with what exactly he's admitting to

Scavo's lawyer says they're not there to "quibble," they accept govt's description of what happened, and the focus should be on what Scavo did after - that he cooperated with the investigation, doing community service

One of Scavo's lawyers also reads a letter he wrote taking responsibility for lying to the press immediately after about his involvement, and Lamberth says he gives Scavo credit for that, and for the cooperation and early plea and fact that he's not charged with violence, but...

...but Lamberth says he has to weigh the fact that everyone who participated in the attack on the Capitol was what brought the government "to a screeching halt that day"

Now, and whoa: Lamberth sentences Capitol rioter Frank Scavo to 60 days in jail — far more than the 14 days that the government requested and the term of probation that Scavo sought

Lamberth also imposed the max fine possible, $5,000. He announced the sentence with no additional explanation — he paused for a few beats after making that previous comment about all rioters being responsible for bringing the government to a "screeching halt"

Lamberth briefly addresses Scavo at the very end: "From the point the jig was up, you've done everything you could. Good luck to you."

I think this comment goes a long to explaining why Lamberth just handed down the sentence that he did (that is, he didn't seem to believe Scavo was remorseful, felt a stiffer sentence was warranted):

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1462815621800988678

"From the point the jig was up, you've done everything you could. Good luck to you."

A judge who felt burned after handing down the first probation sentence in a Jan. 6 case ordered a rioter who pleaded to the same misdemeanor to spend 60 days in jail: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Frank Scavo to spend 60 days in jail — far more than the 14 days recommended by the govt — and also to pay a $5,000 fine, which the govt hadn't asked for buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Lamberth has publicly lamented that he gave Anna Morgan-Lloyd probation and then she went on Fox News and downplayed the violence (her lawyer claims she got "played") — the judge has made clear he's approaching other Capitol rioters with a skeptical eye buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…