WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent who was charged with joining a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol and cheering on rioters is now working as an adviser to the Justice Department official overseeing its “weaponization working group,” which is examining President Donald Trump's claims of anti-conservative bias inside the department.
The former FBI supervisory agent, Jared Lane Wise, is serving as a counselor to Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin Jr., who also serves as director of the working group, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss a personnel matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A department spokesperson declined to comment. The New York Times was first to report on Wise's appointment.
When Trump returned to the White House in January, he picked Martin to serve as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. But the president pulled his nomination to keep the job on a more permanent basis two days after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of Capitol rioters.
Martin was a leading figure in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. He spoke at a rally in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. He represented three Jan. 6 defendants and served on the board of the nonprofit Patriot Freedom Project, which reports raising over $2.5 million to support riot defendants.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called for creating the “weaponization” group in February to investigate claims by Trump and Republican allies that the Justice Department unfairly targeted conservatives during President Joe Biden’s administration. The group's review includes the work of former special counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal prosecutions of Trump that were ultimately abandoned after Trump was elected to a second term.
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro replaced Martin as the top federal prosecutor in Washington, but Martin immediately moved over to his current Justice Department position.
Wise, who worked as a special agent or supervisory special agent for the FBI from 2004 through 2017, was arrested in Oregon on Capitol riot-related misdemeanor charges in May 2023.
Wise repeatedly shouted, “Kill ’em!” as he watched rioters assaulting officers outside the Capitol, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Wise clapped his hands and raised his arms ”in triumph” after he entered the building through the Senate wing door, the affidavit says. He left the building about nine minutes after entering.
Police body camera footage showed Wise berating police officers outside the Capitol and repeatedly shouting, “Shame on you!”
“I’m former law enforcement," he told them." You’re disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can’t see it.”
Wise was on trial in Washington when Trump returned to the White House in January and immediately pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the attack. The case against Wise was dismissed before the jury reached a verdict.
Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
FILE - Ed Martin speaks at an event at the Capitol in Washington, on June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
