The Justice Department placed two federal prosecutors on administrative leave after they described the Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by President Donald Trump as a "mob of rioters," five people familiar with the situation told NBC News.

The prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, used the phrase in a sentencing memo filed Tuesday in the case of Taylor Taranto, a MAGA enthusiast who prosecutors say stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and was involved in a "scuffle" with police officers trying to force the mob out of the building.

Stream NBC4 newscasts for free right here, right now. WATCH HERE

While Trump pardoned Taranto and about 1,500 other Jan. 6 rioters , the pardon did not cover Taranto's other actions in 2023, when, prosecutors said, he perpetuated a bomb hoax and then s

See Full Page