Two U.S. prosecutors suspended after describing Jan. 6 attack as carried out by ‘mob’

The Justice Department has placed two federal prosecutors in Washington on leave a day after they filed a document in court that referred to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as a “riot” carried out by a “mob,” four people familiar with the matter said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White were told they were being suspended just hours after they submitted a sentencing recommendation in a case against Taylor Taranto, a Washington state man accused of participating in the Capitol attack who is now facing sentencing for unrelated weapons charges, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

It remains unclear what specifically in the sentencing memo prompted the decision to place Valdivia