Judge rebukes RNC's 'legitimate political discourse' language at Jan. 6 sentencing

GABE STERN

Judge rebukes RNC's 'legitimate political discourse' language at Jan. 6 sentencing PHOTO: Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Janu. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images, FILE)

A federal judge on Thursday directly rebuked the Republican National Committee's resolution that declared the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol "legitimate political discourse" as she sentenced a man convicted of punching two officers during the assault to six months in prison.

"It is not 'legitimate political discourse,' and it is not justified to descend on the nation's Capitol at the direction of a disappointed candidate and disrupt the electoral process," said D.C. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson before she sentenced Mark Leffingwell, a disabled former Marine from Washington state. "Cancelling out the votes of other people with a show force is the opposite of what America stands for."

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