Jared Wise, a former FBI agent prosecuted for his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, has resigned from his position at the Justice Department, he announced on April 2. Wise, who returned to the department during the Trump administration, aimed to expose alleged prosecutorial abuses related to the Capitol riot investigations but concluded this mission could not be fulfilled from inside the government.
Wise served with the FBI from 2004 to 2017 and was charged with felony civil disorder, assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, and multiple misdemeanors related to his conduct during the January 6 attack. Prosecutors alleged Wise encouraged the crowd to harm law enforcement and unlawfully entered the Capitol. His trial was ongoing when former President Donald Trump pardoned him along with nearly 1,600 other January 6 defendants on the first day of his second term.
Following his pardon, Wise joined the Justice Department as a counselor to Ed Martin, the department’s pardon attorney and former head of the Weaponization Working Group—an internal team reviewing alleged misuse of prosecutorial power. Wise contributed to drafting a report focused on January 6 prosecutions, though no public report has been released, and it remains unclear if one will be made public.
Wise’s resignation came the same day Trump replaced Attorney General Pam Bondi with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting attorney general. Sources familiar with Justice Department dynamics reported tensions between Martin’s team and Blanche’s staff, partly due to frustrations with Martin’s progress on the Weaponization Working Group’s work.
Wise’s employment at the Justice Department drew criticism from congressional Democrats. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin called his hiring “a slap in the face to law enforcement everywhere.” The department has not publicly commented on Wise’s resignation.
Why it matters
Wise’s resignation highlights ongoing controversies within the Justice Department involving the handling of January 6 cases and internal disputes during a period of leadership turnover. His role in seeking to investigate potential prosecutorial abuses, combined with his own charged and pardoned status, underscores the polarized environment surrounding the Capitol attack prosecutions.
Background
The January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol led to numerous criminal charges against participants, with some accused of violent acts against law enforcement. The Justice Department has faced scrutiny both for aggressively prosecuting rioters and for alleged political influence over investigations. The Weaponization Working Group was established to assess claims of prosecutorial misconduct but has faced challenges and internal resistance.
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