Biden in late August chided Republicans for clinging to his predecessor’s creed, calling it “semi-fascism.” A speaker at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania was Cynthia Hughes, a leader of a support group for Jan. 6 defendants like Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, whose case went viral after the Justice Department released photos of him sporting a distinctive “Hitler mustache.” Trump’s decision to introduce a speaker highlighting such a case when there are hundreds of other Capitol Hill riot defendants to point to as examples drew a sharp response from Lofgren, also a member of the House Judiciary Committee: “To you are a supporter of Adolf Hitler makes You in the category of Fascists, there is no incomplete reason. I think that’s worrying.” The signal of support for the Capitol rioters was just one example of how Trump used his first rally since the FBI probe at Mar-a-Lago to pander to his base, blaming Biden, whom he called “ enemy of the state,” the FBI and Department of Justice, and only briefly advertising the Pennsylvania Senate and gubernatorial candidates was in Wilkes-Barre to campaign. The rally came days after the former president said he would “very, very seriously” consider a full pardon for the Capitol rioters if he runs in 2024 and wins. her nephew, had been held in jail since his arrest nearly two years ago as an example of what he called the broader injustice facing defendants in cases related to January 6. While it’s true that Hale-Cusanelli was not charged with any violent crimes, the judge in his case ruled that he should remain in jail pending trial because he posed a threat to the public and there was a potential for “escalating violence.” from his alleged long-standing neo-Nazi beliefs. “I am very concerned about the statements after Jan. 6 that suggest the defendant is looking forward to a civil war,” federal judge Trevor McFadden said in a court hearing about two months after Hale-Cusanelli’s January 2021 arrest. “Every judge is afraid to free somebody who’s going to go crazy,” McFadden, a Trump appointee, said during the March 2021 hearing. “There’s a lot in here that makes me worry about that.” Prosecutors had cited police reports from 2020 in which Jews accused Hale-Cusanelli of harassment. They said they worry he might go after an informant who gave the FBI information that helped their case. And they reported that some colleagues at the Navy base where he worked in New Jersey felt afraid to confront him about his racist and sexist comments. During his trial in May, prosecutors played video of Hale-Cusanelli shouting a sexist expletive at a female police officer during the riot, played audio and showed text messages from the defendant in which he expressed anti-Semitic views, blaming Jews that they control Biden and said he wanted civil war. Hale-Cusanelli, who claimed he did not know Congress met in the United States Capitol, denied being a member of any white supremacist group. He testified that he is half Jewish and half Puerto Rican — and that his racial slurs were always “ironic” and “self-deprecating humor.” A jury convicted him of all charges earlier this year and he will be sentenced later this month. He was the fifth Jan. 6 rioter to be convicted by a jury in Washington, DC, and faces up to 20 years behind bars for the felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding. The final penalty, however, will likely be much lower. Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
