DOJ cans staffer who distributed January 6 press releases
By: Jim Wash
Cherry Hill Courier-Post
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A public affairs specialist who handled press information on Capitol riot suspects is speaking out after her abrupt firing from the U.S. Department of Justice.
.....
"I hope this poorly veiled action can be seen for what it truly is," said Patty Hartman, a former spokesperson for the FBI in New Jersey and the federal prosecutor's office in Philadelphia.
..... "I suppose I should look at my termination as an honor to be among the ranks of so many smart, talented members of the federal workforce who were also terminated," she added.
..... A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
..... Hartman most recently worked for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The public affairs office there distributed press releases and maintained an Online database of people accused of taking part in the Janaya 6, 2021, Capitol riot by a crowd seeking to thwart the election of incoming President Joe Biden.
..... Trump pardoned convicted rioters after taking office earlier this year, [01/20/2025] and the Department of Justice also stopped its prosecution of pending cases.
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In a social media post, Hartman said she had received a termination letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi "as the justification for my sudden, indefensible removal from federal service after nearly 20 years."
..... Among other points, Article II states that he president "shall commission all the officers of the United States."
..... "Sadly, since this had just happened to three of my colleagues a week or so earlier, I was not shocked," Hartman said, referring to the reported dismissal of three career prosecutors who tried Capitol-riot cases.
..... Hartman's post said she had received "nothing but postie work performance evaluations throughout my career," and noted that she's now looking for work. Her post included a dire view of the country's current condition.
..... "We appear to be driving straight into an abyss that holds no memory of what democracy is, was, or should be," she wrote.
..... "And the people in charge who are supposed to protect us - our fellow Americans who we elected, along with those who were appointed, and swore an OATH to protect this nations and our Constitution - now sue the Constitution as a weapon to suit their own ends," Hartman added.