Steve Baker, an opinion contributor for Blaze News and independent investigative journalist, said having the misdemeanor charges he faced stemming from his presence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 be dismissed with prejudice allowed him to feel like himself again.
Hours after being sworn into office on January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting pardons, commuting sentences, and directing the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue dismissal with prejudice in cases of individuals convicted on charges for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Baker was among a small group of journalists who were prosecuted for being present at the Capitol on January 6. He was charged with four misdemeanors.
On March 1, 2024 – over three years after the Capitol protests – Baker self-surrendered to an FBI field office in Texas, where he was processed, handcuffed, and then transported to the federal courthouse in downtown Dallas where he was handed over to the U.S. Marshals, who proceeded to put him in a belly chain, box cuffs, and leg shackles before placing him in a cell with a meth dealer and then marching him in front of a magistrate judge.
In November, Baker entered an Alfred plea to avoid a trial by jury in a Washington D.C. courtroom in front of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
Baker’s case was one of which was dismissed due to Trump’s directing of the Attorney General to “pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
On Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Baker said he feels like himself again after having the case against him dismissed for good.
“I did not know the latent and buried stress that I was under. That was not revealed to me until several days after the pardon was announced and when I got the final signature from Cooper signing off on my case dismissal. I felt it then. It’s almost like I had been in a situation of writer’s block for 10 months since I was actually charged and arrested and I realized I could work again. My imagination was free again,” Baker explained.
“Suddenly, everything opened up to me again and I felt like the old Steve again,” Baker added.
Despite his experience, however, Baker said while he was “humiliated” throughout his case – especially when he self-surrendered to authorities in Dallas – other J6 defendants have gone through worse circumstances.
“Look, I was humiliated that day…but what I went through was nothing compared to what so many others went through. I was never SWAT raided, I never had an illegal warrant for the FBI to search my home. They never seized my devices. I wasn’t placed in solitary confinement for two months without access to an attorney. These things happened to so many, even non violent offenders. There was a violation of due process all over the place,” Baker said.
Watch the full interview:
Tune in now to hour 2 of today’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk
– Watch here on X
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on The John Fredericks Radio Network (WENO AM760 in Nashville)
– Read more at @TheTNStar https://t.co/32GWEDi5Ny— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) February 6, 2025
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
