Jan 6 Breach of the Capitol: Consequences & Repercussions III

Hans Blaster said:

He's still a coward who refuses to testify to what he saw and is therefore fighting the subpoena.

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We’re still in an era where “alpha-males” hide behind “the process”, fighting every circumstance as if they were perpetual victims of injustice and tyranny.
If he didn’t fight the government, (boo, hiss), he’d have no conservative cred.
His hands are tied!

Hans Blaster said:

He's still a coward who refuses to testify to what he saw and is therefore fighting the subpoena.

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I’m not a supporter of his, but after the well-examined and careful January 6th reporting of FOX, Pence may now realize that it’s possible he didn’t see exactly what he first thought he saw (or was told he saw).

essentialsaltes said:

Pence says Trump ‘endangered my family’ in Capitol riot on Jan. 6​

“I read that some of those classified documents they found at Mar-a-Lago were actually stuck in the president’s Bible,” Pence said. “Which proves he had absolutely no idea they were there.”

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“I once invited President Trump to Bible study,” Pence said early in his speech [at the Gridiron Dinner, known for pols taking a swing at comedy]. “He really liked the passages about the smiting and perishing of thine enemies. As he put it, ‘Ya know, Mike, there’s some really good stuff in here.’”

Prosecutors say that apart from 10 seconds that “implicated an evacuation route,” the rest of the video played by Carlson was released to Pezzola and Chansley by September 24, 2021

Federal prosecutors on Sunday pushed back against claims that a video of so-called “█████ Shaman” Jacob Chansley that was shown by Fox News’s Tucker Carlson exonerated anyone in the mob at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In court filings Sunday, federal prosecutors said that video did not show Chansley, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his actions on January 6, facing off with officers for half an hour outside the Senate chamber or when Chansley refused to be escorted out of the Capitol by an officer and only left after being forcibly removed.

The prosecutors were responding to a request to throw out the case against five members of the Proud Boys for their alleged actions on and around January 6. Defense attorney Roger Roots, who represents Dominic Pezzola, had asked the judge to throw out the case – citing [Tucker Carlson's] clips of Chansley walking around parts of the Capitol with officers, calling the video “exculpatory.”

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We'll see if the shaman's lawyer is equally ready to contradict them in a filing to a court, rather than on television.

essentialsaltes said:

Pence says Trump ‘endangered my family’ in Capitol riot on Jan. 6​

“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said during remarks at the annual white-tie Gridiron Dinner attended by politicians and journalists. “I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”

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Trump suggests Pence to blame for Jan. 6 violence after former VP’s criticism​

“Had he sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways you can blame him for Jan. 6,” Trump said, according to The Washington Post. “Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, No. 1, you have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had ‘Jan. 6’ as we call it.”

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'If Pence had just overturned the election like I asked, all my supporters that I invited to a wild event on Jan 6th would have left him alone. So who's fault is it, really?' Trump trumpily trumped.

Prosecutors say January 6 defendant violated travel conditions by attending CPAC​

Gabriel Garcia sought permission from the court to travel to Washington, DC, from Florida to observe the January 6 trials for the Proud Boys and another January 6 defendant. Garcia also said the purpose of his travel was to consult his counsel pending his own trial, according to court documents.

But prosecutors said in a court filing that Garcia attended one trial for a few hours on March 3 before spending the rest of his day at CPAC in Maryland.

He is facing six charges, including two felonies.

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Previous Garcia coverage.

'Especially reprehensible' | Retired Air Force officer sentenced to 2 years in prison in Capitol riot case​

Larry Rendall Brock, of Grapevine, Texas, was convicted of obstruction of the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Images from the day show Brock, wearing a combat helmet and tactical vest and carrying zip-tie handcuffs, on the floor of the Senate Chamber after members of Congress had been evacuated from their joint session of Congress.

Prosecutors asked Bates to sentence Brock to five years in prison – at the lower end of the recommended guideline range they’d calculated – in no small part because of what they described as a “manifesto” he sent to another military veteran on Christmas Eve 2020.

Nearly 1,000 people have been charged to date, and a federal courthouse strains to handle what may be years more of trials​

The city’s federal court system is bracing for many years more of trials stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, with new charges possible against as many as 1,000 more people.

Eliason said that while the riot cases may be about halfway over, there are indications some of the other branches of the investigation — like the false electors scheme or efforts to use Justice Department officials to undo the election results — appear to be further along, because the witnesses now being subpoenaed include some of the most thorny legal matters and the people closest to former president Donald Trump. Those are generally indicators that an investigation is nearing the end of the fact-gathering phase, he said.
“There are a lot of court fights over privilege, and those take time, and you can’t just plow past them and not try to get critical evidence,” Eliason said.

As of Wednesday, judges had sentenced 408 Jan. 6 defendants, but only 88 of those were for felonies, mostly for one of two charges: obstruction of an official proceeding or assault on law enforcement.

What’s still unclear is how many of the additional suspects will face misdemeanor versus felony cases, though prosecutors have warned judges that it is likely the percentage of newly charged cases that will be felonies is likely to increase as investigators pursue more serious accusations. So far, about half of the cases have involved at least one felony, and half have charged only misdemeanors.

Six Oath Keepers convicted in connection with January 6 US Capitol riot​

Four of the defendants were found guilty on all of the charges they faced, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent a member of congress from doing their duty, destruction of government property and civil disorder.

Sandra Parker, Laura Steele, Connie Meggs and William Isaacs were accused of entering the Capitol during the riot and attempting to make their way to the Senate chamber before being deterred by pepper spray and police officers in the building. 

Two defendants were convicted of a lesser charge of entering and remaining on restricted grounds but acquitted of the most serious charges alleging the group conspired to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

[Jury is still deliberating some counts with these two.]

essentialsaltes said:

Six Oath Keepers convicted in connection with January 6 US Capitol riot​

Four of the defendants were found guilty on all of the charges they faced, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent a member of congress from doing their duty, destruction of government property and civil disorder.

Sandra Parker, Laura Steele, Connie Meggs and William Isaacs were accused of entering the Capitol during the riot and attempting to make their way to the Senate chamber before being deterred by pepper spray and police officers in the building. 

Two defendants were convicted of a lesser charge of entering and remaining on restricted grounds but acquitted of the most serious charges alleging the group conspired to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

[Jury is still deliberating some counts with these two.]

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One of the reporters covering these events made a chart showing the 21 Oath Keepers with judgements. Here is the tweet containing that chart:


The remaining counts the jury is still considering are "Obstruction of a proceeding" (18 USC 1512(c)(1) against accused "operation leader" Michael Greene) and "conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding" (18 USC 1512(k)) against Bennie Parker - his wife Sandra was convicted today). Both of them were acquitted of the other felonies they were charged with.

Three more Oath Keepers have pending trials (2 from this case that were separated from this trial and 1 other) that the DOJ prosecutors want to consolidate into a single trial. I wouldn't be surprised if Greene's remaining count is tried with them if the jury ends up hung.

Florida man supported Obama and didn't vote for Trump. Then he stormed the Capitol, pepper-sprayed cops, broke a $2,900 window, and got 4.5 years in prison.​

Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Mitchell Todd Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Florida, to 55 months in federal prison on Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Mehta also ordered Gardner to pay $3,500 in restitution and to stay under supervised release for 36 months after he leaves prison.

Attorneys for Gardner argued in a sentencing memorandum filed on March 3 that he grew up in a red state, which explains the "huge discrepancy between his life and nonviolent choices otherwise, and his behavior the day of January 6."

Hans Blaster said:

The remaining counts the jury is still considering are "Obstruction of a proceeding" (18 USC 1512(c)(2) against accused "operation leader" Michael Greene) and "conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding" (18 USC 1512(k)) against Bennie Parker - his wife Sandra was convicted today). Both of them were acquitted of the other felonies they were charged with.

Three more Oath Keepers have pending trials (2 from this case that were separated from this trial and 1 other) that the DOJ prosecutors want to consolidate into a single trial. I wouldn't be surprised if Greene's remaining count is tried with them if the jury ends up hung.

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The jury finished its work today. Bennie Parker *was* found guilty of conspiracy to obtruct, but remained hung on 1512(c)(2) charge [for Michael Greene] and the judge declared a mistrial on that count. No word yet on retrial or not.

Jan. 6 rioter who used GoPro to record himself jumping through broken Capitol window is sentenced to 9 months​

On Jan. 5, 2021, he warned in another post, "War is coming,” and later asked “What time do we storm the House of Representatives?”

Later, he posted, “Hopefully we are storming the House of Representatives tomorrow at 100pm.”

In handing down his sentence, Judge Paul Friedman said Puma still bore responsibility. “Were you duped by Donald Trump and by █████? Yes, maybe so,” Friedman said. But adults need to take responsibility for their actions at some point, he said.

Woman accused of [but not convicted of] stealing Pelosi’s laptop during Jan. 6 riot sentenced to 3 years​

A Pennsylvania woman linked to a far-right extremist movement was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol, where she invaded then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with other rioters.

Riley June Williams, 23, of Harrisburg, Pa., was charged with but not convicted of helping steal a laptop from Pelosi’s office suite during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

A federal jury convicted Williams in November of six charges, including a felony count of civil disorder, after a two-week trial. But it deadlocked on two other counts, including “aiding and abetting” the laptop’s theft.

Williams bragged online that she stole Pelosi’s gavel, laptop and hard drives and that she “gave the electronic devices, or attempted to give them, to unspecified Russian individuals,” prosecutors said in a June 2022 court filing.

“To date, neither the laptop nor the gavel has been recovered,” they added.

There is a continuing flow of cases, but here is a look back to a recently completed case (Oath Keepers III) from a juror who was interviewed by her boss, C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb:

Juror in Oath Keepers trial reveals secrets from the deliberation room

The part about the attorney springing a surprise attack on his client on the stand: “He was torturing his client to get us to feel sympathy.” was quite shocking and didn't work. Yikes.

Hans Blaster said:

There is a continuing flow of cases, but here is a look back to a recently completed case (Oath Keepers III) from a juror who was interviewed by her boss, C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb:

Juror in Oath Keepers trial reveals secrets from the deliberation room

The part about the attorney springing a surprise attack on his client on the stand: “He was torturing his client to get us to feel sympathy.” was quite shocking and didn't work. Yikes.

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Is it legal in America to disclose jury deliberations? It certainly is not allowed here in the UK. It is a contempt of court. Here is the advice offered to potential jurors:

After the trial you must not talk about what happened in the deliberation room, even with family members. You can talk about what happened in the courtroom.

I have always thought the American system resembled ours in this respect.

Whyayeman said:

Is it legal in America to disclose jury deliberations? It certainly is not allowed here in the UK. It is a contempt of court. Here is the advice offered to potential jurors:

After the trial you must not talk about what happened in the deliberation room, even with family members. You can talk about what happened in the courtroom.

I have always thought the American system resembled ours in this respect.

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I know that revealing grand jury deliberations is illegal, but that may be because of the looser standards of evidence and because no defense is offered.

DaisyDay said:

I know that revealing grand jury deliberations is illegal, but that may be because of the looser standards of evidence and because no defense is offered.

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Grand juries also discuss people who are not charged. One of the principles behind grand jury secrecy is in not making what are effective partial accusations against people that are not charged (indicted).

For Petit Juries, like this one, the discussion is about evidence presented in open court, so revealing hidden information is not at issue.

Hans Blaster said:

Grand juries also discuss people who are not charged. One of the principles behind grand jury secrecy is in not making what are effective partial accusations against people that are not charged (indicted).

For Petit Juries, like this one, the discussion is about evidence presented in open court, so revealing hidden information is not at issue.

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It appears that American juries are not forbidden from discussing their deliberations in the jury room. You live and learn!

Fascinating stuff.

FBI informant testifies at Proud Boys sedition trial — for the defense​

The man, going only by “Aaron,” joined a Kansas City chapter of the far-right Proud Boys organization in 2019. He had another relationship that went back a decade, with federal law enforcement.

As Donald Trump’s supporters swarmed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Aaron sent a quick series of messages to an FBI agent.

“Barriers down at capitol building,” he said, according to evidence shown in court. “Crowd surged forward. About to [reach] the building now.” He told his FBI handler, “PB did not do it, nor inspire.”

But in one of the most high-profile Jan. 6 prosecutions, it isn’t the government calling its own informants as witnesses. Instead, at least four FBI sources were approached by the defense. Two others are on trial. And it was federal prosecutors who undermined the credibility of a federal informant, suggesting that Aaron had deleted evidence and eliciting testimony that he repeatedly understated his own participation in the riot.

The evidence shown in court indicates that many of the FBI sources inside the Proud Boys were asked only about their ideological opponents on the left, even as the right-wing group was implicated in threats and violence at protests across the United States.

Aaron testified Wednesday that before Jan. 6, the FBI never asked him to look for information about the Proud Boys. When he informed his handler that he was coming to D.C. for the protest, he was asked only “to try to see if I could locate someone in D.C. that had nothing to do with the Proud Boys,” he testified.

Biggs has said in filings that he agreed to “share information about Antifa networks” with the FBI in 2020.

Salinas had sworn under oath that she only reported to federal agents on “antifa and the border” — not about the Proud Boys.

Proud Boy Matthew Walter of Tennessee was also a potential defense witness. He ... had several conversations with an FBI agent between August 2020 and January 2021.
“The rules were, don’t ask me about the Proud Boys,” Walter said. “They didn’t want to know about the Proud Boys, they wanted to know about antifa.”