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Jan 6 Prosecutors admit to possession of “images of officers hugging or fist-bumping rioters, posing for photos with rioters, and moving bike racks”

Jan 6 Prosecutors admit to possession of “images of officers hugging or fist-bumping rioters, posing for photos with rioters, and moving bike racks”

Calls into question the trespassing and related non-violent crimes charged against defendants like Cuoy Griffin.

This week, federal prosecutors quietly revealed that they possess evidence that may sink their prosecutions of many of those who were present at the Capitol on January 6.

This under-the-radar admission was made in a filing in the case of United States v. Couy Griffin. Griffin – an elected county commissioner for Otero County, New Mexico, a former pastor, and the founder of “Cowboys for Trump” – is charged with entering a restricted area outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

On Jan. 6, Griffin and a videographer traveled to Washington, D.C. to protest the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. After attending the Stop the Steal rally at The Ellipse, Griffin headed toward the Capitol as the crowd formed around fencing which had been set up in anticipation of the presidential inauguration.

Griffin and his videographer made their way to the outside deck of the Capitol, where the Presidential Inauguration was set to occur in a few weeks. There Griffin borrowed a bullhorn and led a group of protesters in prayer. He remained on the deck for about an hour and a half before voluntarily leaving the Capitol grounds with his videographer.

Griffin thereafter posted a video to the Cowboys for Trump Facebook page in which he stated that he “climbed up on the top of the Capitol building and … had a first row seat.”

Griffin’s Arrest and Charges

After the FBI was tipped off that Griffin had entered the Capitol grounds on January 6, the government charged Griffin with two misdemeanor violations sounding in trespass and disorderly conduct under 18 U.S.C. § 1752, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment.

Griffin’s Facebook post has since been deleted, but these screenshots from it were included in the criminal complaint against him:

The Department of Justice appears to have an double standard when it comes to enforcing 18 U.S.C. § 1752.   Recall that hundreds of protesters “broke through Capitol Police barricades” before “storming” the Capitol Building and the Supreme Court during the Justice Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.

One photo from Roll Call shows some of those protesters standing in the same “restricted area” the government alleges Griffin “illegally entered.”

Yet none of these protesters was charged under 18 USC § 1752 despite the fact that Congress was disrupted when the protesters invaded the Capitol Building in the middle of the confirmation hearings.  Instead, they were charged with D.C. Code §22-1307 – a local law that carries a maximum of 90 days in jail.

John Adams said that ours is a government of laws and not of men. Yet it becomes clearer every day that the opposite is true – the  entrenched bureaucrats at the Department of Justice have one set of rules for those it views as enemies of Democrats and another for those they view as their political allies. And we know which category Couy Griffin falls into.

The Government Tried To Keep Him Imprisoned

Griffin was arrested on January 19, 2021, and as with many of those who were merely present at the Jan. 6 melee (and as I wrote about regarding another Jan. 6 prisoner here), the government prosecutors sought to detain him without bail for the duration of his criminal prosecution.

In its motion for pretrial detention of Griffin, the government argued that Cowboys for Trump “advocates for fun rights” and that Griffin “is an inflammatory provocateur and fabulist who engages in racist invective and propounds baseless conspiracy theories, including that Communist China stole the 2020 Presidential Election.” According to the government, Griffin’s “inflammatory conduct, repeated threats, delusional worldview, and access to firearms makes him a danger to the community.”

In other words, the prosecutors asked that Griffin be deprived of his liberty indefinitely pending trial simply because they disliked his opinions about politics and government.

Unsurprisingly, the magistrate judge granted the prosecutors’ request and ordered Griffin detained without bail.

On appeal, however, Chief Judge Beryl Howell overturned that pretrial detention order and allowed Griffin to be released pending his trial.

The following exchange took place between the court and the prosecutors during a Feb. 5, 2021 bail hearing:

THE COURT: All right. And so — I want to be clear about the basis for the Government’s seeking pretrial detention here …. So if I’m understanding the Government’s position correctly, you think that Mr. Griffin presents a serious risk of flight because of his statements which the Government’s interpreting as basically being anarchist, not believing in the Government at all; do I have that pretty much right?

PROSECUTOR: Yes. That’s pretty much correct, yes.

THE COURT: And there is also no allegation …. that he damaged any federal property, that he injured or risked injuring another person because of his conduct on January 6th, and certainly didn’t have a weapon to do so on January 6th; is that right?

PROSECUTOR: Yes. That’s correct.

Such brazenness is stunning. In clear violation of the Bail Reform Act and a host of constitutional provisions – as well as the Supreme Court’s holding in Wisconsin v. Mitchell – the government openly admitted that it wanted to indefinitely deprive an American citizen of his liberty simply because it disagreed with his abstract beliefs about the government.

In reading the transcript, you can feel Chief Judge Howell’s eyes rolling.

Griffin, who never even entered the Capitol building, was released on February 5, 2021 after having served nearly three weeks in a federal lockup – for nothing more than a simple trespass.

Recent Revelations By The Government

But Griffin’s case was far from over.  In fact, his prosecution has dragged on for nearly seven months, and just this week, in a court filing seeking permission to extend it even longer, federal prosecutors made a breathtaking admission.

After explaining that the government possesses “[t]housands of hours” of video footage from a variety of sources, they conceded these materials include recordings of Capitol Police Officers allowing protesters to enter the so-called “restricted” area into which Griffin is alleged to have trespassed. The prosecutors stated:

“[W]e are not in a position to turn over the universe of information we possess for Defendant to review. Although we are aware that we possess some information that the defense may view as supportive of arguments that law enforcement authorized defendants (including Defendant) to enter the restricted grounds, e.g., images of officers hugging or fist-bumping rioters, posing for photos with rioters, and moving bike racks, we are not in a position to state whether we have identified all such information” (emphasis is mine).

Let’s underline that point: federal prosecutors have evidence – which so far they refuse to provide to any of the Jan. 6 criminal defendants – that Capitol Police Department officers moved obstructions to allow protesters to enter locations that prosecutors are now calling “restricted areas.” And more than that, the government possesses evidence that the officers were taking photos with, hugging and fist-bumping many of those who they allowed to enter those areas.

Add to this the fact that of the course of an hour and a half, Griffin was never asked to leave the area by the police – an assertion by Griffin that the prosecutors do not challenge – and it becomes clear that the government is going to have a serious problem meeting its burden of proof.

Indeed, 18 USC § 1752(a) prohibits individuals from” knowingly enter[ing] or remain[ing] in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so.” The Supreme Court held in Bryan v. United States that for a defendant to have acted willfully, he must have “acted with knowledge that his conduct was unlawful.”

But if the Capitol Police were allowing the protesters to access certain areas that the feds now claim were “restricted,” or were acting in a way that communicated their acquiescence or approval of the protesters’ physical presence in those locations, there is simply no way that the government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that those protesters-cum-criminal defendants broke the law.

At the bail hearing, Chief Judge Howell presaged this issue, stating:

“The charge under 18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(1) with which Mr. Griffin is charged, you know, does require more than simply having – simply presenting proof of the fact that Mr. Griffin jumped over some fences or barriers, you know, to get onto the Capitol grounds …. that fact alone doesn’t constitute a crime under Section 1752(a)(1) …. In addition to breaching barriers of a restricted space, the Government also has to prove that the defendant knowingly entered this restricted building without lawful authority” (emphasis is mine).

This week’s revelation by federal prosecutors that Capitol Police Officers either explicitly or implicitly authorized protesters to enter the very portions of the Capitol grounds that those protesters are now being charged with trespassing onto guts the government’s case.

It was hardly surprising news then that federal prosecutors offered Griffin a confidential plea deal this week.  In all likelihood, the prosecutors know that they can’t prevail at trial and so are doing whatever they can to scotch the matter as quickly and quietly as possible before they have to disclose the exculpatory evidence in their possession.

Once that material is provided to the defense, Griffin and others may well choose to take their cases to the mat.  And an acquittal at trial for a Jan. 6 defendant – let alone several of them – would be an enormous humiliation for the Department of Justice.

The DOJ is undoubtedly aware of this, and I suspect it is trying desperately to avoid such a black eye at all costs – even if that means offering favorable plea dispositions to people like Cuoy Griffin for charges that it knows should never have been brought in the first place.

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Comments

Griffin needs to stand firm on this. Make the government release any exculpatory evidence.

    Grant’sGhost in reply to Sanddog. | August 11, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    Has a fund of been set up for his defense? If so where? I know it’s not a go fund me.

    jacker29 in reply to Sanddog. | August 12, 2021 at 8:42 am

    How many of those arrested & still being held, have been charged with sedition, insurrection or treason?

      George_Kaplan in reply to jacker29. | August 12, 2021 at 5:55 pm

      I know a couple of cops from … Seattle PD perhaps, who attended the rally, march, and watched the tour of the Capitol were sacked for involvement in an ‘insurrection’ and I know prosecutors were talking about sedition, insurrection andor treason but I believe such claims were quietly dropped when talking to judges rather than the media. The MSM is happy to smear those involved with the 6th as guilty of such things, judges are more inclined to demand evidence, which prosecutors cannot show.

    fredx3 in reply to Sanddog. | August 18, 2021 at 11:21 am

    Sorry, Sanddog,. All this hype is so unbelievably stupid. You are being led to believe that the prosecution is illegally withholding evidence. They are not. You are falling for the typical media campaign by defense attornies, who try to claim that the prosecution is withholding something. FIRST it is unclear whether any pictures of fist bumping, etc have ANYTHING to do with the case against Griffin. If the fist bumping, etc took place hundreds of yards away and did not involve Griffin, what relevance does it have? SECOND, there is TONS of video out there showing the police removing the barricades in general, and we know the police on the West side of the Capitol let people in, while rioters broke into the capitol on the East side.
    What this demand shows me is that the defense HAS NO DEFENSE – because they are trying to confuse the issue by claiming that cops removing barriers a hundred yards away meant something. to the charges against Griffin. It probably has no bearing at all, and the defense is simply trying to play a public PR game when it has no defense at all. The prosecutors are bound by law to release any relevant evidence they have regarding the crimes committed by Griffin. The only question is WHEN they have to release that info. They do not have to release it to the public, just because websites (with good intentions) are misleading the public into thinking something evil is going on when all that is happening is our system is working through the process, legally and according to the rules. So much of this stuff about the evil government treating the rioters badly is all hype and BS spread by web sites who know some people are dumb and will fall for it, increasing their clicks.

      There’s an awful lot of “if” and “probably” and general surmising on your part in this post. You must have been very tired after that round of mental gymnastics. One thing is clear. These defendants are guaranteed the right to a speedy trial and seven months (and counting) for misdemeanor trespassing charges is ridiculous. It certainly isn’t speedy. So, the “evil hype” is actually the DOJ trying to pull their own fat out of the fire.

Gee, I had those photos and videos within a week of the incident. Maybe somebody ought to teach DOJ about this thing called “YouTube.”

It sure takes the truth a long time to come out in this administration. Sicknick, Rich, Wuhan, Ivermectin, Cuomo, Hunter.

It’s almost as if Joe Biden and his cronies are standing athwart a massive flow of evidence, yelling “Stop!”

    Ben Kent in reply to henrybowman. | August 12, 2021 at 7:39 am

    WILL THESE 200+ COMPLICIT OFFERS BE PROSECUTED ?

    If they don’t prosecute – there is a REAL case here for selective enforcement.

    Dems do not want this info out because it undermines their “INSURRECTION” narrative and reveals this whole episode as a nasty dirty trick. From the 2nd impeachment to the round up of hundreds of 1/6ers they have used the power of the state to attack political opponents.

    It was a riot. There were legitimate reasons for the riot. Those reasons have not gone away because Dems refuse to address them. Which begs the question every American wants answered – if Biden really won the election fair and square – why do Dems resist any independent investigation of the irregularities that occurred in that election? ? ?

      Many officers who were identified holding open doors and taking selfies have already been canned, but I’m willing to bet there is a “And don’t say anything or we will throw you in jail with the rest for a year or two while we figure out what to charge you with” because they’ve all been very quiet.

      It started as a demonstration, then rapidly ran up the scale to ‘riot’ when the officers began lobbing flash-bang explosives blindly *into* the crowd and hosing them down with pepper spray. Anybody who has been trained in riot control knows you don’t do that, because uncontrolled used of explosive devices is going to kill or injure people, and deploying pepper spray against a crowd only makes the ones close but not in it angrier.

      I don’t want to sound all ‘black helicopter’ but if the Capitol Police leadership were *trying* to incite violence, they could not have picked a better way to do it. Pick some isolated fights, lob bombs into the crowd, then withdraw. In what few outside videos still available, you can see people trying to break windows and Trump supporters pulling them back, for example.

      mark311 in reply to Ben Kent. | August 14, 2021 at 5:23 am

      Some officers were suspended and are under investigation

      https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2AJ243

      This info has been known since day one , not exactly a secret

      How does it change the narrative? Given we know that in many other places barricades were breached, officers beaten up, etc.

      A legitimate riot? I don’t think so. That’s a contradiction in terms. The reasoning behind the riots , baseless lies spewed by bad faith actors trying to carry out a coup. Given the revelations over DT pressuring the DoJ to pretend there was foul play and to instigate states to change results with no evidence of fraud.

      There has to be a basis for an investigation in election fraud. At the moment the evidence points to those raising the election fraud as being the fraudulent ones using it to raise money.

        Dimsdale in reply to mark311. | August 16, 2021 at 7:49 pm

        “A legitimate riot? I don’t think so. That’s a contradiction in terms. The reasoning behind the riots , baseless lies spewed by bad faith actors trying to carry out a coup.”

        Perhaps you will expound for us the term “peaceful protests” in light of the riots, assaults, arson, unpermitted demonstrations, robbery and pillaging by BLM and pantifa all last summer and continuing today.

          mark311 in reply to Dimsdale. | August 21, 2021 at 8:41 am

          Perhaps you’ll explain the relevance of BLM, to the comment. Whether the various BLM protestors and the small percentage of criminal activity associated with it was bad or not has nothing to do with the merits or lack thereof of the Jan 6th riots.

          mark311 in reply to Dimsdale. | August 21, 2021 at 8:42 am

          Further you haven’t actually addresses the substance of the claim so citing some other incident is not an argument

          M.G. in reply to Dimsdale. | August 25, 2021 at 2:51 pm

          See Dimsdale… it is people like “Mark11” that are in total denial or intentionally gas lighting as our current bought and phony administration does on a daily basis. They want to make out that the January 6th protestors are criminals and that BLM, Antifa, in Mark 11’s words only resulted in a “small percentage of criminal activity”… Are you effing kidding me?! Small percentage of criminal activity?!!! Government buildings and businesses burned, windows broken, spray painted, looted, etc. and people stabbed, beaten, killed TO THIS DAY, This is exactly what incenses we people with gray matter in our skulls, the bold, blatant lying… it’s unbelievable. These are the SAME people that leave these cities because their lovely Demoncrat leaders have taken them into the toilet and then they move to other cities and VOTE FOR THE SAME CRIMINALS!! Regarding January 6th -it’s ironic that people went to protest the CRIMES carried out in our rigged election and they are the people thrown in jail as the criminals! Plenty of the election fraud evidence IS COMING peop[e!! Hang tight… reports just being finalized, it’s all coming… Truth prevails people, remember that… it may not happen as quickly as we would like it to, but it ALWAYS does and when that day comes, I will rejoice! I want to see people prosecuted and thrown in jail that DESERVE to be! For instance, our top government that is corrupt, Anti-American and lies to us on a daily basis. Additionally, Hunter Biden… why are his colleagues in jail and he’s out here selling his “art” (it’s sh-t)… Some lunatic people in our society have their priorities all mixed up… Wake up and smell the real problem people, look, listen… DUH! I think we may need to do some serious air drops of smelling salts! PATHETIC this current administration and anyone that supports it!

    geronl in reply to henrybowman. | August 12, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    There are security cameras all over the Capitol and each one of them has several hours of footage recorded apparently. Almost none of this has been made public. They don’t want the defense to have the footage because of the things mentioned in the article.

    Of course we also know the “violent” ones didn’t even attend Trumps speech (some fans) and their “conspiracy” was basically organized and guided by FBI assets.

We shall see what happens. It would not be the first time a jury saw fit to overlook reasonable doubt in their quest for vengeance.

Hard to believe, but my opinion of Judge Howell just shot up a notch.

If Griffin doesn’t plead out, and is found not guilty (or even better, if Judge Howell dismisses once the exculpatory information is produced and presented to her), can’t Griffin sue the government for deprivation of his civil rights, and hopefully collect some big bucks?

I would say that the Prosecution conclusively proved that Griffin was correct in his belief that nothing the government says is true.
And given Judge Beryl-Howell is a partisan political hack, not above lying and excessive political punishment herself, this must have come as a shock to her when the Democrats at the DOJ were as brazen as a prosecutor for Stalin or Xi.

So I guess the prosecution will be revising charges on these insurrectionists from “parading” to “parading with intent to fist bump”? Worse than 9/11!

They REALLY hate Trump supporters,

    Yep, all 73 million of us. They think that this banana republic kangaroo court crap will scare us. Stop laughing, they really think that.

    mark311 in reply to maxmillion. | August 12, 2021 at 8:24 am

    @maximillion

    Nope people don’t hate Trump supporters , just think you aren’t particularly bright and have bought into a grifters narrative

    @fuzzy

    What are you on about, it’s called due process. You haven’t let the process run at all. Compare the treatment of most people and you’ll see in comparison the gov has been pretty lenient on average to these folks. Saw one stat that something like 70% of those federally charged are held pre trial compared to something like 25% in the case of Jan 6th. Hell one of the judges in DC is complaining the gov is being far too lenient in its recommendations for sentencing.

      geronl in reply to mark311. | August 12, 2021 at 9:04 pm

      They have a right to a speedy trial. I’d love to see the evidence against most of these people, because it probably doesn’t even exist.

        Heh, @geroni, this @mark311 is a leftist troll, not really worth your time or energy. 🙂

          I see my reply has been deleted, funny that when I point out that you are a sham. Maybe stop limiting my comments you hypocrit fuzzy. Free speech my ass.

          This is the THIRD time I am posting this, @mark311. Not sure what you are finding hard to grasp here, but you do seem to be a bit thick. You benefit from our comment policy because there are still some LI readers who will engage with you in good faith; they might not if our comment policy were different and they knew how little you really thought of them.

          ——————-

          @mark311, you wrote, “I did have a much longer comment on this but apparently this site deletes comments and generally doesn’t want me to comment. Most of my comments don’t appear anymore”. Waaaahhhhh!

          I have taken the time to explain this to you, but you seem more interested in playing victim. We all know who you are, @mark311, even if our readers don’t. Here is my response to your previous whining about LI’s comment moderation:

          LI has a comment policy, and if you violate it, your comments will be removed. One of the primary policy points that you violate with vile consistency is ad hominem attacks on our readers. Note that we, of course, remove vile name-calling directed at you. Which I am guessing you think is just fine? In fact, I recall you THANKING ME for it not so long ago.

          Your most recent comments that have been removed include your calling various LI readers a “moron,” a “selfish idiot,” someone who is “on crack,” someone who is “full of shit” another who is just “bullshit,” people you deem a “fuckwit,” an “idiot” (sans the “selfish” modifier), “truly a moron,” “a moron,” “childish,” “dumb,” and a “fucking idiot.” That’s just in the past week or so.

          Whatever goodwill you have among LI readers is due to our removing your ad hominem attacks on our readers–i.e. they don’t see you as you really are, as all of us here at LI see you–, so you should be thanking your lucky stars that our readers don’t see the hate and bile you spew from your condescending, hate-fueled leftie troll perch.

          Oh, and the phrase is “intents and purposes,” not “intensive purposes,” which makes about as much sense as you typically do.

          The above comment can be found here, and I will continue to repost it every time you complain that your comments are not appearing . . . because there’s a reason for this, and it’s the same one that sees many of our real (and beloved) readers occasionally have their comments removed: they violate our comment policy against ad hominem attacks on other readers. Period.

          —————–

          I didn’t go back and include links, but I will happily do so if requested. My guess is @mark311 will ignore this posting just as he did the two before it so he can continue to claim some kind of butthurt victimhood. What a joke.

          healthguyfsu in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 15, 2021 at 11:49 pm

          Anyone remember when marky started here with his concern troll and centrist act? I sure do.

          Dimsdale in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 16, 2021 at 7:59 pm

          Ad hominems are tacit admission that you lost the argument, Mark311.

          carolmcl in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 16, 2021 at 9:59 pm

          thanks for the heads up. 🙂

      DaveGinOly in reply to mark311. | August 13, 2021 at 2:52 pm

      There are things called “ethics”. Overcharging and maintaining charges against a suspect in the face of exculpatory evidence that’s sufficient to conclude that no crime was committed (the “willful” part), is unethical. Unethical, biased, and selective prosecution is not part of “due process.”

        mark311 in reply to DaveGinOly. | August 14, 2021 at 5:31 am

        Actually it’s more complicated than that. The part the article misses is that once those who entered has reason to believe it was trespass then at that point it becomes a crime if they don’t leave. It’s not just about point of entry. Given the sprawling nature of the evidence and number of people there is a level of mitigation for the slow trial process. Probably could have been handled better for sure but given the circumstances it’s a maybe. Clearly the judges are losing patience so they should speed things up now.

      Dimsdale in reply to mark311. | August 16, 2021 at 7:53 pm

      “Lenient on these folks?” Do tell.

      How many BLM and pantifa goons have been arrested? Of the few, how many were immediately released with a wrist slap and even financial aid from Harris?

      carolmcl in reply to mark311. | August 16, 2021 at 9:55 pm

      Yes, one of the judges on the left says that.
      25% are being held on trumped up bogus charges. Wandering around the exterior of the Capitol is not an insurrection. Wandering inside taking photos isn’t either. Not a one who invaded Congressional offices, who interrupted proceedings, who screamed and yelled at members of Congress were ever arrested or charged during the Kavanaugh debacle.
      Double Standard.

Hopefully the plea agreement negotiations begin with “I’m not pleading guilty to the time of day.” and end with “…and you agree to pay my attorney fees.”. In between, get as much as possible. He seems to have them by the short and curlies. Time to make the most of it, and make it hurt.

Don’t take the deal, demand every second of footage the government has in their possession
Embarrass Garland and everybody at the DOJ

Clearly the Xiden DOJ needs a man like Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria to keep these troublesome Americans down.

    Subotai Bahadur in reply to iconotastic. | August 11, 2021 at 11:44 pm

    I am sure that they have been auditioning candidates since January.

    Subotai Bahadur

    The_Mew_Cat in reply to iconotastic. | August 12, 2021 at 6:57 am

    When Dementia Joe finally strokes out or dies of Delta, Kamala Harris will just send Republicans to Gitmo as enemy terrorists. No more legal niceties. I expect her to fire Merrick Garland as her first act as President, and to install Andrew Weissmann as AG.

I have to wonder how much longer the government can refuse to turn over the potentially exculpatory evidence. We are seven months removed from the events yet arrests were made, charges filed, warrants issued many months ago.

The prosecution is supposed to have at least reviewed the potential exculpatory evidence prior to all that. They state to the CT that all the evidence collectively, meets the basis to sustain the warrant or charge.

If the government can’t provide exculpatory evidence to a particular defendant in August following a bail hearing in February following an arrest on 19 January, it tells me that the government itself not only failed to review the evidence but has yet to organize the evidence specific to each defendant.

The government has had more than enough time to meet their responsibilities. The CT needs to stop enabling prosecutorial overreach and allowing them to leverage their failure to pressure the defendant.

    mark311 in reply to CommoChief. | August 12, 2021 at 8:27 am

    It’s the largest case in US history so there is some sympathy in that respect.

      geronl in reply to mark311. | August 12, 2021 at 9:01 pm

      The largest case of “trespassing” apparently, lol.

        mark311 in reply to geronl. | August 13, 2021 at 12:18 pm

        Not just trespassing, 140 officers were assaulted and then there is the interference with lawful proceedings as well. I’m sure there are other crimes listed in the charge sheets by those three are the dominant ones

      DaveGinOly in reply to mark311. | August 13, 2021 at 2:57 pm

      No sympathy. The Chief is talking about the “due process” you were lecturing us about above. Do you support due process, or do you only raise the issue when you feel it may help you win a point?

    Dathurtz in reply to CommoChief. | August 12, 2021 at 8:55 am

    They can do it as long as they want. What is the down side for them?

      Philip in reply to Dathurtz. | August 12, 2021 at 10:46 am

      It sure is looking that way.

      CommoChief in reply to Dathurtz. | August 12, 2021 at 12:13 pm

      No the can’t ‘do it as long as they want’; that’s what the article was about. The CT is growing impatient with this state of affairs. The willingness to allow extensions will expire and probably pretty quickly based on the tone of the transcript.

      The downside? The CT dismissing the charges with prejudice. That is a growing possibility for some of the defendants. When that occurs the narrative is destroyed.

        Subotai Bahadur in reply to CommoChief. | August 12, 2021 at 5:10 pm

        If the President is openly defying the Supreme Court, its rulings, and its authority to make rulings affecting his chosen policies; what is to stop his minions from ignoring the courts also? In the absence of an effective social contract regarded as being legitimate, what reason is there for them to obey a court?

        Subotai Bahadur

          CommoChief in reply to Subotai Bahadur. | August 13, 2021 at 12:05 am

          IMO, the willingness to violate the social compact is ultimately going to bite the d/progressive in the ass.

          Every single instance of tossing custom, tradition and norms aside in favor of short term advantage, much less deliberate Constitutional violations; extending the eviction moratorium, sets the new standard.

          We have laws to prevent gross excess in human behavior. We rely upon customs, traditions and norms; the social compact, as an informal regulatory regime.

          IMO, the d/progressive should prepare to have each and every one of these recent violations stuck where the sun don’t shine.

          Every r should stop pearl clutching and get out of the way when it starts. No lectures about how this is contrary to the behavior you wish.

          The d/progressive understand power and pain. When next in power we should bring them pain. A very painful lesson that will serve to remind them to respect norms.

        geronl in reply to CommoChief. | August 12, 2021 at 9:00 pm

        They are doing their best to force these people into pleading guilty to these bogus charges. 7 months in pretrial detention for trespassing is completely insane.

    Sonnys Mom in reply to CommoChief. | August 12, 2021 at 5:07 pm

    💯%, it is an outrage that the DoJ is allowed to drag its feet on meeting its discovery obligations.

    geronl in reply to CommoChief. | August 12, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    They should not even be able to get an arrest warrant without some kind of evidence.

This sounds like a clear Brady violation. It is beyond exculpatory. It demonstrates that the government is aware that it cannot prove at least one element of the offense, but filed charges anyway. This sort of prosecutor’s misconduct ought to get the cases dismissed and the prosecutor reported to attorney regulation to be investigated for an ethics violation.

…it becomes clear that the government is going to have a serious problem meeting its burden of proof.

Not sure this matters anymore.

Didn’t matter with Chauvin.

Maybe a couple of the DoJ prosecutors would like to avoid the humiliation of being shown up as fools, but Merrick and Co. could care less: they’ve no shame.

    r2468 in reply to ss396. | August 12, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    I think the bar is already low for looking like a fool in DC, many politicians took a crack at lowering it to the floor. Now they ignore it and keep going forward.

They want guilty pleas because they cannot prove these charges. It’s very obvious.

The pastor was denied bail because Cowboys for Trump advocates for “fun rights”? Our government has a problem with our right to fun? Vile bastards, they are.

“…images of officers hugging or fist-bumping rioters, posing for photos with rioters…”

I have to wonder if any of the officers who subsequently killed themselves are depicted in any of these images. They may have regretted having helped to lead sheep to slaughter, as it were.

First go after the yellow-bellied cops who testified before congress with their tears, including Kizinger/Schitff. Then go after the folks making the charges. Then go after Pelosi. Then find out who shot the protestor. Then go after Garland for incompetence for allowing this dog and pony to go on. Then, the MSM for smearing Trump, lying about what he said, and calling all attendies terrotists and whtie supremacists.

“Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases,” said a former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. “Then you have five percent, maybe, of these militia groups that were more closely organized. But there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-fbi-finds-scant-evidence-us-capitol-attack-was-coordinated-sources-2021-08-20/
AOC will need to continue her therapy

Ameer, you are missing something.

There was a PERMIT issued for the rally at the US Capitol by the US Capitol Police.

They have refused to answer media inquiries on this:

https://nationalfile.com/are-us-capitol-police-hiding-permit-for-january-6-demonstrations/