DOJ reveals classified messages in Proud Boys trial

Jack Birle

March 09, 06:32 PM March 09, 06:32 PM

Federal prosecutors inadvertently revealed classified messages to defense attorneys for the Proud Boys in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot seditious conspiracy trial.

Justice Department officials were granted a pause in the trial by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Thursday. They will have until Monday to conduct a classification review of the messages found hidden on a spreadsheet provided to the defense.

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The spreadsheet included communications from FBI Special Agent Nicole Miller on the bureau’s internal messaging service from Jan. 6, 2021, to Nov. 11, 2021. Miller was set to be cross-examined by the defense, but the defense discovered thousands of hidden rows of messages from other FBI agents and a reference to an agent accessing the attorney-client privileged communications of a defendant, per WUSA.

The defense tried on Wednesday to enter the hidden communications into evidence to get Miller's testimony stricken from court records, but prosecutors objected. The prosecution then announced Thursday that the hidden rows may not have gone through a review to determine if they were classified. The defense tried to use the hidden communications as evidence the Justice Department had been withholding information, and that may be grounds for a mistrial, per the report.

Kelly ordered the trial be paused until Monday and the defense refrain from reviewing or sharing the document with the hidden rows until a classification review is completed.

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola are on trial for seditious conspiracy charges for their roles in the riot. All five have pleaded not guilty.

The trial has several delays, with numerous disputes between the prosecution and defense attorneys. The Justice Department says it has pursued nearly 1,000 cases related to the Capitol riot.