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.

Justice Department seeking 31 months for Jan. 6 defendant Mathew Capsel

Jack Birle

December 11, 02:46 PM December 11, 02:46 PM

The Justice Department is seeking a 31-months behind bars for a man charged with single-count superseding information during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Mathew Capsel came to a plea deal for the charge in September, with the guideline range being 27-33 months in prison.

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"The government recommends that the Court impose a sentence of imprisonment of 31 months, which is a near mid-range sentence as calculated by the government and as agreed upon by the parties in the plea agreement, restitution of $2,000, and the mandatory $100 special assessment for each count of conviction," the Justice Department said in a court filing.

Capsel's lawyers argued for him to be given the "low end of his guideline range" due to various factors.

"Mr. Capsel accepts the fact that there are consequences for his behavior on January 6. However, he asks this Court to recognize the previously discussed disparities, his family obligations, and his trauma related mental health needs when sentencing him. He suggests that a sentence of 1 year and 1 day is a 'sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary' to comply with the purposes of sentencing," Capsel's lawyers said in a court filing.

Sentencing in the case is set for Dec. 16, with Capsel's case being one of several the Justice Department pursued in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.

The Justice Department's most high-profile investigation into the riot involves determining if former President Donald Trump's actions on and leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, were criminal. The investigation was handed off to special counsel Jack Smith after Trump announced his presidential candidacy for 2024.