Richard "Bigo" Barnett, seen here with a stun gun in his pants and foot on a desk inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, has a remote hearing now in the District of D.C.
Prosecutor is up first, arguing for Barnett's detention.
Barnett's conduct is about "flouting multiple laws" in the most "brazen" way possible.
"He knew exactly what he was doing," she said.
"He brought a stun device which he bought just days before."
Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell interrupts on the "stun device" line.
She asks: Isn't it a stun gun, and is there some sort of distinction there?
It is a stun gun with a combination walking stick, the prosecutor replies.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Lyle Dohrmann says that Barnett appears to know and "relish" his media attention.
"He then attempts to avoid being identified as he leaves D.C., turning off location services on his phone."
Dohrmann:
The weight of the evidence against Barnett is truly "incontrovertible."
Dohrmann:
"The evidence in this case is very strong."
Barnett previously used a firearm in a "menacing" manner, the prosecutor says, describing alleged incidents in July and September 2020.
Judge Howell says she has some questions about them.
Judge Howell describes a report of Barnett at a so-called "Save the Children" protest in Fayetteville with a rifle slung on his back and a pistol on his hip in September.
Judge Howell on the "Save the Children" rally: "Is that connected in any way to the QAnon conspiracy theory?"
Dohrmann: "I believe it very well could be" because the rally is consistent with the conspiracy theory, but she does not have specific information about that.
Dohrmann: "His behavior seems aimed at attracting attention."
Barnett "taking a Congresswoman's mail and talking to the media about it" and his "hiding somewhere his firearm and stun guns, also his cell phone" weigh against releasing him, she adds.
Judge Howell grills Barnett's defense counsel about NYT and WaPo reports quoting his client saying of Pelosi: "I wrote her a nasty note, put my feet up on her desk and scratched my balls."
The defense attorney says, in a sparkling gem of euphemism:
"It's clear... that my client was not politically in tune with the Speaker."
Judge Howell lays into the defense counsel, who is admitted pro hac vice, for accusing prosecutors of
"I am telling you right now: Throwing around accusations of misconduct against opposing counsel" is not acceptable if they don't have merit.
She calls his claims "frivolous"
Howell urges him to watch himself if he is going to continue representing his client in this case.
Barnett's lawyer says his client claimed that the "Save the Children" rally is not connected to QAnon.
Judge Howell is giving a thundering, blistering speech against Barnett right now.
Mark Leffingwell, charged with assault law enforcement during the Capitol insurrection, has an arraignment coming up before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
The Capitol Police officer he allegedly assaulted narrated the incident.
Live-thread ahead.
"All rise."
We begin.
AUSA Christopher Berridge for the govt
Mark John Carroll for the defense.
Judge ABJ asks whether Mark Leffingwell waives his physical presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carroll mentions that his client has a traumatic brain injury from an IED in the Iraq War, but he is competent to proceed.
This is an attorney for Lin Wood's former law partners during a hearing on Sept. 23, 2020, in a transcript.
Lin Wood's counsel R. Joseph Burby attributed his client's "emotional tailspin" to the toll of the turmoil in his firm and his ex-partners telling his children he was having mental health issues.
Wood claims he felt they were trying to drive a wedge with his family.
Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell's thundering ruling keeping Richard Barnett behind bars before trial ranks as one of the most outraged and passionate speeches that I have heard delivered from the federal bench.
The developing story above only captures a sliver of it.
But Howell's oratory can be summarized by those three words: "Brazen. Entitled. Dangerous," a trio of adjectives the judge repeated twice—and a distillation of the smirking image of Barnett with his feet on a desk in Pelosi's office with a stun gun in his pants.