ALERT: Court unseals Jan 6 case against Rafael and Maryann Rondon (mother and son) of Syracuse, NY
In charging documents, feds allege Rondon witnessed (and assisted) in theft of laptop computer from Speaker Nancy Pelosi office suite
* Syracuse-area. Arrest was in Syracuse
Defendants are from Watertown, NY per FBI statement (north on I-81)
Signed,
Syracuse Univ. alum
Per charging documents...... about the laptop computer, Maryann Rondon "admitted to providing gloves to a male individual to facilitate the theft of a government laptop from the conference room" in Pelosi suite
Per feds.. Rafael Rondon said, "While we were in the office, one of the individuals, he was trying to rip the ethernet cords to one of the laptops, and he yelled at me and my mother to help him. And I was honestly a little bit afraid... "I didn’t know if he had anything on him"
The Rondons are accused of entering US Senate chamber and taking......... escape hoods from inside
And this excerpt from court documents..... about why Rafael Rondon says they chose to take the Metro subway system into DC on Jan 6 ===>
Feds also allege Rafael Rondon had "possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun at his residence"
FLASH: Judge James Boasberg issues opinion on March 15 deportations
"The government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt"
The opinion from chief DC federal judge James Boasberg over the defiance of his order to "turn the planes around" for further review on March 15
Judge James Boasberg (more): "The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it. To permit such officials to freely 'annul the judgments of the courts of the United States' would not just 'destroy the rights acquired under those judgments'.. it would make 'a solemn mockery' of the constitution itself"
Justice Dept asked Maryland judge to delay today's 1pm hearing in the case of mistaken deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Judge Paula Xinis says "no". Parties must show at 1pm
Justice Dept submits court filing, arguing it can't meet judge's deadline for update on Kilmar Abrego Garcia by the judge's morning deadline
Filing: "Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review"
Justice Dept (more) to judge:
"In light of the insufficient amount of time afforded to review the Supreme Court’s order following the dissolution of the adm. stay in this case, Defendants are not in a position where they 'can' share any information requested by the Court"
NEW: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is raising questions right now about Ed Martin, Trump's nominee to be US Attorney in Wash. DC
Durbin shows image of Martin tweet from Jan 6, 2021
Durbin: "Martin was at the Capitol on that dark day, when he posted 'Like Mardi Gras in DC today"
Sen. Durbin (more) about Ed Martin's nomination: "When leaders of the Oath Keepers, a domestic violent extremist organization, were prosecuted for seditious conspiracy for their role in planning the January 6 attack, Mr. Martin responded, quote, 'Oath Keepers are all of us”
Sen. Durbin (more) says he wants to question Trump nominee Ed Martin about Martin's "close relationship" with a January 6 rioter and alleged "antisemitic and racist Nazi sympathizer"
The Justice Department is seeking to drop its criminal case against a Virginia man, who was accused of being the “east coast leader” of the MS-13 gang, and whose arrest was announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi in a nationally televised press conference last month
(More)
Bondi had referred to Henrry Villatoro Santos as “one of the top members and head of the east coast” of the violent MS-13 gang during a March 27 news conference in Manassas, Virginia. Bondi had also described Villatoro Santos as being responsible for “very violent crimes, anything you can associate with MS13. He was the leader over it, all of the violent crimes.”
In a court filing Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia asked a judge “to dismiss without prejudice the criminal complaint presently pending against the defendant.” When asked for why the case was being a dropped, a spokesperson for Bondi responded with a clip of Bondi saying on March 27 that Villatoro Santos “won’t be in this country much longer”
At US Senate panel just now, fired US Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer alleges she was terminated after declining instruction to help Mel Gibson get his gun rights restored
Former pardon attorney Liz Oyer says she was fired "just hours" after rejecting instruction from Justice Dept leadership to intervene in Mel Gibson's effort to get his gun rights back
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) "You applied the same standard to Mel Gibson that you would apply to anyone?"
Liz Oyer "This was a project that's not normally in the purview of the US pardon attorney..... this whole project was something very different... we understood it was a priority of the leadership.. but our priority was public safety..."