BREAKING: The DOJ has filed its sentencing memo asking a judge to order Guy Reffitt — the first J6 defendant convicted at trial — to serve 15 years in prison. They argue his actions warrant a terrorism enhancement. Link: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
The PSR estimated Guy Reffitt's sentencing guideline range at 9-11.25 years. That would already give him, by far, the longest sentence to date. But DOJ argues his sentence should be much higher. One reason: An illegal silencer found at his house.
Another reason? The DOJ says on at least two occasions, Guy Reffitt allegedly placed the barrel of his gun against his wife's head— and fired it near her head on one of those. Reffitt's wife has written a letter to the judge asking for leniency.
Here's the letter Jodi Reffitt, Guy Reffitt's wife, submitted to Judge Friedrich. In it she says the family "needs Guy home to fully heal."
Guy Reffitt's younger daughter Peyton, who was initially supposed to testify as a DOJ witness at his trial, also wrote a letter. In it, she called her father a "beam of light" for the family and talked about how his personality was perfectly suited for Trump to take advantage of.
FULL STORY: The DOJ says Guy Reffitt — the Texas Three Percenter who was the first J6 defendant to go to trial — should spend 15 years in prison. They argue his conduct warrants the first terrorism enhancement in a #CapitolRiot case. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
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Happening now: Sentencing before Chief Judge Beryl Howell for U.S. Army Combat Engineer James Mault and his co-defendant, Cody Mattice. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
Prosecutor tells Judge Howell that James Mault was "frankly, acting in disgrace to his oath" when he attacked officers on Jan. 6. Also says it's offensive to suggest the fact that he re-enlisted after the riot somehow absolves him of guilty.
"He's uneducated. He's unsophisticated," Cody Mattice's attorney says, by way of defense.
"How am I supposed to reconcile the picture you've pained with what on saw on these videos?" Chief Judge Howell asks.
The sentencing memo for "Patriot Boys of North Texas" founder Lucas Denney is in. The DOJ botched this case — repeatedly — to the point where a judge was ready to dismiss the indictment. Denney then pleaded guilty to a single count of assaulting police w/ a dangerous weapon.
Pretrial services estimates the guidelines sentencing range for Lucas Denney is 57-71 months, which, if adhered to, would result in one of the longest Jan. 6 sentences to date. His attorney, William Shipley, argues the range should be 30-37 months. He asks for not more than 24.
Shipley argues, in short, the govt. has overstated its case. Overplayed minimal contacts between Lucas Denney and the Proud Boys. Ignored what he argues is a history of civic participation in militias in Texas. Portrayed a PVC pipe as being made of metal. Etc.
The last (probably) pretrial conference for Steve Bannon starts at 10 a.m. There is a new motion to delay the trial, but Judge Nichols seemed intent earlier this week on sticking to the schedule.
There's a lot of back-and-forth right now between Judge Nichols and AUSA Amanda Vaughn about whether Steve Bannon can present evidence he thought the date on his congressional subpoena was "malleable." Nichols says he's not saying it's a strong argument, but why can't he try?
Government's position has been that the default occurred in October when the date on Steve Bannon's subpoena came and went without him appearing or turning over documents.
Happening at 10: David Alan Blair, of Clarksburg, Maryland, will be in court for sentencing. Recommended sentencing guideline is 8-14 months behind bars. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa…
🚨 SENTENCE: David Alan Blair, of Clarksburg, Maryland, sentenced to 5 months behind bars, 18 months of supervised release and $2,500 in fines and restitution. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa…
NEW: David Alan Blair, of Clarksburg, will serve 5 months in prison for wielding a lacrosse stick adorned with a Confederate flag against police on Jan. 6. He told a judge today he wanted to protest the removal of Confederate statues around the country. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
The The @January6thCmte is back at 1 p.m. for its next hearing. This one will focus on the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, and how Trump's Dec. 19 "be there, will be wild" tweet mobilized them. As usual, I'll be in the room. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
Testimony today is expected from former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove and Stephen Ayres (below), a Jan. 6 defendant from Ohio who awaits sentencing. Ayres posted on Jan. 2 that he saw Trump's "be there, will be wild" Tweet as a call to action.
Vice Chair @RepLizCheney gives a bit of a preview of former WH counsel Pat Cipollone's deposition, which happened on Friday. Cheney says we'll see more of that at the next hearing, but that it "met our expectations."
I'll be in court for the hearing in Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress case shortly. Then we may learn what, if any, effect his 11th hour offer to testify/turn over documents will have. Plenty of questions to be answered today.
There are a lot of pending motions in this case. Hearing starting off with DOJ laying out its position on Bannon's argument that the Select Committee violated House rules by not having 13 total members. DOJ says Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed the validity of the committee.
This is now a potential defense argument, but it was rejected earlier as part of Bannon's motion to dismiss his indictment. Judge Nichols found the House, as DOJ argues, has confirmed the validity of the Select Committee by voting to send its contempt referrals to the DOJ.