Thread by @kyledcheney

HAPPENING NOW: Ryan Zink, a Jan. 6 defendant charged with obstruction, is on the stand in his ongoing trial.

His dad ran against Ruben Gallego in the 2022 election and is running for the open seat in 2024.

The younger Zink testified that he was apolitical, disgusted by the violence he witnessed and tried to help cops that day.

Videos of him charging toward the Capitol (and up the steps) while yelling "we're storming the Capitol," among other things, were just for clicks, he says.

In 5 videos Zink — who was with his father that day — yells "they can't stop us" while surging with the crowd. "We're in the doors," he yells while the crowd breached (though he didn't go in)

His explanation today: "I'm embellishing my activity here to try to retain viewership"

Zink returned to that theme repeatedly, describing his efforts to "increase engagement" on his Facebook feed.

He also testified that his dad's candidacy influenced his inclination to act more political than he genuinely felt. His dad has been in the courtroom for the testimony.

NOTABLY Zink tried to subpoena Speaker McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Last week, House lawyers sharply (and successfully) rejected the effort, saying the subpoena was improper and sought irrelevant info. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

MORE NOTES from the ZINK trial.

DOJ took direct aim at an effort by Zink to claim a Capitol Police officer waved members of the crowd toward the Capitol, a moment captured by a widely debunked, misleading video.

Yesterday, the officer took the stand.

snopes.com/fact-check/cap…

USCP Lt. John Jenkins said two of his officers, seen in the above image wearing yellow vests, had become separated from his platoon as the police fell back to the Capitol. Video shows him waving to them to get them to rejoin the line that had moved to the Capitol steps.

On cross, Zink's attorney Roger Roots argued that Jenkins' motions to the officers could have been interpreted by the rioters as permission to enter, but Jenkins rejected that claim, noting that he was angled away from the bulk of the crowd and clearly toward his officers.

Roots pressed Jenkins on why he didn't point or hold up a hand to signal to the rioters (who had already breached the police line) not to stop.

Jenkins: "My concern was the two officers ... I had spent a good chunk of time trying to stop them, sir."

Jenkins recounted how he and an outnumbered platoon attempted to hold back the crowd around the time Pence's motorcade was relocating. Eventually, the crowd forced its way through the bike racks and the officers retreated to the steps to consolidate their line.