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Investigative reporter @WUSA9 covering the justice beat in the D.C. area with focus on the Capitol riot. Hot sauce enthusiast.
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Aug 21 4 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: In an apparent first, the DOJ says it will GO TO TRIAL on the newly narrowed Jan. 6 obstruction count.

Federal prosecutors say they believe their case against an Ohio couple can hold up even after the Supreme Court's ruling. wusa9.com/article/news/n… The DOJ says it will prove Donald & Shawndale Chilcoat intended to obstruct Congress and "critically, they were aware that his proceeding involved records, documents, or other things — specifically the electoral votes that Congress was to consider." wusa9.com/article/news/n…
May 29 4 tweets 2 min read
NEW: I spoke with anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy's attorney about the plans for appeal as she begins serving her 4-year sentence.

They're aiming for acquittal, sure, but also something bigger: A long-awaited chance to get the FACE act before SCOTUS. wusa9.com/article/news/c… Attorneys from the anti-abortion law firm the Thomas More Society hope Handy's case — plus two others in Tennessee and Michigan — will convince SCOTUS to do something it's never done before: hear an appeal on the constitutionality of the FACE Act. wusa9.com/article/news/c…
May 2 4 tweets 2 min read
🚨 SENTENCE: Marine Corps veteran Ryan Nichols sentenced to 63 months (5.25) years in prison and what is, I believe, the largest fine in a Jan. 6 case to date — $200,000 — for assaulting police during the Capitol riot.
wusa9.com/article/news/n… Explaining the fine:

1. Judge Lamberth said Nichols didn't cooperate at all w/ the financial portion of the presentencing investigation.

2. Nichols raised more than $230,000 on a GiveSendGo account titled "Free My Patriot Prisoner." Image
Mar 29 5 tweets 2 min read
A bit of drama in the dockets of brothers and Jan. 6 defendants Matthew and Gregory Purdy. Last year, they and their co-defendant, Robert Turner, all decided to fire their lawyers and be represented by a single, new attorney. Judge Lamberth was skeptical but allowed it... Image Then, last month, the new attorney asked for a continuance of their April 22 trial date — noting, among other reasons, that she had applied for a judgeship in Alabama. I was not at the hearing but Judge Lamberth was, I gather, not impressed. Motion denied.
Jan 25 33 tweets 5 min read
Former Trump WH trade adviser Peter Navarro's sentencing hearing is set to begin shortly. DOJ is seeking 6 months in jail for Navarro defying a subpoena from the January 6th Committee. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa… Like most, Peter Navarro's sentencing hearing begins with arguments over enhancements and credits. Navarro wants 2 levels of credit for acceptance of responsibility. Judge Mehta seems dubious.

Mehta: “I haven’t heard a word of contrition from Dr. Navarro since this case began.”
Dec 12, 2023 92 tweets 14 min read
Rudy Giuliani's civil trial resumes this morning at 9:15 with more of the plaintiffs' case. The plaintiffs are showing a video deposition w/ Mary Frances Watson, a former police lieutenant who was the chief investigator for the Georgia Secretary of State's Investigations Division during the 2020 election.
Dec 11, 2023 40 tweets 6 min read
Rudy Giuliani's civil trial is starting. He's sitting at the defense table with his attorney, Joseph Sibley, as Judge Howell instructs the jury.

She tells them Giuliani has already been found liable for defamation. Their job is only to determine damages. wusa9.com/article/news/n… Judge Howell is instructing the jury on the consequences of his failure to provide discovery. They must assume he:

- Intentionally tried to hide financial information to deflate his worth
- Intentionally tried to hide info about his podcast to deflate the reach of his words
Nov 27, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
I mean, I guess you can play dumb and say it was your law clerk who wrote this so it shouldn't reflect on the sincerity of your client's guilty plea... but Judge Lamberth is the absolute last judge on the D.C. bench I'd want to play that game with in a Jan. 6 case. Image The prosecutor in Ryan Nichols' case predicted this kind of thing and so asked Judge Lamberth to ask Nichols and attorney Joe McBride directly if they were contesting any of the facts in his plea deal.

McBride say there was "no controversy" about them. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
Nov 15, 2023 9 tweets 2 min read
John Sullivan took the stand briefly yesterday afternoon. He's set to resume his testimony in earnest at 10:30. Sullivan's contention during his direct examination this morning was that he was a journalist on Jan. 6 who said inflammatory things to blend into the crowd as a way of protecting himself. Direct exam was fairly short, probably less than an hour between yesterday and today.
Oct 16, 2023 54 tweets 7 min read
Back in federal court today, where prosecutors will seek a gag order on Donald Trump. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa… Judge Chutkan is on the bench and the hearing is underway. The DOJ is seeking a gag order limiting Trump and his attorneys from attacking the court, prosecutors and potential witnesses. They also want limits on what Trump can ask in pre-trial polling.
Oct 6, 2023 8 tweets 2 min read
Popped into the trial this afternoon of ex-sheriff's deputy Ronald Colton McAbee. He's taken the stand in support of his defense theory, which is that seconds after he admits to assaulting one police officer he attempted to help a second. wusa9.com/amp/article/ne… Much of McAbee's defense rests on his efforts later to aid to Rosanne Boyland, who collapsed on the steps leading into the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. He's asking jurors to believe that because he tried to help a fellow rioter, he was also trying to help a downed officer.
Sep 5, 2023 61 tweets 7 min read
The sentencing hearing for former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio has started. He's in court with a shaved head and dark black beard and wearing an orange jumpsuit. He's sitting w/ his attorneys Sabino Jauregui and Nayib Hassan. Jauregui is arguing, as he did at trial, that Enrique Tarrio wasn't controlling and in fact could not control the Proud Boys on Jan. 6. That he was being a "keyboard ninja" from Baltimore. That he was not in direct communication w/ Ethan Nordean and Joe Biggs.
Sep 1, 2023 41 tweets 8 min read
At 10 a.m. today it's the sentencing hearing for Dominic Pezzola, the Marine Corps veteran and Proud Boy who smashed the window that created the first breach into the Capitol. Prosecutors are seeking 20 years. Image Two other military vets and Proud Boys, Joe Biggs and Zachary Rehl, were sentenced yesterday to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively.
Aug 31, 2023 60 tweets 9 min read
Former InfoWars employee Joe Biggs will now be the first of a group of Proud Boys leaders sentenced for their role in the Capitol riot. His hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa… It's been a long, strange trip for Joe Biggs — a U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who first worked for the conspiracy site InfoWars and then wound up in the Proud Boys, where even other members of the group warned Enrique Tarrio he was too extreme.
Aug 28, 2023 33 tweets 5 min read
Good morning. Donald Trump's attorneys will be back in federal court in D.C. today at 10 a.m. in his election fraud case. What we might get today is a trial date, so stay tuned. Donald Trump's attorneys Todd Blanche, John Lauro and Gregory Singer all appear to be in court and seated at the defense table. There was a modest line to sit in the public gallery, which has now filled in. Prosecutors aren't in court yet.
Aug 16, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
NEW: A woman testified today she had to climb through a window to get past anti-abortion activists who were harassing her and physically blocking all the doors to a D.C. clinic.

Video played for the jury showed her increasingly distraught calls for help. wusa9.com/article/news/c… The woman, who testified under a pseudonym, said the anti-abortion activists began grabbing at her and telling her she was going to hell as soon as she got out of her car.

"I felt very overwhelmed. Not OK at all," she said. wusa9.com/article/news/c…
Aug 11, 2023 41 tweets 7 min read
Donald Trump's attorney(s) will be back in a D.C. courtroom this morning to argue over the particulars of a protective order. Trump is opposing limits on his ability to share evidence in the case. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa… All three of Donald Trump's attorneys who have entered the case so far are present for the hearing:

· John Lauro
· Todd Blanche
· Gregory Singer

The government is represented by Thomas Windom and Molly Gaston, both senior assistant special counsels.
Jul 21, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: Oath Keepers Jan. 6 operations leader Michael "Whip" Greene sentenced to probation and 60 hours of community service for misdemeanor trespassing. Judge Mehta said the jury acquitted him and that verdict "has to be respected." wusa9.com/article/news/n… "I feel pretty damn good," Michael Greene told me outside of court today.
Jul 19, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
🚨 SENTENCE: Christopher Alberts, a former National Guardsman from Maryland, ordered to serve 7 years in prison for assaulting police and carrying a gun onto Capitol grounds. Judge Cooper described him a a leader of the mob on Jan. 6. Story TK. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa… Christopher Alberts' attorneys, John Pierce and Roger Roots, failed to convince Judge Cooper not to apply any of the enhancements they opposed, including one for lying on the stand. He hardly acknowledged the extreme downward departure to a 6-month sentence they requested.
Jul 6, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
NOW: Prosecutors tell Judge Faruqui they WILL be seeking additional charges for Taylor Taranto. No specifics on date or type yet. Taranto also appears to have brought on private counsel, although he's not entered the case yet. wusa9.com/article/news/n… More: This was unclear earlier but private counsel seems actually to be advising Mrs. Taranto, who had been prepared to answer questions from the judge about being a third-party custodian.
May 25, 2023 39 tweets 5 min read
Today's the day for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. His seditious conspiracy sentencing hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. DOJ is asking for 25 years in prison. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa… Despite all the work yesterday at the omnibus hearing, today is still starting off with more arguments about sentencing enhancements. One thing to note so far: Judge Mehta says he does find the armed QRF was *not* intended simply to be reactionary.