{"id":1435276,"date":"2022-04-13T12:30:45","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T16:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1435276"},"modified":"2022-04-13T12:30:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T16:30:51","slug":"court-filings-20-federal-assets-embedded-at-capitol-on-jan-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-filings-20-federal-assets-embedded-at-capitol-on-jan-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Filings: 20 \u201cFederal Assets\u201d Embedded at Capitol on Jan 6"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-filings-20-federal-assets-embedded-at-capitol-on-jan-6%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1435276&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>At least 20 FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives\u00a0\u201cassets\u201d were embedded around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a defense attorney wrote in a court filing on April 12.<\/p>\n<p>The disclosure was made in a motion seeking to dismiss seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges against 10 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-oath-keepers\">Oath Keepers<\/a> defendants in one of the most prominent Jan. 6 criminal cases.<\/p>\n<p>David W. Fischer, attorney for Thomas E. Caldwell of Berryville, Virginia, filed a 41-page motion to dismiss four counts on behalf of all Oath Keepers case defendants before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>Caldwell is charged in the indictment, but is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/navy-veteran-66-lives-an-american-horror-story-since-his-arrest-on-jan-6-seditious-conspiracy-charge_4338067.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">not a member<\/a> of the Oath Keepers, he told The Epoch Times in March.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4331529\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/03\/11\/MinutaPhotoCapitolPoliceEscortedToSafety-1200x675.jpeg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail wp-image-4331529\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/03\/11\/MinutaPhotoCapitolPoliceEscortedToSafety-700x420.jpeg\" alt=\"Photo showing Capitol Police being escorted down the Capitol steps through the crowd to safety on January 6 by members of the Oath Keepers.\" width=\"640\" height=\"384\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Capitol Police are escorted down the Capitol steps through the crowd to safety on Jan. 6 by members of the Oath Keepers. (Courtesy of Roberto Minuta)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAt least 20 FBI and ATF assets were embedded around the Capitol on J6,\u201d read a footnote on Page 6 of the motion. No other details were provided in the document.<\/p>\n<p>The footnote said defense attorneys \u201ccombed through a mountain of discovery,\u201d including FBI form 302 summaries of interviews conducted by FBI agents.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the information about law-enforcement assets on the ground at the Capitol, the footnote says, the Oath Keepers \u201cwere being monitored and recorded prior to J6.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Poring over evidence turned over in discovery by prosecutors in two major Oath Keepers cases has \u201cnot found one iota of proof\u201d that defendants \u201chad any plan, intention, design, or scheme to specifically enter the Capitol Building on J6,\u201d the motion said.<\/p>\n<p>Fischer told The Epoch Times he could not comment on the motion or provide more details on the footnote.<\/p>\n<p>Since the first arrests of Jan. 6 defendants in early 2021, there has been extensive speculation and questions from attorneys, defendants, case observers, and members of Congress about the role law enforcement played that day.<\/p>\n<p>During a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Jan. 11, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) grilled top FBI officials on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the events of Jan. 6?\u201d Cruz asked Jill Sanborn, executive assistant director of the FBI\u2019s national security branch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSir, I\u2019m sure you can appreciate that I can\u2019t go into the specifics of sources and methods,\u201d Sanborn said.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz replied, \u201cDid any FBI agents or confidential informants actively participate in the events of Jan. 6, yes or no?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSir, I can\u2019t answer that,\u201d Sanborn said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid any FBI agents or confidential informants commit crimes of violence on Jan. 6?\u201d Cruz asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t answer that, sir,\u201d Sanborn replied.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy M. Brown, an Oath Keepers member from Florida who was charged with two Jan. 6-related counts but is not part of either major Oath Keepers conspiracy case, told The Epoch Times earlier this year that the FBI unsuccessfully <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/jan-6-defendant-says-fbi-tried-to-recruit-him-to-spy-on-oath-keepers_4208887.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tried to recruit him<\/a> in 2020 to spy on the group.<\/p>\n<p>Brown said the same agents who later arrested him for alleged Jan. 6 crimes tried to recruit him on Dec. 11, 2020, to become a confidential informant. He refused. He was arrested on Sept. 30, 2021, when dozens of federal agents swarmed his Florida property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen asked by me and my girlfriend to produce the warrants at the time of arrest, they refused to produce them,\u201d Brown said. \u201cOne agent was even recorded stating, \u2018We don\u2019t know what we are looking for yet.\u2019 They should look for a copy of the Constitution and read it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>No Crime Stated?<\/h2>\n<p>The Oath Keepers, including founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, are charged with conspiring to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6 to prevent the certification of the Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election. Protests and rioting on Jan. 6 interrupted a joint session of Congress for about six hours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Rhodes defendants seek dismissal of Counts 1-4 on the grounds that the indictment fails to state an offense as to each count,\u201d Fischer wrote in his motion.<\/p>\n<p>The four counts covered in the motion to dismiss all refer to obstructing a proceeding or preventing an officer from discharging duties.<\/p>\n<p>Under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, the seditious conspiracy charge \u201crequires proof that the purpose of the defendants\u2019 seditious conspiracy was to forcibly obstruct a person authorized to execute a law, while that person was attempting to execute the particular law opposed by the defendants,\u201d Fischer wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPer binding precedent, however, Members of Congress are constitutionally prohibited from \u2018executing any law of the United States,\u2019 \u201d the motion said. \u201cAdditionally, per binding precedent, the Electoral College certification process did not constitute the \u2018execution of any law of the United States.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3675189\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/01\/28\/oath-keepers-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-post-thumbnail wp-image-3675189\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/oath-keepers-700x420-1.jpg\" alt=\"oath keepers\" width=\"640\" height=\"384\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail wp-image-3675189\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/oath-keepers-700x420-1.jpg\" alt=\"oath keepers\" width=\"640\" height=\"384\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Members of the Oath Keepers are seen during a protest against the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jim Bourg\/Reuters)<\/figure>\n<p>Counts 2 and 3 of the indictment are brought under 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1512(c), but that law only applies to obstructive acts related to the destruction of evidence, the motion said.<\/p>\n<p>This argument was cited in March by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, who dismissed the same obstruction charge in two other Jan. 6 cases.<\/p>\n<p>Count 4 accuses the defendants of conspiring to prevent an officer from discharging any duties.<\/p>\n<p>Under binding legal precedent, the motion argues, the terms \u201coffice,\u201d \u201cofficer\u201d and \u201cofficer of the United States\u201d take their meaning from the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Members of Congress are not \u201cofficers\u201d under the Appointments Clause, Fischer wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The motion described the indictment as \u201can obscenely one-sided, selectively edited, and inaccurate representation of [Oath Keepers\u2019] actions and statements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Oath Keepers \u201cQuick Reaction Forces\u201d (QRFs) described in the criminal complaint as being ready to assist in the attack on the Capitol with men and armaments were actually standing by in Virginia in case Oath Keepers in DC were attacked or threatened by Antifa, the motion said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 Every scrap of evidence reviewed confirms that the \u2018QRFs,\u2019 which were utilized on numerous prior dates, were intended as rescue forces in the event that the Oath Keepers were attacked by Antifa or a similar contingency, and not to attack the Capitol Building,\u201d the filing said.<\/p>\n<p>In a companion motion filed on behalf of defendant Kelly Meggs, attorney Jonathon Moseley described the notion of opposing the lawful transfer of presidential power as a \u201cthought crime,\u201d and the charge in the indictment as \u201cdevoid of supporting factual allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Constitution makes clear that it is a Constitutional impossibility to \u2018oppose the transfer of presidential power.\u2019 Not only could such a goal not be accomplished, but beyond that, it is an irrational concept lacking in any basis, in fact, law, or common sense,\u201d Moseley wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a case in which conspirators might attempt to do something they are unable to successfully achieve,\u201d Moseley\u2019s filing said. \u201cIt is an irrational concept like dividing by zero. There can be no such thing in law or fact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times contacted the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Columbia for comment but did not receive a reply by press time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-joe-hanneman\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/WEB_JoeHanneman.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph M. Hanneman\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>M. Hanneman is a reporter for The Epoch Times with a focus on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol incursion and its aftermath; and general news in the State of Wisconsin. His work over a nearly 40-year career has appeared in Catholic World Report, the Racine Journal Times, the Wisconsin State Journal and the Chicago Tribune. Reach him at: joseph.hanneman@epochtimes.us<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least 20 FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives\u00a0\u201cassets\u201d were embedded around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a defense attorney wrote in a court filing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1435276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}