The Senate may have acquitted Donald Trump of inciting the insurgency, but the former president still faces accusations of incitement from another source: the Capitol riot police themselves.
Lawyers of at least seven accused riots have referred to Mr. Trump in efforts to explain the actions of his clients, according to statements and documents reviewed by CBS News.
Matthew Ryan Miller’s lawyer – who was allegedly photographed unloading a fire extinguisher on the stairs of the U.S. Capitol – said during a hearing Tuesday that his client was “there at the urging of then-President Trump.” He wrote in a Feb. 7 statement arguing for his client’s preventive release: “Mr. Miller admits he was on the Capitol grounds to protest along with thousands of other protesters and simply followed President Trump’s directions. the country ‘s first law enforcement officer and other speakers to march on the Capitol. “
Similarly, Ethan Nordean’s defense attorney, an accused member of Proud Boys, wrote in a file that then-President Trump “demanded” of his client.
An attorney for defendant Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola he wrote that his client was “deceived” and that he was “responding to the pleas of the then commander-in-chief.”
The strategy is similar to advocating for “counsel advice,” says Randy Zelin, a criminal defense attorney at Wilk Auslander LLP and an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School. The tactic argues that a defendant could not have had criminal intent if he acted on the advice of his lawyer. While Trump is not a lawyer, Zelin says there is the notion that if someone who makes the laws tells you what to do, someone might argue that he had no intention of breaking the law.
“The president of the United States tells you it’s okay to do something or tells you to do something: it destroys your intent, your intent to commit a crime, because the president tells you it’s okay,” Zelin said. , which described the argument. “I didn’t know he was breaking the law because the president of the United States told me to go ahead and do it.”
Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney, said legally blaming Mr. Trump would be difficult, but it practically makes sense.
“Trump’s defense made me do it ‘is legally long-term,'” he said, but added that the measure could still be smart, as it can create sympathy with jurors and may even require the Trump quote. – A major logistical hurdle that could slow a case and force prosecutors to stop prosecuting themselves.
Although the lawyers for seven accused riot police have invoked Mr. Trump, files written by federal prosecutors have referred to the former president almost three times as many times. Government documents and memoranda that argue for detaining defendants before the trial have suggested that Mr. Trump inspired at least 20 of the insurgent defendants.
In a file that argued to arrest the accused Guardians of the Oath member Jessica Watkins before the trial, prosecutors said Watkins indicated he was waiting for Mr. Trump’s direction.
“His concern to take action without his support was evident in a November 9, 2020 text in which he said,‘ I am concerned that this is an elaborate trap. Unless POTUS itself activates us, it is not legitimate. The POTUS has the right to activate units as well. If Trump asks me to come, I will. Otherwise, I can’t trust it. “
When he moved to arrest Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, whom prosecutors called a “Nazi sympathizer,” the government wrote that he told FBI agents that they believed there was a strong possibility that Trump would join them. at the United States Capitol after its concentration.
“I think what they’re trying to prove is that these people are still dangerous, simply because they’re willing to engage in violent behavior as instructed by the president of the United States,” said Adam S. Fels, a former federal prosecutor and founding partner of Fridman Fels. & Soto, PLLC, not involved in any of the Capitol riot cases.
At least one defendant has tried to distance himself from the former president while arguing that he can get out of jail safely. In a note, Christopher Ray Grider’s attorney said of his client, “He no longer cares about politics or who the president of the United States is.”
When uploading documents, prosecutors also cited pro-Trump posts on social media as they tried to prove the defendants were at the Capitol that day.
Prosecutors’ complaint against Derrick Evans, a former West Virginia state lawmaker, notes that he posted a screenshot of a Mr. Trump tweet with the caption: “That’s why we’re going to DC. #StopTheSteal “.
In documents accusing Kenneth Grayson, prosecutors cite a post on social media in which Grayson wrote, “I’m there for the biggest celebration of all time after Pence heads the Senate at the top !! * NO IMA CAPITAL DO IT THEN! “
While Trump avoided conviction in his impeachment trial, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he voted to acquit based on what he considered a constitutional limitation of the dismissal, not because he did not blame the Mr. Trump of the riot.
McConnell he said in a speech On Saturday, “There is no doubt, at all, that President Trump is the practical and moral responsible for provoking the events of the day.”