(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Members of the right-wing, anti-socialist group known as the Proud Boys accused the federal government of planting a spy on their legal team as they fend off charges related to the Jan. 6 uprising.
BREAKING NEWS: Just when you think DOJ can't get any dirtier–
New motion just filed by defense in Proud Boys trial accusing DOJ of using an FBI informant to spy on and infiltrate the defense team pic.twitter.com/Gen89hxh4j
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) March 22, 2023
Former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola are all in the midst of federal trials after being accused last June of attempting to “to oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force.”
The Justice Department has admitted that at least one witness scheduled to appear in defense of members of the Proud Boys at their hearing was an FBI informant, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.
But Rehl’s legal team revealed on Wednesday that one of the witnesses scheduled to appear as a witness in his may have been an FBI informant beginning in April of 2021.
According to the report, Rehl and his lawyer asked the federal government to disclose information regarding “Confidential Human Sources and any other witnesses that the FBI communicated with regarding the possibility of any recordings or reports that it may have regarding the defense team.”
They also requested “interview reports or FBI memos relating to the recording or reporting of the defense team,” suggesting that the informants may have had extensive contact with the defense’s counsel and also other defendants.
Rehl’s lawyer, Carmen Hernandez, also previously noted that there are “reasons to doubt the veracity of the government’s explanation and justification for withholding information about the (confidential human sources) who have been involved in the case.”
The FBI and DOJ already have come under fire for having withheld potentially exculpatory video evidence from defendants in the more than 1,000 pending cases against J6 political dissidents.
The department announced last week that up to 1,200 more could face charges, even as footage aired by Fox News host Tucker Carlson confirmed that the events inside the U.S. Capitol were largely peaceful and executed in cooperation with Capitol Police.
Nonetheless, the accusation of FBI interference with the defendants’ due process rights should come as no surprise, considering the Proud Boys were previously known to have been infiltrated by FBI informants.
Even the New York Times has admitted in the past that up to eight FBI informants had infiltrated the Proud Boys leading up the J6 rally.
The FBI did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
