Day 31 of Oath Keepers Trial - Nov 21
Good Morning! Final day of closing arguments in the Oath Keepers trial. The jury should have this thing in their hands later this afternoon.
Mehta enters courtroom early, at 8:47am. I think everyone forgot he had mentioned he wanted to start at 8:45 to cover a couple of final motions limine left hanging from Friday. (Government is seeking to limit certain content from both Harrelson’s and Caldwell’s closing arguments. I’ve read their motion. It’s brutally unfair in Harrelson’s case.)
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***SPECIAL NOTE: Why I chose to spend two months of my life here in DC, covering this trial:
It’s those smaller obfuscations they tell that makes everything else they contend fair game to call into question. Charging defendants with damage and destruction to doors that were first opened before they ever arrived - then opened again with 75-100 people passing through before they reached those doors. Doors that were being broken and panes shattered before the OKs arrived . . . doors opened from the INSIDE . . . doors no OK touched, pushed upon, or pulled . . . by irrefutable video evidence. This was the first lie I saw in Harrelson’s earliest charging docs, before the superseding indictment of seditious conspiracy. The affiant FBI agent actually accused him of damaging the door and assaulting officers, and attached a YouTube link that showed the exact opposite. That’s what first drew me to his case. I could SEE the lie, and the carelessness of the investigator’s report. (Carelessness, or indifference to the truth?) That was right at a year ago, and here I now sit, at Harrelson’s and the other OKs’ trial.
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Fischer was allowed to argue the issue of a “lie” Caldwell is alleged to have told the FBI, but hasn’t been charged with. Geyer has been disallowed to reference Harrelson as an “honorably discharged, disabled veteran,” because that specific evidence was never presented in this trial. It was never brought up during any testimony, and because Harrelson did not testify on his own behalf, he didn’t have the opportunity to present that there, either. Bottom line - Harrelson is in fact both honorably discharged from the Army, and is 100% disabled, both physically and psychologically. It’s part of his identity, but based on the rules of evidence, it will not be allowed to be mentioned in the closing statement.
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Jury is seated at 9:18am . . . Brad Geyer, on behalf of Ken Harrelson begins his closing argument.
“Am I looking at simple carelessness on behalf of the government, or is this an indifference to the truth?”
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Ms. Rakoczy’s was just another absurd insinuation of crimes not committed and crimes not intended . . . by what they were doing that September day in Florida.
No longer is the entirety of the government’s case just about SCARY WORDS, but you’re now being asked to convict based upon what he might be THINKING.
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Kenny’s January 6 story didn’t begin with either of the Open Letters from Stewart Rhodes to President Trump, begging him to invoke the Insurrection Act. He didn’t see them. Even if he did, Kenny wouldn’t know what an Insurrection Act was if it bit him the butt!
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Yes . . . Kenny was appointed “Ground Team Leader” . . . but not for the purpose of interfering with the certification of an election, or for assaulting the Capitol . . . but for the security and safety of VIP speakers he was escorting from The Ellipse to their legally PERMITTED stage on the Capitol grounds.
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With the government’s own witnesses saying there was no conspiracy between themselves and Kenny . . . why did I need to call any witnesses? I couldn’t possibly top the ones they themselves brought into the courtroom, on Kenny’s behalf.
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Speaking of “LEADING,” here’s the most perplexing thing about the government’s stated case against Kenny and the other defendants in this courtroom.
On the very first day of this trial, in the government’s opening argument, Mr Nestler said . . . and I quote:
“On January 6th of 2021 at around 2:35 p.m., the crowd on the east side steps of the United States Capitol parted as a group of 14 people, dressed similarly in military style combat gear, moving similarly in military style formation with their hands on the person in front, marched up the stairs towards the doors of the Capitol . . . As they approached, the crowd cheered for them, yelling, "Oath Keepers, Oath Keepers." They were the LEADERS.”
LEADERS? Leaders of what? For seven weeks I’ve been sitting in that back corner waiting for the government to specifically state what these guys LED.
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I mean . . . it’s not that the government FAILED to show us a conspiratorial connection to those who LED the first breach . . . in seven weeks of this trial, they never even made an attempt to connect Kenny or the other defendants to those first violent perpetrators who actually WERE the LEADERS of the assault on the Capitol.
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And . . . how . . . exactly . . . is someone in a t-shirt and ball cap . . . carrying no weapons of any kind . . . who walks in and out of a doorway, unmolested . . . staying for only 17 minutes . . . somehow to be considered or ACCUSED as having OCCUPIED what is ostensibly one of the most secure facilities in the world?
The absurdity boggles the mind.
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Despite protestations to the contrary, we can clearly see Kenny and the others with their backs turned to Officer Dunn . . . and him in the background . . . while we hear protestors shouting at Dunn . . . calling him an “OATH BREAKER, OATH BREAKER” . . . and then we see Kenny holding out both arms to keep protestors from breaching their line and attempting to go down those steps Officer Dunn was guarding.
Then, we’ve seen the presentation of video evidence that Special Agent Lazarus COULD NOT have been there when the Oath Keepers were interacting with Officer Dunn. That video clearly showed that Agent Lazarus did not come though that area until long after Dunn, Kenny, and the others were long gone.
I don’t know who Lazarus saw interacting with Dunn - where, or when - but his recollection does not comport with the video evidence.
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Geyer now begins taking the jury through a review of previously presented video evidence, primarily showing his client, Harrelson, no where near the provocateurs who were breaching barricades and breaking into the Capitol.
I’m actually quite surprised the indulgence Metha is giving Geyer. He is getting in far more information about OTHER agents provocateurs than he was ever allowed to get in during the trail itself. Bottom line, the is is the first time these presentations have been made in such a way that conclusively proves the OKs were NOT those who actually conspired to breach the Capitol.
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Geyer finally began testing Judge Mehta’s patience, and frankly, Geyer ignored him. Technically no time limits . . . but Metha started reminding him that he was over his 90-minutes he told the Court he needed. Geyer got in not only what he needed to, but he got in a lot that he was prevented from talking about during the trail itself. Primarily . . . OTHERS were responsible for the bad deeds on J6. Not the OKs, and most certainly not his client.
Geyer concluded by thanking the jury for their service, and then simply saying . . . “Please send Ken home.”
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Mehta called for morning break. When we got back, Jonathan Crisp stepped forward to give his closing for Jessica Watkins.
Crisp launches hard out of the chutes: directly calling into question the credibility and of the government’s case and their witnesses. He believes the government has relied upon “manipulation and deception” to present their case . . . and gives a nod to Geyer for already covering much of that theme.
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Crisp launches into evidence of when and how the government constantly presented texts and chats both out of full context and also distorting the timelines, by presenting them out of order. (Absolutely correct. They were blatant and relentless in that technique.)
Crisp also bolsters Geyer’s presentation of the damage to east doors, because there was no physical way OKs could have damaged those doors based on the timelines presented through the government’s own video evidence.
Again, showing time-stamped screenshots that prove location of Watkins and other OKs at the moments of violence and destruction the government insinuated - if not outright lied about - in attribution to OKs actions and locations, which were impossible given the facts.
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Crisp does point out that Watkins took full responsibility for her behavior in the Senate hallway - that she owns that, exclusively and regretfully, but that at no other time on J6 or at any other event in which she assisted the OKs, her behavior was 100% above board.
(Crisp is often pacing away from the the lectern’s microphone. the jury can hear him, but we can’t in the media room when he wanders away from the mic. I hear him begin a really great point . . . it becomes inaudible as he paces away.)
More evidence of manipulated time lines by the government’s presentation of when they actually came up steps and entered the building. (This is important, because when timelines are accurate, it eliminates the charges of aiding and abetting in violence and property destruction.
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Crisp again reviews the whole “stack myth.” As a former military officer himself, he is able to explain that the “stack” formation doesn’t give them some kind of mystical control over the crowd, but only aids in assisting in direction through that crowded situation - and of course would never have been used in that manner if they were in an armed “room or building clearing” operation.
Crisp shows the famous photos of Watkins assisting the injured man down the steps, and points out that action doesn’t fit the narrative.
WHOA . . . Crisp points out that Agent Harris was the most honest agent in this entire trial, but that the government “set him up” to testify against Watkins on an IRS filing issue. He shows the actual IRS publication that proves their accusation against Watkins was “an outright lie.”
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Crisp begins going through the concepts and jury instructions related to the “conspiracy” charges, and how the government can’t get to the proof of those charges “without manipulating and deceiving you.”
Crisp concludes his closing argument with a discussion about “reasonable doubt, then asks the jury to acquit Watkins of all charges - except for Count 6 . . . (civil disorder and aiding and abetting) . . . saying they “should” find her guilty of that charge, as she has admitted to the crime in court.
Mehta sends everyone to lunch . . .
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Jury reseated at 1:38pm . . .
David Fischer begins closing statement for Thomas Caldwell.
Fischer begins by stating he wasn’t begging for ‘reasonable doubt,’ but is looking to fully clear his name. He immediately dives into the charge on count 10 - obstruction of justice and evidence tampering. This deals with Caldwell’s many “unsent” facebook messages and a deleted video. As to the video . . . it wasn’t a “video,” it was a “link.” (“A link is not a record, document, or object.”)
Objection! . . . sidebar . . .
Rewording . . . a link is an ‘open source’ object, available to everyone, everywhere, at any time.
That link was was even resent upon request - not hidden - and still exists in the FBI’s evidence file.
As to the other tampering charge, the photos he deleted had nothing to do with J6, and the FBI has both he and his wife’s phone, with all photos they took on J6, including the back-ups which the Caldwell’s made, and gave their passwords to the FBI. Not a single photo from J6 is missing.
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As to the unsent FB messages, he is reminding the jury of the evidence that were leaving FB before J6, and that most of the unsent messages were prior to J6, and nothing to do with J6.
BOOM! . . . The government is overtly objecting to the nuance of Fischer’s phrasings of statements. He responds, “That’s fine, I’m going to do the same to them [during their rebuttal] if they want to play that game.”
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In response to government’s constant attempts to tie Caldwell to the VA QRFs . . . Fischer shows that multiple FBI agents have presented incontrovertible evidence of no communications between Caldwell and Meggs about QRFs.
Fischer is reviewing messages slides that clear up who discussed or planned or called for a “boat” (Stamey) for QRF. (Not Caldwell.)
As to “Op plan,” and how Agent Palian couldn’t find that the Op Plan had anything to do with “Antifa.” Fischer reads the transcript from that testimony where he showed Palian is was the FIFTH WORD of the Op Plan. (oops.)
Fischer shows Caldwell taking a selfie . . . while not even yet on restricted ground . . . at the exact time that Congress was being evacuated. Therefore, how can he be guilty of “Obstruction of an Official Proceeding.”
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Fischer continues through a series of government accusations that can’t be true based on Caldwell’s lack of proximity to violence - certainly not participation, but also not being a witness where they were. (They also never went inside the building.)
Fischer takes the jury reminders of Caldwell’s 100% military service connected disabilities - including his many other infirmities - and how absurd it is the FBI seemed to not know of his disabilities. To whit, Caldwell doesn’t have the physical ability to even commit some of the charges against him.
As to the conspiracy charges . . . Caldwell was not on any of the J6 Signal OP chats. Wasn’t on any of the 30 or so GoToMeeting conference calls dealing with J6. (Caldwell is the only non-OK in this trial.)
As to the famous messages and photos about the “recce” Caldwell made in DC…(Recon)…he reminds them that messages in ‘context’ detail with the location of porta-potties, including where the NC OKs would park their bus. Nothing at the Capitol or about. In context, the “Target Area” were photos of porta-pottie locations. (This being the way retired military commanders simply talk.)
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As to the Insurrection Act . . . Fischer doesn’t think anyone in that room know enough about the IA to speak to it. Moreover, Caldwell never spoke about it with anyone.
Fischer takes the jury through the presented lack of evidence of Caldwell’s familiarity, knowledge, or even communications with most of the other OKs - even the defendants in this room. Where’s the “coordination” of the QRF for which he’s accused, if there’s no evidence they had any communications? In fact, his ‘friend,’ Jessica Watkins, he had no idea she went into the Capitol until breakfast on J7.
Fischer: “When Agent Hilgeman claimed she believed the QRF was meant to ‘Occupy DC,’ I almost fell over.” (objection! . . . overruled)
Now he begins taking the jury through the actual transcripts where FBI Agent Palian claims Caldwell had a specific plan to “storm the Capitol.” When Palian and other agents couldn’t produce that specific plan, the government changed their theory to that of an”implied” plan.
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Fischer reads the transcript where Agent Palian admits to the government not having a single “person” or “document” proving the OKs or Caldwell had a plan to attack the Capitol. Yet, with no such evidence - and only one day of investigation - they raided the Caldwell farm with 25 FBI agents. (Arrest first . . . investigate later.) Upon arrest, they had no idea Caldwell was both a former naval intel commander, also worked for the FBI, was 100% disabled vet. The FBI even presented to the judge on the day of his arrest that Caldwell had an extensive criminal history . . . when he’s never been arrested for anything in his life. The FBI literally LIED to the arraigning judge about Caldwell’s criminal record.
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Considering Caldwell’s severe disabilities while being injured in an explosion while in service to his country: “If anybody has the 1st amendment right to say anything he wants, in private messages to others like him who will get the joke, it’s Thomas Caldwell.”
“This man was forced to admit to the world that he wears Depends, but when he broke down on the stand, all the government could say was, “Objection!”
Fischer asks the jury to find Caldwell “not guilty” on every count.
Mehta calls for after noon break . . .
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During the break we’re watching AUSA Jeffrey Nestler getting his video synched and ready for the government’s rebuttal - and, given both his personality and the lightening quick speed of his presentations, this is all I can think about:
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Mehta back on bench at 3:20pm. Jury reseated at 3:22.
This is it . . . one more presentation before some final instructions, then the case is in the jury’s hands.
And Nestler is OFF! He immediately claims the evidence against these defendants is OVERWHELMING . . . saying they “PHYSICALLY DROVE members of Congress from the Capitol and halted the certification of the election.”
He begins with such an egregious, blatant LIE . . . we ALL must be aware we can no longer trust anything our government tells us.
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Now Nestler goes through the jury instructions which lead the jury to believe they can be convicted for only an “implicit” agreement. (Thought crime.)
Now he begins to review the “flurry” of phone calls, GoToMeetings, Signal chats, Zello calls, etc. - which all “show a level of coordination” toward the conspiracy.
“Young and Dolan testified that they were guilty of entering a conspiracy with these defendants, and pled guilty in front of Judge Mehta - of conspiracy.” (To get a get a lighter sentence, of course - scared of their own government.)
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“They knew what they were gonna do . . . and they knew they had the numbers to force their way into the Capitol, when they combined together . . . and they did it.”
I had to laugh out loud. 14 unarmed people. (Nestler’s own number.) Were going to force their way into the Capitol and stop the election certification. Except . . . the two “stacks” never actually combined. They actually entered and left the Capitol at different times.
Is there even a prayer that this jury is…either smart enough to see the absurdity of this presentation…or even cares about truth, rather than the obvious political nature of this trial?
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Nestler goes though the process of claiming incontrovertible evidence of weeks or months of planning in this conspiracy . . . but since not a single FBI agent could produce evidence, (person or message of those orders and planning) . . . Nestler says, “Remember, the conspiracy can be formed in an instant.”
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On Watkins, she “literally raised a militia to stand against the Biden presidency. Nothing says guilt more than raising an army against your government.” (Her militia topped out at SIX people, including the geriatrics.)
Now comes the slides of Caldwell’s more inflammatory rhetoric. Rhodes encouraged the others to delete the messages. “They deleted messages because they knew they had committed crimes.”
Once again showing distorted timelines of their approach to the east side doors . . . “pushing, because that’s where members of Congress were.” (But, the doors were pushed open from the inside. He forgot that part.)
Nestler still pushes that the OKs “aided and abetted” the damage to the doors . . . (though video was shown those doors being damaged and panes shattered before they even arrived.)
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More repeats of “scary words,” twisted into meaning and context neither implied or intended with regards to their actual mission on J6.
Nestler now defends why they didn’t show every message in sequence of OK planning chats - and that it’s laughable, the notion they would hide evidence.
As to Personal Security Details . . . “they would need LEGAL COVER to justify where they’d be.”Nestler actually said the event for which the Capitol Police issued a permit, (we SAW IT), never existed and would never happen . . . (despite a stage and sound system built?)
He then said when Rhodes called all the OKs to gather on the NE corner of the Capitol, that proves they were not engaged in PSD. Nestler purposefully failed to mention THAT message said, for those “not on mission” to meet him OUTSIDE the Capitol, where they then gathered and LEFT by 3:30.
Nestler is a LYING SNAKE BASTARD. The DOJ . . . no longer seeks “justice.” They simply want five political scalps. (And whatever promotions will come with these convictions.)
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Now Nestler contends that there was no lag or delay in phone calls and messages on J6 - despite the fact their own Agents said some delays took 3 to 5.5 hours. (I was there. I can tell you I couldn’t get simple texts to send until hours later . . . yet, others were able to live stream on FB. It was different for everyone.)
Frankly . . . I’m just stunned at how one person can stand before us and tell lie after lie. At the very least, lies of omission, by telling half truths and sharing incomplete details of the events Nestler is recounting. He just SAYS IT. Therefore, it must be true. He IS the government. And it’s “laughable” to insinuate the government would hide evidence. Though he does it time after time . . . EVERY time he only tells half the truth, it is a whole lie.
But . . . Nestler is really good at that lectern. Super Slick. And he is the last voice this jury will hear before sitting in judgment over these five individuals.
Nestler is done at 4:41pm.
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Mehta immediately begins final jury instructions, specifically dealing with their remaining duties and expected behaviors for the duration of their deliberations.
The two alternate jurors are dismissed and the final 12 will begin deliberations tomorrow morning at 9:30. The jury is dismissed for the day. After tomorrow, the jury will have the remainder of the week off, and then resume deliberations next Monday.
Mehta now asks for all defense counsel to submit the thumb drives of their evidence and exhibit lists, for the jury.
Mehta gives an extended thanks to all the lawyers for their sacrifice in this trial, their commitment to justice, as example to the American people of how our system works, and regardless of the ultimate verdicts, he is proud to have served in this case with them.
Court dismissed.
