FIRST J6 ACQUITTAL, EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ATTY DAN CRON
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Summary
Matthew Martin, an Energy Department contract engineer, was the first defendant to testify in his own defense on January 6th, 2015. He said he had never been to the Capitol before and didn t know it was off limits to demonstrators. In fact, Martin said he and others were waved in by one of two police officers who were standing guard.
Transcript
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Hello everybody and welcome to the Great America Show and our issue of the day is the January 6
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trespassing incident that occurred on Capitol Hill 15 months ago. You may have heard about that.
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The radical left, the Dems, decided to turn those events that day into an opportunity,
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political theater. The Biden Justice Department and FBI conducting themselves as the police state
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political enforcers, I believe they've become. Speaker Pelosi in Congress creating a media
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carnival and kangaroo court of partisans that have used up the manpower and resources of the FBI
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and the Department of Justice for the sole purpose of serving the Democrats, the Marxist left, as well
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as the deep state. At least 800 of our fellow citizens have been charged. A few broke laws that
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day, but not many. A handful. The rest are victims of the overbearing state powers unleashed by
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Democratic leaders. The trials have begun. Dozens remain in jail as millions of dollars have been
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spent to, it seems, intimidate and break our fellow citizens who might think they're in the former
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Soviet Union rather than the United States of America. Today, the first outright acquittal came
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an Energy Department contract engineer by the name of Matthew Martin from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Martin also is the first defendant to testify in his own defense. Martin said that day he had never
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been to the Capitol before, didn't know it was off limits to demonstrators. In fact, Martin said he
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and others were waved in by one of two police officers who were standing guard. His trial lasted a day
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and a half, a bench trial decided by district court judge Trevor McFadden, appointed by President Donald
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Trump. And we should point out, Judge McFadden ruled against President Trump on the issue of his tax
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returns. In acquitting Martin of all charges, all misdemeanors, by the way, Judge McFadden said the
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video showed, quote, people streaming by and the police officers made no attempt to stop the people.
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That federal prosecutors are even bringing these misdemeanor cases against private citizens,
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rally goers and demonstrators. And ultimately, a few rioters is an outrage, in my opinion. And thank
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God we have a few judges like McFadden who go to the trouble and compared prosecutor recommendations.
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In this case, the one sixers trials compared to recommendations made by the prosecutors in a
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case against left-wing activists, the group Code Pink. The prosecutors wanted in a separate January
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6 case, 75 days in jail and a year probation. For the leftists, they asked 10 days. The judge
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ultimately sentenced him, the left-wing activists, that is, to six days. Well, with us now, Matthew
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Martin's defense attorney, Dan Kron, a highly respected New Mexico defense attorney. And Dan,
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it is great to have you with us. And we thank you for being with us here on The Great America Show.
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You're welcome. It's my pleasure. It's just an extraordinarily important ruling today by Judge
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McFadden to dismiss these misdemeanor charges, to acquit your client. Your thoughts about, first of all,
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what happened today in that courtroom as the judge made his decision? Well, I would say the first
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thing is that coming from the defense point of view, what we always hope for is just to have
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a fair day in court. And, you know, a fair day isn't necessarily defined by whether you win or lose.
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But whether your case is both heard and you can present the case you want to present and, you know,
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that the trier of fact is attentive and, you know, listens to the details. And we were very fortunate
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to have Judge McFadden do exactly that. And so the first observation is we were, you know, happy to be
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able to present our case and have it listened to impartially. You know, beyond that, you know,
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Judge McFadden's ruling was, he made several findings of fact. And those findings of fact were very
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detailed and all were tied to specific places in the record. And so we had actually come to Washington
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for Coy Griffin's trial when it happened. And that was one of the first things that struck me about
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Judge McFadden was that he was very detail oriented and had the capacity to see through, you know,
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hyperbole. And so we were very fortunate in that regard. And like I say, we are just all we wanted
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was a fair day in court. And that's what we got. A fair day in court. The decision to have a bench trial
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rather than a jury trial. Give us your your thinking and that of your client on that issue.
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That decision. You know, we had to evaluate whether we thought we would be better off in in front of,
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you know, a jury, you know, and that can cut both ways. In order for a jury to convict,
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all 12 have to agree. Whereas with respect to a, you know, having a bench trial, you know, there's,
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you know, one person, only one person has to find against you and, you know, and, and then it's,
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you know, it's, it's a guilty finding. But, you know, in in this case, we felt that it was,
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you know, there were a lot of factual issues tied to intricacies with the law. And so we wanted,
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you know, to have a legal mind be the one to meld those two things together and make the decision
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so that, you know, um, the decision wouldn't be based on actions of, of other people. Um, we wanted,
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um, you know, uh, we, we thought that, um, a judge would be better positioned to take, um, the emotion
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out of it and just deal with the facts and the law. Taking the, the emotion out the, the facts of it,
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is, do you have knowledge of what other, uh, defendants are doing? Are they choosing, uh, bench
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trials rather than, uh, jury trials? Or is there any predominant choice being made? I really don't
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know. Um, you know, because we've just been concentrated on, uh, Matt's case and, uh, that's,
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that's had us extremely busy. Yes, I'm sure it did. Uh, how long have you been working on this
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case, uh, since, uh, he came to you for your, your representation? Uh, Matt came to me, um,
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probably, let me think. Uh, I think he came to me six days after, um, January 6th. So I've been
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working on it ever since then. It's amazing. And this is, and to remind our audience, these are four
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misdemeanors. Uh, we were talking about trespass, uh, it's, uh, effectively, uh, how, how does a
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misdemeanor get to this level of, uh, of expense and energy expended on the part of the prosecutors,
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the investigators, and then brought to trial? This seems like a onerous, uh, burden on the taxpayer
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and the resources, frankly, of our justice department, the FBI. Well, we were, uh, frankly,
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surprised that they brought the charges given the circumstances. Um, and it's fair to say that,
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um, they threw everything at us, uh, that they had, um, they had three lawyers who made entries of
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appearance, uh, in the case. And, uh, there were, uh, also, I know other lawyers, uh, who, you know,
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were not officially entered in the case, but there were working on it and, uh, many, many support staff
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people. And so, um, it was, you know, it was honestly a David versus Goliath kind of a situation. Um,
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and, you know, we had, there, there, there have been these huge, um, uh, dumps of, um, um, discovery
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that have been made. And we ended up having to, uh, try to make our way through, uh, I think there
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was something like 27,000, uh, various videos. Um, and, you know, we had to make our way through
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them to be able to find the ones that were, uh, pertinent to Matt's case.
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Now, did, did the justice department, did they give you your own copy of that video or did you
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have to go to someplace and to see that video? Um, uh, there, there's a portal, uh, set up, uh,
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that we would access. And, and how, give us a sense of that 27,000 hours. Give us a sense of how
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much of it, uh, actually affected your case, uh, and Matt's appearance, uh, in that video.
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Well, that was part of the challenge, uh, was trying to figure out, um, which of those videos
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were pertinent to our case. And, you know, it, it took a long time. I mean, we spent hundreds of hours,
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uh, working our way through, uh, uh, to find the evidence that, uh, we ultimately presented in court
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that resulted in his acquittal. How did, how did Matthew react, uh, uh, when the judge made his,
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uh, ruling? Well, to tell you the truth, we're both so exhausted
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that, uh, it's been, uh, um, um, we, we really haven't had the time to process it yet. So,
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you know, it goes without saying that, uh, Matt, uh, uh, you know, and I, uh, are very grateful
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for it. Um, and, you know, frankly, it, it hasn't set in yet. Well, it is certainly, uh, as you know,
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well, uh, America is watching this very carefully. Uh, we have so many of hundreds of our fellow
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citizens, uh, being treated, uh, in ways in which we have not, we haven't seen the likes,
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uh, in this, uh, in modern history, certainly in this country. Uh, it is, how, how long was the
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sentence, uh, how long a sentence could he have gotten for, had he been convicted and the judge
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thrown the book at him? Uh, there was a total of three years of exposure. Oh my gosh. For 10 minutes
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inside the Capitol. Yes. It doesn't, it is, as a well-known legal practitioner, I I'd like to just
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get your sense. First of all, uh, in this of, uh, how do you react to this kind of prosecutorial?
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Well, I'll be kind. I'll call it zeal. Uh, we know it's far more than zeal, but your reaction to
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just the conduct of the attitude of the prosecutors. Well, um, this is, um, uh, there, there are many
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cases that I have been involved with over the years where, um, it's, it's been difficult to
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understand, uh, you know, the zeal with which, uh, the prosecution has come after a client and, and
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the, this, this was just one of them. I mean, this isn't something that, uh, um, I haven't experienced
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before. Uh, the country though, really hasn't experienced this before. Uh, we've never seen an
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instance where our private citizens, our fellow citizens are being charged with, uh, for, and I
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understand that there were serious felonies committed by some, but it's such a small number
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within that entire group of rally goers and demonstrators and protesters, and then the rioters
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that it, it, it, it just doesn't, it seems there is no countervailing influence here. No reason, no
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judgment, uh, from any form of leadership, either in the legal profession in, uh, I don't know the
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community, uh, in, in which we protest this kind of conduct, uh, by prosecutors because it is
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overreaching, it is overbearing, uh, and it is devastating, uh, to people like your client.
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I, I can't even imagine what this has done to his life. Well, it's turned it upside down. That's for
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sure. Um, you know, um, when, uh, when all of this first happened and Matt first contacted me,
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we, uh, spent, uh, a lot of time, um, going through, uh, what had happened and what, you know,
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what his experience was that day. And, um, you know, something that, uh, folks probably don't
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understand is that, um, there, the, the experience that people had, uh, was quite different, uh,
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from the West side of the Capitol to the East side of the Capitol. Uh, the images that, uh, you see
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on television, uh, came from, um, you know, uh, the, the images of the violence and, and, you know,
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the, the truly bad stuff that happened, happened on the West side. Matt was never on the West side.
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Uh, he never, he was only on the East side and he never, uh, witnessed, uh, any of, of that violence.
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And so really it wasn't until he got back into his hotel room and started watching the news that,
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uh, he started to realize, uh, what had gone on, on the other side. And as I say, it, it was, um,
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uh, I think that most people don't understand that it was almost like it was two separate events,
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uh, in, in terms of, uh, what they experienced was, uh, on the West side, as opposed to the East side.
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What was the difference? Why was one side, uh, violent and the other side also entering the Capitol,
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but doing so in an orderly fashion, uh, even lackadaisical fashion. What was the difference?
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Uh, actually, I think it was just proximity, um, you know, because the,
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um, um, the rally happened, uh, uh, close to the white house by the, uh, uh, well,
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it was actually at the ellipse and then there was a spillover crowd over by the Washington monument.
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And so the crowd then went up, um, Pennsylvania Avenue, um, and they, uh, you know,
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the side that was closest was the West side, which is where the inaugural stand was being built.
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And, um, you know, I personally, I, I, I just think that that's why, uh, you know,
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the West side was the first side that they got to now in Matt's case, he actually had gone back to
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his hotel room, um, um, and, you know, was not, uh, part of that initial crowd that went there.
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And, um, he was aware that there were supposed to be, uh, you know, some other, um, um, rallies
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going on in between the Supreme court building and, uh, the Capitol. And it's the, uh, the,
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the East side, the, the Supreme court building faces the East side of the, uh, Capitol. And so
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that's why when Matt went there, he took a route to take him to the East side.
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And to get, to get some sense of this, let's, let's, let's go back in time to when Matt made
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a decision to go to the Trump rally. Uh, did he go as part of a group or did he do this just
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himself? Uh, what were his circumstances? Uh, he's a, he's a contract engineer for the energy
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department, uh, in Los Alamos, uh, New Mexico, a beautiful community, a beautiful place. Uh,
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what, what prompted him to do it? Well, he saw, um, the, the tweet from, uh, president Trump,
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um, uh, that was on, I believe it was December 19th. Um, and you know, he, um, wanted to exercise his,
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uh, first amendment right to show support, uh, to the president. And so he, uh, completely
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on his own, uh, booked a ticket, um, that same day, uh, to come to Washington. Um, he arrived
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here on, uh, January 5th and left on January 7th. And his sole purpose in coming here was,
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uh, to attend the rally, to show support to the president and vice president. And so, um,
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he was not a part of any group. Uh, he came here alone. Uh, he did not meet up with anybody while
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he was here. Um, you know, apart from just casual, um, um, interaction, you know, with,
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with other people, uh, he did not collaborate with anyone and he was, uh, simply, uh, a citizen here
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to, um, express his, you know, first amendment rights. Yeah. Yeah. I, it, and he was working
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at Los Alamos, uh, the energy department facility, uh, there, uh, actually he was, uh, he was actually
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working for a contractor, um, and, uh, it was a contractor that was, uh, uh, basically stationed
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at a different site, but, uh, uh, from the main site in Los Alamos. Yeah. And, and, uh, you know,
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the, the, the contractor then would, uh, their business collaborated with the lab. It really was,
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uh, mischaracterized, uh, as him working for the lab because he didn't. Okay. Uh, and so,
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and his, does he have a family? Does, uh, what are his personal circumstances? Well, his personal
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circumstances are that, uh, he's a single man, um, his, uh, brother and mom, uh, live in Albuquerque
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and, uh, you know, I, they're, they're his main support system. Right. And, and suddenly he's back on
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the 7th of January, uh, after going to the rally. Uh, and when does he learn that the federal government
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has a strong interest in convicting him of these misdemeanors? Well, when, um,
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you know, his, uh, employer knew that he was going to be, uh, coming, uh, his supervisor knew that.
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Right. And so, uh, I mean, it was no secret. Um, you know, he, he did not come to Washington with
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any ill will or any ill intention. And, uh, so it's not as though there was some sort of, uh, some
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sort of a secret thing. And then when events, uh, unfolded as they did in, um, in Washington on the
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6th, uh, you know, uh, of course his, um, uh, supervisor knew, uh, that he had been here.
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And, um, after he got back to New Mexico on the next work day, he let his supervisor know that he
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had been inside the building. And of course, uh, uh, that then got reported, uh, you know, to security.
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And, um, it was at that point that, um, you know, he was, uh, contacted, uh, by the FBI,
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which was then when he contacted me. And, um, after we sat down and, and talked about everything,
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um, it didn't appear to, to me, uh, and certainly not to him, uh, that he had done anything wrong,
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you know, which ultimately was born out, um, uh, by the end of today. And so, um, we fully cooperated
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with the FBI. Um, we met with them, um, uh, on January 15th, um, and provided them with all the
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information they wanted. And, you know, part of the reason why I said that, uh, I was surprised
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that he was charged is that, you know, despite having all of that information, um, they, um,
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uh, he didn't get charged then until, um, April 22nd. My goodness. Uh, you know, I, I have to say
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this looks political from beginning to end throughout, uh, does it seem to you to be
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outright political? What are your thoughts as defense attorney and a very good one when you
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were dealing with prosecutors, uh, and the way they behaved, the conduct of your client, you are,
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have to be well known to the FBI, uh, to law enforcement with your career. Uh, this just your
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thoughts, how political is this? Well, you know, I never really have looked at this, uh,
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so much through that lens as I have through a factual lens. And, um, you know, I, I, I just
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believed and, uh, it, it turned out correctly. Uh, I just believe that the facts would speak
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for themselves. And so, you know, we did not approach this case from, uh, a political point
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of view, um, you know, because, uh, a, a, a, a person, um, uh, should be held accountable for what
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they do and not what they think. And so, um, you know, there's a difference between thought and
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action. And, um, we felt strongly that Matt's actions were lawful. And, uh, so that was our
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approach on the case. And when Matthew has talked to you throughout this, and I mean, you were
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obviously involved from the very, almost the inception, what does he think about, uh, January
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6th itself and all that has exploded from that, uh, that one day? Well, Matt, uh, Matt had, um,
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you know, a very positive experience, uh, at, at the rally. Um, he had, uh, a positive experience
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on his way to, uh, you know, to the Capitol. Um, it was, um, uh, you know, before anybody reached the
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Capitol, uh, it, it was, you know, from his perception and his experience, uh, it was a, uh,
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you know, uh, uh, uh, a festive event. And so, um, you know, he, you know, he enjoyed that part of it.
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Um, and then once he, um, made his way to the Capitol, um, I mean, by the time he got there
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and unbeknownst to him, uh, you know, Congress had recessed and, um, the, uh, the building itself
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had already been breached, but it was breached from the West side. Um, and so when, when he made
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his way around to the East side, um, you know, there, and, and the judge observed this as well,
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there were, um, police officers on the, uh, North steps on the Senate side, uh, of the East side.
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And, um, you know, uh, nobody was telling, uh, the people on the East side that they weren't allowed
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to be there. Um, when Matt then made his way up to, uh, the, the center steps, um, he was,
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up on, on that level, uh, for a while, um, you know, for anybody who would be facing the East side
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of the Capitol, the doors that, that lead into the rotunda, there are columns on each side. And he
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was between the second and third column. As you face the East side, uh, to the right, the crowd then,
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uh, started, um, uh, migrating towards the door. And then it was at, uh, by the time he got to the
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door, you know, he was just following the flow of the crowd. And, um, you know, part of the, um, video
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that we presented in court, uh, we were able to locate, uh, a camera angle that, uh, showed
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the people coming in and then, um, zoomed in on that. And, um, you know, it was, it was clear
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from what we presented in court that, uh, uh, there was a, um, uh, Capitol policeman standing
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on, um, uh, each side of the entrance, uh, each of them basically propping over a door. Now,
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you know, to be fair to them and unbeknownst to Matt, um, you know, uh, that, that door had
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been breached, uh, previously. And, you know, it's, it's understandable that the, uh, Capitol,
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uh, policeman there, um, you know, by that point, um, they couldn't keep people out. And so they
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were just trying to, um, you know, uh, see to it that things were peaceful, but from Matt's
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perception, uh, by the time he got up there, um, and, and we were able to, you know, zoom
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in on, uh, this video. And, you know, what you saw was that, uh, there, the, the Capitol
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policeman on nearest to him actually motioned with his left hand, you know, uh, signaling to,
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you know, in Matt's perception come in. And then with his right hand, uh, the policeman extended that
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out, um, you know, which once again, and, and the judge found, you know, that it was reasonable
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for Matt to have believed that that was an invitation to come in, um, once he was inside,
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um, and, you know, I'm not telling any tales out of school. This was all presented, uh, uh, in court.
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Right. Um, once he got inside, um, there, uh, there were nine, uh, Capitol, um, um, policemen who,
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uh, were standing in front of, uh, the entrance to the Senate side off, uh, the rotunda blocking
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that path. And, uh, Matt saw them and, and was close to them and, um, none of them were telling
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people, uh, you know, to, that they couldn't be there. Um, and, you know, by implication,
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since they were blocking that pathway, uh, and not, uh, saying anything, uh, you know, to the folks
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inside that they weren't permitted to be there, that they needed to leave. Um, you know, I think
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Matt reasonably, uh, drew the inference that it was okay for him to be in the rotunda. Um, now, uh,
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shortly after he got in there was when the Metro police, uh, came in, um, on the other side of
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where Matt was and formed a line and then, um, started herding people out, um, you know, towards
00:32:40.900
the, the entrance door. And at that point, um, Matt left. And so it was, it was, um, uh, pretty
00:32:50.600
much that simple. Um, and you know, I mean, that's, that's what he did at any point. Was there a
00:32:59.320
discussion? Uh, I mean, it sounds so, so casual and indeed, as I look back on that, on that video
00:33:07.740
that day at what we were watching, a part of it, just as you said, looked like it was a walk in the
00:33:14.420
park and other parts of it looked far more, uh, violent, but they were violent there. There was
00:33:22.200
plenty of violence that went on on the West side and that's undeniable. And how many people of the
00:33:29.900
800, uh, because it's interesting how difficult it is to get straight answers from our federal
00:33:35.960
government on this. Uh, how many have been charged? I mean, do you have a sense of how many remain in
00:33:41.640
jail? Uh, we have estimates, uh, of that, but it's really peculiar how little regard there is on the
00:33:50.260
part of the justice department, uh, to informing the American people. Yeah. I can't speak to that
00:33:56.460
because I don't know either. Did you have any problems getting all the information that you wanted
00:34:01.780
from the justice, uh, department? Well, um, the difficulty, uh, was,
00:34:11.640
in, in wading through the massive, uh, amount of data that we were given access to that. That's what
00:34:24.700
the real challenge was. Um, I'm sorry, go ahead. And, and, you know, I, I suspect, uh, I, I would be
00:34:34.660
surprised if other lawyers on the case, uh, have not had the same experience.
00:34:42.500
So as we, we know that they had to be thorough and search out that video and why would it not
00:34:50.920
have made some sense for the justice department to, uh, just have a discrete section of videotape
00:34:58.340
that pertains to your client. Uh, it could all be encoded. It's, there's nothing complicated about
00:35:03.960
that in terms of digital editing that couldn't have been done. Uh, because inversely when dumping
00:35:11.620
video like that, voluminous video that I, I, I mean, that's a stunning amount, uh, a video to
00:35:18.440
credit go to see a simply watch if it's entertainment, but for, for business and with a
00:35:24.060
practical purpose, it's looking for what effectively are needles and haystacks. It sounds like they were
00:35:30.000
trying to intimidate you or get you to give you the opportunity to miss something salient and very
00:35:35.400
important to your client. Um, I think it would be fair to say that, um, given the fact, uh, I
00:35:47.640
mean, basically what we did was, um, we poked around at different camera locations to look at, um, the
00:35:57.260
footage. Um, and part of the reason why we were able to, um, persuade the court, um, in terms of what
00:36:09.600
Matt's actions were, uh, is that we basically strung together, um, um, the videos, uh, that showed Matt
00:36:21.320
from, uh, from, uh, the time that he was on first Avenue heading down constitution and then wrapping
00:36:30.200
around, uh, so that, um, he, uh, you know, so that the judge was able, the judge didn't have to speculate
00:36:39.220
what he was doing. Um, you know, because we, like I say, were able through a ton of work to, um, isolate
00:36:50.420
Matt, uh, and chart his path. Matt, uh, is in a difficult position simply because he had a, he had a
00:37:01.580
federal government clearance. Uh, he was doing contract work for the federal government. What is, what is
00:37:09.780
the possibility of having his clearance reinstated now that he's been acquitted, uh, and returning, uh, to his
00:37:18.700
previous, uh, previous job or one like it? Well, okay. So let's, uh, let's split that into two separate
00:37:25.620
questions. So the first thing is, and I have done, um, um, um, substantial work, uh, for clearances.
00:37:37.900
Um, you know, I, I mean, I've, I've, I've been dealing with DOE clearances for probably 30 years.
00:37:45.900
Um, and, um, you know, uh, I don't think that it'll be difficult for him to get, uh, uh, uh, a clearance back
00:37:57.020
because, um, one of the things that, um, you know, affects, uh, you know, when someone has criminal charges,
00:38:09.100
uh, from DOE's eyes is if you go to trial and you're acquitted, then, you know, that, that clears
00:38:16.220
the issue. So, um, I don't perceive that, um, that that's to be an obstacle. Um, what we are hoping
00:38:25.980
now at this point is that since he's been acquitted is that he'll be hired back. He, he was at that job
00:38:34.220
for 18 and a half years. Oh my gosh. And, um, you know, and, and he didn't get fired, um, until
00:38:44.540
the charges were brought in April. And so we, uh, are hopeful that, uh, he'll be able to get his job
00:38:53.020
back and, you know, really at this point, uh, you know, that's, that's job one to try to get him,
00:39:00.140
uh, you know, to help him put his life back together because as you can well imagine, uh,
00:39:06.940
this has, uh, uh, turned it upside down. Yes. Uh, and if you will give him our best regards, uh,
00:39:14.380
and, uh, uh, heartfelt congratulations, uh, in, as he starts putting his life back together,
00:39:21.980
uh, the disruption of his life, uh, over this period of time, the expenses of this in terms of,
00:39:29.340
uh, legal fees, uh, what it has cost him in terms of his income. Uh, can you give us a sense of,
00:39:38.300
well, first of all, is he getting financial help of some kind? Is there fundraising going on to help
00:39:45.260
those who've been charged here, uh, with, in my opinion, or absolutely an asinine
00:39:53.100
prosecution by the federal government of, of, uh, Matt? Well, um, I really can't speak to that
00:40:00.460
without Matt's permission, you know? And so, um, I, I don't feel comfortable in addressing that issue,
00:40:07.100
you know, except to say that, you know, it, it, um, would be apparent to anyone that, um, you know,
00:40:16.140
the financial burden, uh, uh, to, you know, I mean, basically, you know, even though the system is set up
00:40:25.180
to where, um, you know, it's the government's responsibility to prove you guilty, you know,
00:40:32.540
uh, practically speaking, this is the kind of case where we had to prove it innocent.
00:40:37.660
Yeah. It, it really, that is well put. Uh, let me ask further on the, on the question of cost. And
00:40:46.780
is there, do you know of, and not referring to your client, but do you do, do you know of an organization
00:40:53.080
broadly that is raising money, uh, to help those who've been caught up in this web,
00:40:59.100
uh, much as, uh, Matt was certainly, uh, but who were, uh, on the right side of the building,
00:41:05.020
uh, if you will, who conducted themselves appropriately. And we all also who watched,
00:41:11.500
uh, the events that day saw police officers, if not waving them in almost welcoming them,
00:41:17.820
uh, just by their body language, uh, into the building. Is there such an organization?
00:41:23.740
You know, uh, I think that there are some, uh, groups out there that, uh, raise funds. Um,
00:41:33.820
but, um, I, I, I can't be any more exacting than, than that.
00:41:39.660
We are looking at a judge, uh, and, uh, McFadden, who I, based on my reading of what he did, uh,
00:41:48.300
today and how he conducted this trial, uh, through argument, uh, he was, as you put it,
00:41:54.220
fair-minded, straightforward. Uh, I, I don't think that's going to be the result for a lot of people,
00:42:00.860
depending on their, uh, on the draw. Uh, what is your sense of what the country could do better
00:42:07.580
here to avoid spectacles like this, where prosecutorial, you and I've agreed on the term
00:42:13.420
zeal, prosecutorial zeal overwhelms, uh, uh, really, uh, honorable conduct, I think on the
00:42:21.100
part of the legal profession, uh, and certainly the prosecutors, uh, I, I'm referring to.
00:42:27.500
Yeah, I really don't have the answer to that. Um, you know, I mean, looking at it from our
00:42:33.980
perspective, all that we can do, um, you know, all that we could do in this case was to defend Matt.
00:42:41.340
And so I, I, I really don't know. Uh, certainly, uh, well, will the outcome of
00:42:48.620
today's events, will it affect other cases? Will it influence the proceedings? Uh, will it leaven,
00:42:56.140
if you will, prosecutorial zeal? Well, um, I mean, I certainly hope that, um, um,
00:43:04.860
um, I, I, I mean, one, one of the things that I think this case illustrates is that these, um,
00:43:14.220
these prosecutions are not a one-size-fits-all, uh, kind of a proposition. And so my hope, uh, for
00:43:23.980
other people who, whose conduct is similarly situated to Matt's, uh, is that, uh, there would be
00:43:34.860
a, um, you know, um, uh, a closer attempt, uh, to, to ferret out, uh, cases, uh, you know,
00:43:47.820
like Matt's that, you know, as I said, at the beginning, I, I frankly was surprised that they
00:43:54.060
ended up charging him, uh, based on what his conduct was.
00:43:57.900
Well, he made a terrific choice of, uh, attorney, uh, and representation, uh, and, uh, we appreciate
00:44:07.420
you, uh, sharing your thoughts, uh, with us here today. I know it's been a long day for you.
00:44:12.700
We appreciate your time. Uh, and, uh, again, our, our, our best, uh, to, to Matt, uh, with our
00:44:19.900
congratulations and, uh, thank you so much for being with us. We have a tradition on this, uh,
00:44:25.340
on this podcast. We give the guests always the last words. I'll turn to you for that counselor.
00:44:31.740
Oh, well, um, I, I, I guess all I can say is that, um, we're, uh, just grateful that we had, um,
00:44:43.660
the opportunity to present our case and that, uh, Judge McFadden, uh, listened intently and, um,
00:44:54.220
you know, for anybody who was in that courtroom and listened to the judge's decision, um, he spent
00:45:01.100
a long time, um, um, giving the specific findings of fact, um, and they were all based in the evidence.
00:45:12.700
And so we're just, at the end of the day, grateful that we've come to the end of this
00:45:19.580
odyssey. And, um, you know, at, at, at this point, um, we, we just want for Matt to get his life put
00:45:30.460
back together. Dan Cron. Thanks so much for being with us. And our, again, our best to Matt. Thank
00:45:36.540
you. Thank you. And I'll pass that along. God bless you, Dan Cron. Thank you everybody for being with us
00:45:43.340
today. A bit of a footnote on the prosecutions of hundreds of our fellow citizens and what we
00:45:49.820
can expect in the weeks and months ahead as these clearly political persecutions of Americans
00:45:55.820
continue. In Matthew Martin's acquittal today, justice was served, but as you heard his attorney's
00:46:02.460
account, Matt was fully cooperative with the FBI, had video proof of his lawful behavior
00:46:08.300
behavior and his orderly conduct on January 6th. And three months after they interviewed him,
00:46:15.340
they charged him still with four misdemeanors amounting to trespassing and disorderly conduct.
00:46:22.620
Politico's Josh Gerstein reported judge McFadden said of Martin that his conduct that day
00:46:28.300
was as quote minimal as I can imagine in quote judge McFadden has given short probation sentences to
00:46:36.940
defendants when DOJ prosecutors were asking for jail terms. And the judge has questioned
00:46:43.580
prosecutors for bringing charges at all against nonviolent defendants. We thank you judge McFadden
00:46:51.260
for being fair. Hundreds of cases remain. And as we learned today, the list of cases will grow
00:46:58.620
by hundreds of more cases. Thanks to so-called citizen sleuths, sedition hunters, as they call themselves,
00:47:05.980
online sleuths. But they are likely to also be left-wing activists. And now DOJ is asking for
00:47:13.820
millions more for its budget to add more lawyers and to continue their investigation for what could be
00:47:21.660
years more. We all know what the DOJ has become, what the FBI is, and only a powerful commitment to
00:47:29.980
reform and a purge of ideological motives will ever make the department worthy of the word justice in
00:47:37.180
its name again. Elections have consequences and Republicans and independents have seven months to
00:47:44.540
invest their energy and time to restore integrity and security to our elections. Only our direct
00:47:51.900
involvement and participation as active citizens will assure those much-needed reforms. And here tomorrow,
00:48:00.220
one of the strongest, most fearless advocates for our constitutional republic, she's pro-life, she's America
00:48:07.900
first, and she speaks her mind. Our guest is Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Please be with us. We want to
00:48:16.620
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