Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley weighed in on the government’s case against Jacob Chansley, AKA, the “QAnon Shaman” after Fox host Tucker Carlson released video showing that he had been with Capitol police almost the entire time he was in the Capitol. Normally, that would be a Brady violation and would free him from prison, but Turley says they can get away with it by claiming the videos were in the possession of the Democrats in the Housen and not with the prosecutors.
The videos released by Carlson have blown up the narrative pushed by the illegitimate J6 committee. One of those videos shows that Jacob Chansley was accompanied by a total of nine Capitol policemen that lead him to the area of the offices of the Senators. He was very peaceful and caused no problem for the Capitol cops. Chansley has been sentenced to 41 months in prison.
Jacob Chansley "QAnon Shaman" who was sentenced to 41 months seen on the Jan 6 tapes with at least 9 capitol police, acting as his tour guides#TuckerCarlson #Tucker pic.twitter.com/iILcMeuAb3
— Top Secret (@ICU1010) March 7, 2023
Chansley quickly pleaded guilty to charges without significant discovery and was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Many people have accused the corrupt DOJ of withholding exculpatory evidence against Chansley including his lawyer. That is considered a Brady violation and would be enough to set him free under normal circumstances. It is now up to Judge Royce Lamberth to decide if Chansley’s rights were violated. But, the DOJ can claim they did not have possession of the videos which were in the hands of the House Democrats.
Excerpt from Jonathan Turley’s blog post (emphasis ours):
However, the QAnon Shaman was led through the Capitol by officers. Defense counsel could have noted that his “obstruction” in going to an unoccupied Senate floor was facilitated by officers. While the police were clearly trying to deescalate the situation after the Capitol was breached, this is evidence of how Chansley came to the Senate. Indeed, his interaction with officers could have impacted how he viewed the gravity of his conduct. It certainly would have been material to the court in sentencing the conduct.
In his rambling sentencing statement to the court, Chansley apologized for “a lot of bad juju that I never meant to create.”
I have great respect for Judge Lamberth, who has always shown an admirable resistance to public pressure in high profile cases. I cannot imagine that Lamberth would not have found this footage material and frankly alarming.
At first blush, this would appear a clear “Brady violation” when a prosecutor fails to provide a defendant with any evidence that is favorable or exculpatory to his case. Like most things in Chansley’s life, it is a bit more complex than it would seem.
First, Chansley quickly pleaded guilty to the charge. This may have been due in part to the draconian treatment that he received by the Justice Department, which insisted on keeping him in solitary confinement with no apparent justification. The result is that he moved rapidly to sentencing without significant discovery in his case.
Second, the footage was in the possession of the legislative branch so the Justice Department could claim that it was not required to produce it. Indeed, the prosecution may have been entirely unaware of the footage.
Third, Chansley waived an appeal of the plea agreement and is now weeks away from release. The case is practically closed.
It is not clear, however, if Judge Lamberth will find the failure to disclose this evidence troubling and worthy of inquiry. None of this means that Chansley should not have been given jail time. Indeed, it is appropriate to sentence rioters to greater than average time due to the assault on our constitutional process.
12 Responses
There are no “good employees” in either the FBI nor the DoJ, nor even the Capitol Police who took those videos.
Execute every one of them for their treason, then put their heads on pikes around the Beltway.
Pour encourager les autres!
” it is appropriate to sentence rioters to greater than average time due to the assault on our constitutional process.” Does this also mean that rioters from BLM and ANTIFA are also subject to “greater than average time” for rioting as well? Is there equal justice under the law or is that only for enemies of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the rest of the Democratic Party?
The current DOJ is just as crooked as the rest of the government.
DOJ was in on J6 day 1
And DOJ could not have supbeoned them from Congress? Also, didn’t DOJ provide defense attorneys with an evidence spreadsheet, with exculpatory evidence contained within a HIDDEN tab?
Let’s face it. DOJ is part of the Deep State, and they are bedmates of the progressive Left (ie most Democrats & RINOs). This was an orchestrated hit job, coordinated at the highest levels between DOJ, House Democrats, Big Tech and the MSM.
Disband/defund the FBI, terminate its employees and agents, and bar them from future federal service. After defunding it, don’t restore that money to DOJ to spend some other way. Completely zero it out from DOJ’s budget, and then cut its budget even more. Cut the number of sitting US Attorneys by 50%, and then cut each remaining office’s budget by 50%. All of these political prosecutions that we see wouldn’t be possible if they didn’t have a bottomless well of money to finance their weaponization of the law against us. Also, if even HALF of what we hear about how the arrested J6 protesters are being treated is true, we should consider dismantling the Bureau of Prisons.
Finally, while what we see at the FBI today is over the top, let’s not delude ourselves into believing that the Bureau was once a squeaky clean tower of virtue that has only recently become corrupted. The truth is that it’s been corrupt since Hoover (ie since the beginning), and its primary focus has always been institutional self preservation, with law enforcement & national security taking second place. From wiretapping MLK, to handing over 800 dossiers to Hillary Clinton in 1993, to the abominations that we’ve seen since 2015, the Bureau has always played fast & loose with the law. The Bureau cannot be reformed, and the massive threat that it poses to our Constitution, and to our rights as citizens, far outweighs any good that it does on the crime fighting, anti-terrorism and counterespionage fronts.
I would like to know WHY the Black Capitol Cop who shot and killed an unarmed White female Veteran named Ashli Babbitt for No Apparent Reason, has never been investigated by anyone?? If it was a White Cop that shot and killed a BLACK female Veteran I know there would be an investigation and of course, the Usual Riots and Compensation for the family! It is Quite Obvious that there is not any JUSTICE FOR All IN AMERICA ANYMORE!
I, too, have been waiting for a segment or two from Tucker on Ashli Babbitt. It would seem that footage of her shooting would be at least as important as what we’ve seen (repeatedly) on Chansley. Her death WAS investigated and the shooter was cleared, but this was done by Capitol Police… the agency that had all the video. So maybe that footage somehow “disappeared”… after all, no crime, no foul, nothing to see here. Shameful.
This was “discrimination based on race, creed, or political affiliation,” very clearly the first and third of those. Therefore, this treatment of Chansley was a violation of his civil rights, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This is dirty as dirty can be.
First of all, of course, the DOJ was reviewing the videos. They had little else to build a case. The videos would have also told them who to interview who were eyewitnesses. Second, the suggestion that the DOJ could claim the videos were in the possession of the Democrats in the Housen and not with the prosecutors is ludicrous. Videos are digital files, they aren’t constrained by time or space. Multiple copies can be made or accessed by multiple departments in space and time via servers.
The man was COERCED by the ‘justice department’ into a quick guilty plea by their UNCONSTITUTIONAL holding of him and others in a GULAG-like atmosphere with no acknowledgement of their constitutional rights. The evidence was INTENTIONALLY WITHHELD which resulted in an unfair and ILLEGAL sentencing. He should be set free immediately and file a lawsuit for restitution for the illegal actions taken against him by his own government.
In the current Justice Department it appears as though it is the People of the United States of America VS: the Justice Department. Since when does the Justice Department operate at all unless he people give it the authority to do so, how, and when? In my opinion, we no longer have a true “Justice Department” but an organization of politically motivated men who operate contrary to the basic ideals of what Justice is all about. These same men pick and choose, bend the laws and rules, at times cross the line and even operate illegally all for political purposes. They have lost the essence of what and why they are there, to serve Justice no matter where it takes us. The hiding of evidence, the lies told, the operations contrary to the basic rules of law should be met with almost automatic termination of employment within the Department of Justice as that is suppose to be the most trusted office in the land. When that trust is broken, bent, or ignored, trust is lost and justice can no longer be trusted nor relied upon. Those individuals, from the top to the bottom who are relied upon to lead and violate the sacred trust, need to be replaced by those who will obey the law and ignore the winds of political favor. As long as that does not happen we are not operating under the Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights, we are operating in a Dictatorship full of lies, cheating, and corruption.
TRUTH BE TOLD, If those HIDDEN FOOTAGES were Exposed to the world before the 2022 Midterm Election, the RED TSUNAMI would have Surely Happened.