Legal experts are claiming Tucker Carlson’s release of never-before-seen footage from the Jan. 6 events could really hurt the Department of Justice’s cases against hundreds of defendants.
One lawyer who is representing five different Jan. 6 defendants said the bombshell footage of Jan. 6 proves that DOJ prosecutors purposefully hid “plainly exculpatory” footage from the defendants and their counsel, the Washington Examiner reported. The lawyer made a request for a mistrial after Carlson’s airing of the Jan. 6 footage.
Harvey Silverglate, a legal expert who is representing Trump attorney John Eastman, said Carlson’s footage which showed capitol police officers happily guiding Jacob Chansely around the capitol could lead to his guilty plea being appealed. “I think that he can get his guilty plea vacated. He certainly is going to try. I think he will probably succeed,” Silverglate explained.
“It’s not the defense’s fault [the footage] wasn’t turned over,” he added. Roger Roots, another attorney representing a Jan. 6 defendant, claimed the “withheld” footage is evidential proof that capitol police officers invited protestors into the Senate chamber. “This footage is plainly exculpatory; as it establishes that the Senate chamber was never violently breached, and — in fact — was treated respectfully by January 6 protestors,” Roots wrote in a court filing.
“To the extent that protesters entered the chamber, they did so under the supervision of Capitol Police. The Senators on January 6 could have continued proceedings,” Roots added.
Albert Watkins, who once represented Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman,” lambasted the DOJ for abandoning their “absolute duty” to “disclose” the footage.
“What’s deeply troubling is the fact that I have to watch Tucker Carlson to find video footage which the government has but chose not to disclose despite the absolute duty to do so, despite being requested in writing to do so multiple times,” Watkins said Tuesday.
WATCH:
Jacob Chansley's Former Attorney Albert Watkins Joined Tucker Carlson To Discuss The New Footage Showing Chansley Being Led Through The Capitol By Police
Tucker: "Had you seen that clearly exculpatory tape of your client at trial?"
Albert: "No." pic.twitter.com/B7cU6l3iEv
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) March 9, 2023