XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, misc.legal, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: jew.nazis@nytimes.com   
      
   On 29 Nov 2021, Bob Duncan  posted some   
   news:so3ik4$ild$65@news.dns-netz.com:   
      
   > Anonymous wrote   
   >   
   >> The Nazis are coming for you America.   
      
   Washington — Prosecutors in the trial of the Proud Boys conceded Thursday   
   that a witness to be called by the defense had previously been paid by the   
   FBI as a confidential informant against members of the far right group in   
   the months before five of its members were to be tried for seditious   
   conspiracy.   
      
   According to court documents filed late Wednesday by defendant Zachary   
   Rehl, between April 2022 and January 2023, the unnamed female FBI   
   informant was "in contact via telephone, text messaging and other   
   electronic means, with one or more of the counsel for the defense and at   
   least one defendant."   
      
   Prosecutors say the FBI ended its relationship with the informant upon   
   learning in January that she might be called as a defense witness, in   
   order to ensure she did not provide information about the case to   
   government and violate any defendant's attorney-client privilege.   
   Confidential human sources are a tool used by federal investigators to   
   obtain information and their identities are usually protected.   
      
   Rehl and four members of the Proud Boys — including leader Enrique Tarrio   
   — are currently on trial for attempting to use force to prevent the   
   peaceful transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to President   
   Joe Biden during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. All of them have pleaded   
   not guilty.   
      
   In court on Thursday, attorneys for Tarrio revealed they intended to call   
   the anonymous witness, but they grew concerned after prosecutors told them   
   she had previously acted as a confidential human source for federal   
   investigators.   
      
   Court papers revealed the informant had allegedly attended prayer meetings   
   with "one or more" of the defendants' families.   
      
   "The government disclosed this information for the first time on the day   
   before the witness was scheduled to appear," Rehl's attorney alleged in   
   court documents.   
      
   Prosecutors said in court on Thursday they had only recently discovered   
   that the informant would be called as a witness in Tarrio's defense and   
   informed the defense as soon as the law required. The Justice Department   
   wrote in court filings that it "neither relied upon any evidence from nor   
   referenced the [individual] in question" when preparing their case against   
   Tarrio and his codefendants.   
      
   "The FBI never tasked the [informant] with gathering any information on   
   the defendants or their defense counsel," prosecutors wrote. "And although   
   the FBI was generally aware that the [confidential human source (CHS)] was   
   active in assisting defendants charged with crimes related to the January   
   6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and their families, including by   
   assisting in fundraising efforts and protesting against their conditions   
   of confinement, the FBI intentionally chose to never ask the CHS about her   
   relationship with defendant Enrique Tarrio or any of the other defendants   
   or counsel."   
      
   "There has been no intrusion on the defense camp, and no such records or   
   recordings exist."   
      
   During Thursday's proceedings before Judge Timothy Kelly, which were   
   conducted outside the presence of the jury, defense attorneys called the   
   revelations "stunning." Some asked for a fact-finding hearing, and others   
   argued the trial should be paused.   
      
   Kelly said he would not halt the trial and instead instructed the parties   
   to raise any issues regarding the witness in real time. Tarrio's lawyers   
   say they still intend to call her to testify.   
      
   The judge said although he understood the defendants' concerns, the record   
   before him indicated that no defendants or attorneys had been implicated   
   by the informant's relationship with the FBI and that government's legal   
   team on the Proud Boys case had not been aware of the arrangement.   
   Prosecutors have turned records over to the judge from the informant's   
   relationship with investigators.   
      
   The high-profile criminal trial is currently nearing the end of its second   
   month. Prosecutors rested their case last week after calling dozens of   
   witnesses, including former members of the far-right group who had agreed   
   to cooperate.   
      
   Defense testimony is scheduled to resume on Friday.   
      
      
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)