WASHINGTON — A Republican former House member and three present members of Congress from Utah invited a Jan. 6 defendant to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, in accordance with a letter filed by the defendant’s lawyer.
Jan. 6 defendant Russell Taylor organized a gaggle of “fighters” to journey to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, in response to Trump’s tweet telling supporters the day “will likely be wild.” Last yr, Taylor pleaded responsible to a rely of obstruction of an official continuing and cooperated with the federal government towards members of the Three Percenters militia group. Taylor, prosecutors wrote, went to the Capitol led a mob that overran a police line whereas he was “sporting an uncovered knife on high of a bullet proof chest plate and carrying bear spray, a hatchet, and different weapons in his backpack.”
Taylor’s lawyer, Dyke E. Huish, filed a movement Wednesday asking U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to permit Russell to journey to Washington along with his spouse and kids for the inauguration.
The submitting, which was first reported by Politico, included a letter from former Rep. Chris Stewart, of Utah, who wrote that “three different present members of the Utah congressional delegation be part of with me in extending this invitation.”
Huish advised NBC News that Taylor knew members of Stewart’s household however did not meet Stewart himself till after Taylor was sentenced to probation, together with six months of residence detention.
“Mr. Taylor has some household buddies who knew the congressman,” Huish mentioned. “It’s actually a boring story. They’re simply buddies, and he mentioned ‘Hey, would you want to come back to the inauguration?’ and he despatched off a letter, and I’ve obtained to ask the decide permission, and right here we’re.”
Huish mentioned he didn’t know which three of the 4 members of the Utah delegation had joined Stewart in inviting Taylor to the inauguration.
Stewart, a robust defender of Trump in Congress, resigned final yr, citing his spouse’s sickness.
Stewart wrote in his letter that Taylor is a “caring father and reveres his household, his religion, and his love of our Country as his highest precedence in life” and “is admired by many, and particularly these in his neighborhood.” He wrote that “Russ’ ardour for what is correct and good is mirrored in his intentions to raise others. I’m honored to increase this invitation for him to attend the Inauguration as my visitor.”
Stewart didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Huish mentioned in his submitting that Taylor “has efficiently accomplished his residence confinement and is in compliance along with his phrases and situations of probation.”
Taylor organized a gaggle of “Patriots which might be able to operate as operators of disruption towards Tyranny” forward of the assault, writing, “I personally need to be on the entrance steps and be one of many first ones to breach the doorways!” The weapons and tactical gear discovered on him included “hatchets, a taser, stun batons, bear spray, tactical gloves, a helmet, and a plate provider vest with bullet proof plates,” in accordance with a memorandum for his sentencing.
On Jan. 6, 2021, after the Capitol assault, Taylor wrote in a message that he “was pushing by means of traitors all day at the moment.”
“WE STORMED THE CAPITOL! Freedom was absolutely demonstrated at the moment!” he continued.
Taylor’s submitting requesting permission to journey comes simply days after Lamberth emphasised the judicial rules of “reality and justice, regulation and order” at a separate Jan. 6 sentencing. Lamberth had additionally mentioned jurors who heard Jan. 6-related circumstances “know the way perilously shut we got here to letting the peaceable switch of energy, that nice cornerstone of the American republican experiment and maybe our foremost contribution to posterity, slip away from us.”
Taylor testified on behalf of the federal government in trials that finally led to jail sentences for his co-conspirators. Huish mentioned Lamberth had described his consumer as “the poster baby” for the correct approach for Jan. 6 defendants to deal with their circumstances.
“He’s by no means backed off of his perception that there have been improprieties within the 2020 election. He’s at all times supported President-elect Trump. But on the identical time, he mentioned, ‘Look, I personally went too far,'” Huish mentioned. “Quite actually, if extra folks had been like Mr. Taylor, I feel there’d be rather a lot much less folks in jail and we might have resolved these things rather a lot sooner. You do not have to surrender your integrity to say, ‘I went too far.'”
Trump has beforehand lavished reward on Jan. 6 rioters, a chorus he often invoked on the marketing campaign path. He has described folks going through jail time for his or her roles within the Jan. 6 assault as “hostages” and “patriots.”
He has mentioned he would “almost certainly” pardon Jan. 6 rioters, saying in a “Meet the Press” interview that aired Sunday that “these folks have suffered lengthy and laborious.”
In the interview, Trump mentioned members of Congress who served on the House Jan. 6 committee “ought to go to jail.”
More than 1,570 folks have been charged for crimes associated to the Jan. 6 assault, in accordance with knowledge launched this week by the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington. Of that quantity, about 590 folks had been charged associated to assaulting or resisting regulation enforcement or obstructing the officers’ jobs, in accordance with the workplace. Overall, prosecutors have secured convictions towards greater than 1,100 defendants, and judges have sentenced greater than 600 rioters to incarceration.