Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., are moving for a contempt of court judgment against the lawyer representing Brian Cole, the man accused of planting the pipe bombs outside political party headquarters around the time of the Jan. 6 attack.
"DOJ is seeking to hold alleged pipe bomber Brian Cole's lawyer in contempt for publicly posting an allegation that former USCP officer [Shauni] Kerkhoff was the true pipe bomber — alongside her home address," reported Politico's Kyle Cheney. "The defense filing, now removed from the docket, discloses details about DOJ's own review of Kerkhoff's case. But they say the damage has been done and has caused direct threats."
The idea that Kerkhoff was the pipe bomber was a viral right-wing conspiracy theory last year, with right-wing outlet The Blaze claiming footage of the suspect was a 94 percent "gait match" to the former police officer. But the FBI swiftly debunked this as a legitimate lead.
In the letter to the judge, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro demanded the book thrown at Cole's lawyer.
"Government counsel has rarely encountered as brazen a violation of a protective order as occurred today, nor one so clearly intended to publicly harass and intimidate a witness," wrote Pirro. "Under these circumstances, the government is unable to identify any reason to conclude that defense counsel's conduct was inadvertent or otherwise done in good faith. The government respectfully requests that the Court issue an order to show cause why defense counsel should not be held in contempt for so egregiously and dangerously violating the Court's protective order."
The mystery of who planted the pipe bombs was one of the longest lingering questions about the events of Jan. 6, as federal law enforcement went years without any public acknowledgement of a suspect. Cole was arrested near the end of last year.