'Cowboys for Trump' lawyer gets reprimanded for talking over judge during tense MAGA riot trial
The trial for Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin grew tense when Secret Service Inspector Lanelle Hawa was cross-examined by his lawyer Nick Smith.
Specifically, Smith focused on whether Pence was in a secure location at the time that his client was urging people to go into the Capitol on January 6th.
The USSS confirmed Pence was taken to the loading dock on the east side of the Capitol on the Senate side. That was also where a slate of right-wing activists like Alex Jones, Joe Biggs and the Oath Keepers were converging on the building.
According to posts from BuzzFeed justice reporter Zoe Tillman and CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane, as Smith began to question Hawa, he probed the procedures for protecting the VP, which isn't generally revealed publicly for the security of the protectees.
"Would the Vice President have remained in the secure location if he wasn’t secure?" Griffin's lawyer, Nick Smith, asked.
Hawa said she didn't understand his question. She ultimately explained that the location of the loading dock was secured by locked doors and the Capitol Police. She declined to answer a question about whether the vice president chose not to leave the area on Jan. 6.
Smith asked Hawa if the Secret Service decided where the restricted area would be on Jan. 6. She paused for a moment and Tillman explained that when she began to answer, Smith ordered, "just tell me." The government then objected, but Hawa explained that the USSS has a longstanding relationship with the Capitol Police and it's known where people like Pence would be in the event of an attack like Jan. 6.
The government "has repeatedly objected to this line of questioning, saying they already litigated that USCP and Secret Service worked in tandem on security," said Tillman.
Outside the Capitol, a gallows was being constructed by the attackers. Many were also chanting, "Hang Mike Pence!"
The exchange from the Secret Service inspector and Griffin's lawyer became heated when there were repeated questions about whether the USSS performed adequately or followed policy. Smith then continued to ask Hawa about hypothetical situations and how the USSS would work.
The judge then intervened, but Smith persisted, talking over the judge, for which he was reprimanded.
Smith then asked again about a hypothetical, whether the security perimeter would move if the VP left the area. Again, the judge sustained the objections from the government.
"This was a significant moment," Tillman explained. "It appeared to show, at a minimum, that [Judge] McFadden isn't sold on the defense theory that Pence was no longer in a restricted area once he was evacuated from the Senate chamber/his office to the underground loading dock."
That could essentially sink Griffin's defense, along with the defense of many other defendants.
NOW WATCH: 'This is not a normal day for America': Cory Booker expresses 'overwhelming joy' at Judge Jackson hearing
Leave a Comment
Related Post