A Kansas man who allegedly tried to break into Nancy Pelosi's office during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has fired his attorney and wants to represent himself, The Kansas City Star reports.
William Pope, who is a former Topeka City Council candidate, told the judge that his initial court-appointed attorney was too slow when it came to giving him discovery documents that were provided by the government, and his current attorney didn't have the technological know-how to share the documents with him.
“I have asked my appointed council (sic), Mr. Greg English to withdraw as council in my case,” Pope wrote in a June 28 letter to U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. “I will exercise my constitutional right to represent myself.”
“As you know, the January 6 cases are highly dependent on digital files, especially digital video,” Pope wrote. “Without access to this discovery, it is impossible for me to mount a defense.”
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The government denied his request, saying his claims about being unable to access discovery documents were illegitimate since most of the documents were given to his prior attorney, adding that the “sensitive nature” of many materials in the defense discovery databases should prohibit Pope from having direct access to them if he ends up representing himself.
“Such prohibition will appropriately ensure that Sensitive and Highly Sensitive materials are safeguarded against improper use or dissemination,” the government said. “Such safeguarding is especially warranted here, where…Defendant has previously tweeted that he has ‘plenty of material’ for Tucker Carlson to create a ‘miniseries.’”