Prosecutors in the seditious conspiracy trial of members of the Proud Boys defended themselves in a court filing Sunday against misconduct claims from defense attorneys.
The Proud Boys' lawyers gleaned their attacks from thousands of FBI emails, many of them inadvertently leaked to the defense by the prosecution, Politico reported. Some of the information accidentally handed over was believed to be classified.
In one exchange, a lead investigator in the case, FBI Special Agent Nicole Miller — who testified for the prosecution last week — discussed with a co-worker learning of defendant Zachary Rehl's plan to go to trial, in part because they viewed messages between Rehl and his attorney at the time. Defense attorneys claimed that it appeared to be a breach of client-attorney confidentiality.
It was one of a handful of other complaints defense lawyers pointed to as part of their demand to re-question Miller on the stand when the trial resumes this week.
Prosecutors went through each issue cited by defense lawyers in an 18-page court filing, arguing that the claims lacked merit — and did not demonstrate any attempt to withhold relevant evidence in the case.
As for Miller allegedly breaching attorney-client privilege, the filing noted: “She did no such thing — both because any privilege was waived and ... no privileged information was passed Special Agent Miller.”
U.S. District Court Judge Tim Kelly paused the trial last week for a day and ordered defense attorneys to refrain from reviewing or disseminating the messages until the FBI was able to conduct a review of the leaked information.
He'll decide Monday whether or not to allow defense attorneys to re-question Miller, according to Politico.
Proud Boys former national chair Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants of the group stand accused in the case of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors have characterized as a sophisticated plot to essentially overthrow the U.S government by halting the transfer of power from Donald Trump to presidential victor Joe Biden.
