Neo-Nazi Marine Corps vet gets break over alleged possession of classified documents

Neo-Nazi Marine Corps vet gets break over alleged possession of classified documents
LinkedIn photo of Jordan Duncan, a Marine Corps veteran whom the government alleges had classified military materials on his hard drive

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Federal prosecutors today agreed to not bring up classified materials found in possession of a Marine Corps veteran and neo-Nazi when he goes on trial on charges related to an alleged plot to attack the power grid to provide cover for an assassination campaign.

Raw Story exclusively reported that federal prosecutors notified the court that they found documents that appeared to be classified materials on devices seized from Jordan Duncan, the ex-Marine, following his arrest. In February 2021, the government notified the court that authorities were reviewing Duncan’s electronic devices for evidence of potential violations of federal law that criminalize mishandling government records and sensitive national defense information.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Kocher told Judge Richard E. Myers II during a Classified Information Procedures Act hearing on Friday that the government will refrain from making references to the materials during the upcoming trial of Duncan.

RELATED ARTICLE: Neo-Nazi Marine Corps vet accused of plotting terror attack possessed classified military materials: sources

Duncan is charged along with co-defendant Liam Collins with conspiracy to illegally manufacture and transport firearms and conspiracy to damage an energy facility. The two men could face up to 25 years in federal prison if convicted.

Duncan was arrested outside of his workplace at a U.S. Navy contractor in Boise, Idaho, in October 2020 as part of an FBI takedown of five young, white men with military ties who the government alleges relocated to Idaho to carry out a terror campaign to instigate a race war.

Kocher told the court on Friday that following Duncan’s arrest, authorities found classified materials on two hard drives seized from Duncan’s apartment in Boise, as well as an additional document that was classified. A previous court filing by Duncan’s lawyer had only referenced the materials as being found on a single hard drive.

Raymond C. Tarlton, Duncan’s lawyer, told Raw Story after the hearing that he does not expect the government to bring separate charges against his client related to the materials. But Don Connelly, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, later clarified to Raw Story that the only agreement that the government made in court on Friday “was that classified documents won’t be referred to during the trial.”

Duncan, who has been detained since his 2020 arrest, was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles while wearing a tan New Hanover County jail jumpsuit and round glasses. A tattoo of a coiled snake was visible on his forearm.

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In a protective order issued last week, Myers designated the classified documents as “particularly sensitive discovery materials,” prohibiting Duncan’s counsel from disseminating them to the media, and placing strict controls on showing them to potential witnesses. The protective order indicated that those documents labeled “FOUO,” or “For Official Use Only,” would receive the “particularly sensitive discovery materials” designation.

“This stuff came from the internet, not from his military service or through security clearances issued to him through his employment with a defense contractor,” Tarlton told the court.

Myers conferred in his chambers with Kocher and another federal prosecutor for closed-door hearing so that the prosecutors could describe the contents of the classified materials. Afterwards, Judge Myers reported in open court that he received a proffer from the government that the materials were not relevant to the trial, and they have no intention of discussing acquisition of the materials in front of a jury.

Concerns about sensitive national security materials falling into the hands of domestic extremists were highlighted earlier this year with revelations that Massachusetts National Guard airman Jack Teixeira [sp] shared classified documents about the war in Ukraine on a Discord server.

Meanwhile, during Duncan’s detention hearing in late 2020, a Naval Criminal Investigative Services investigator testified that Duncan amassed a library of documents with information about explosives, car bombs and chemical weapons. Kocher noted to the court shortly after the classified materials were discovered that “the defendants engaged in substantial sharing of other information.”

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A three-time Olympic athlete was arrested for touching the detached paint of the renovated Reflecting Pool, according to the Washington Post.

Olympian David Hearn, who competed three times in the canoe slalom, stopped by the Reflecting Pool on Friday after a bike ride to see how it looks since Trump's $14 million renovations, the Post reported. The Reflecting Pool is currently plagued with murky green algae blooms, and paint is coming off after workers dumped hydrogen peroxide in it to combat the algae.

According to the Post, Hearn reached into the Reflecting Pool to feel a piece of partially detached paint from the bottom, and moments later, U.S. Park Police officers arrested him on the misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property.

"I didn't vandalize anything," Hearn told the Post, adding that he just wanted to feel stripping paint. "I didn't destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs."

Trump has already accused "Radical Left Lunatics" and ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl of trying to destroy the pool as reporting on the peeling paint emerged, MS Now reported.

Hearn's arrest was recorded and posted on social media by conservative journalist Emily Miller. Three officers can be seen holding and handcuffing the 67-year-old Hearn.

Miller described the scene as "Man arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Reflecting Pool. He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae." Meanwhile, in the comments, people described him as a "leftist boomer," and an "a—."

"I didn't remove anything," Hearn reiterated to the Post. "I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom."

Hearn is now due to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9, per the Post.

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A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll was published Saturday with fresh data on how Americans are feeling about President Donald Trump and his handling of the economy, and the survey’s findings left MS NOW’s Alex Witt floored.

“The numbers for Trump's economy… they are not pretty,” Witt said.

According to the poll, just 33% of Americans indicated they approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, with 60% disapproving. The poll, which surveyed 1,340 Americans and was conducted between June 8 and 11 – notably before the Trump administration reached its tentative peace deal with Iran, which now appears to be in jeopardy – represented the lowest rating for the president on the economy in its history.

“New warning signs for the Trump administration as Americans struggle with expenses and have to alter summer plans,” Witt said. “A new poll shows only one-third of Americans approve of the president's handling of the economy – it is Trump's lowest rating ever on the economy in this poll.”

Meghan Hays, who previously served as President Joe Biden’s special assistant, noted that Trump’s strategy on improving his standing with Americans – which she described as the “don’t-believe-your-lying-eyes strategy” – wasn’t working.

“Gas prices are up over 80 cents, grocery prices are up, people can't afford their health care, the American people are really suffering and it doesn't seem like the Trump administration cares anything about that,” Hays said. “They care about ballrooms, reflecting pools and fake agreements with Iran that are just making the economy worse.”

Vice President JD Vance is facing online mockery after a boast about the recent Iran deal backfired.

Vance went on Fox & Friends Weekend on Saturday morning to tout Trump's new Iran deal. He told the Fox program, "My understanding, talking to Steve and Jared this morning, is that things are going well," referring to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

"The United States has all the cards," Vance continued. "The straits are now open."

Less than a few hours after he made those comments, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, and online commentators let him have it.

"How humiliating," writer Polly Sigh reacted on X.

"Steve and Jared - the two who completely bungled these negotiations from the start which led us into this mess," added MeidasTouch, a political news network.

"Talking to Steve and Jared. Good lord," wrote Missouri Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman.

"He's not a particularly good liar," veteran journalist Bill Kristol said. "But he's certainly a shameless one."

"Believe nothing that comes out of his mouth," Middle East and geopolitical analyst Matthew RJ Brodsky posted.

" Trump has given Vance enough rope to hang himself," economist and author Anders Aslund wrote. "Witkoff and Kushner are no negotiators, nor knowledgeable. The US has no cards."

"We said Uno. Iran said Draw Four," writer and podcaster Hemant Mehta posted, playing off Vance's card metaphor.

"It might be time to retire the 'we have all the cards' metaphor," University of Ottawa professor Roland Paris suggested. "Given how obviously the administration is being outplayed by those who supposedly don't have any cards."

Norman Ornstein, a political scientist and contributing editor for The Atlantic, simply reacted, "Hahahahahahahahaha."

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