Defense Lawyer Blames Trump in January 6 Trial

WASHINGTON — Mentions of President Trump have been rare at the first few trials for people charged with storming the Capitol, but that changed Tuesday: The latest Capitol riot defendant to go on trial is blaming his actions on the former president and his false claims about a stolen election.An Ohio man charged with stealing a coat rack from the Capitol, Dustin Byron Thompson, doesn’t deny that he joined the mob on January 6, 2021. But his lawyer vowed to show that Mr. Trump abused his power to “authorize” the attack.Describing Mr. Trump as a man without scruples or integrity, defense attorney Samuel Shamansky said the former president engaged in a “sinister” plot to encourage Mr. Thompson and other supporters to “do his dirty work.”“It’s Donald Trump himself spewing the lies and using his position to authorize this assault,” Mr. Shamansky told jurors Tuesday during the trial’s opening statements.A Justice Department prosecutor, Jennifer Rozzoni, said Mr. Thompson knew he was breaking the law that day.“He chose to be a part of the mayhem and chaos,” she said.Mr. Thompson’s lawyer sought subpoenas to call Mr. Trump and Mayor Giuliani as witnesses at his trial this week. A judge rejected that request but ruled that jurors can hear recordings of speeches that Messrs. Trump and Giuliani delivered at a rally before the riot.Mr. Thompson’s jury trial is the third among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. The first two ended with jurors convicting both defendants on all counts with which they were charged.In a February court filing, Mr. Shamansky said he wanted to argue at trial that Mr. Thompson was acting at the direction of Mr. Trump and “his various conspirators.” The lawyer asked to subpoena others from Mr. Trump’s inner circle, including a former White House strategist, Stephen Bannon, a former White House senior adviser, Stephen Miller, and two former Trump lawyers, John Eastman and Sidney Powell.Prosecutors said Mr. Thompson can’t show that Mr. Trump or Mr. Giuliani had the authority to “empower” him to break the law. They also noted that video of the rally speeches “perfectly captures” the tone, delivery and context of the statements to the extent they are “marginally relevant” to proof of Mr. Thompson’s intent on January 6.Mr. Thompson’s lawyer argued that Mr. Trump would testify that he and others “orchestrated a carefully crafted plot to call into question the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.” Mr. Shamansky claimed that Mr. Giuliani incited rioters by encouraging them to engage in “trial by combat” and that Mr. Trump provoked the mob by saying that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”Mr. Shamansky said Mr. Thompson, who lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic, became an avid consumer of the conspiracy theories and lies about a stolen election.“This is the garbage that Dustin Thompson is listening to day after day after day,” Mr. Shamansky said. “He goes down this rabbit hole. He listens to this echo chamber. And he acts accordingly.”U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled in March that any in-person testimony by Mr. Trump or Mr. Giuliani could confuse and mislead jurors.More than 770 people have been charged with federal crimes arising from January 6. More than 250 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. Mr. Thompson is the fifth person to be tried on riot-related charges.On Monday, a jury convicted a former Virginia police officer, Thomas Robertson, of storming the Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying President Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Last month, a jury convicted a Texas man, Guy Reffitt, of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.A judge hearing testimony without a jury decided cases against two other Capitol riot defendants at separate bench trials. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden acquitted one of them of all charges and partially acquitted the other.Mr. Thompson has a co-defendant, Robert Lyon, who pleaded guilty to riot-related charges in March.Mr. Thompson, then 36, and Mr. Lyon, then 27, drove from Columbus, Ohio, to Silver Spring, Maryland, stayed overnight at a hotel and then took an Uber ride into Washington, D.C., on the morning of January 6. After President Trump’s speech, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Lyon headed over to the Capitol.Mr. Thompson was wearing a “Trump 2020” winter hat and a bulletproof vest when he entered the Capitol and went to the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office, where he stole two bottles of liquor and a coat rack worth up to $500, according to prosecutors.Mr. Thompson and Mr. Lyon traded text messages during the riot.“Some girl died already,” Mr. Lyon said in one text, an apparent reference to a law enforcement officer’s fatal shooting of a rioter, Ashli Babbitt.“Was it Pelosi?” Mr. Thompson replied.“I’m taking our country back,” Mr. Thompson later texted Mr. Lyon.Around 6 p.m., Mr. Thompson and Mr. Lyon were sitting on a sidewalk and waiting for an Uber driver to pick them up when Capitol police officers approached and warned them that they were in a restricted area. As they started to leave, Mr. Thompson picked up a coat rack that appeared to be from the Capitol, the FBI said. Mr. Thompson ran away when the officers told him to put down the rack, dropping it as he fled. Mr. Lyon stayed behind and identified himself and Mr. Thompson to police.That night, Mr. Thompson received a text from his wife that said, “I will not post bail.”The FBI said agents later searched Mr. Lyon’s cellphone and found a video that showed a ransacked office and Mr. Thompson yelling: “Wooooo! ‘Merica Hey! This is our house!” A surveillance video also captured Mr. Thompson leaving a Capitol office with a bottle of bourbon, the FBI said.Mr. Thompson is charged with six counts: obstructing Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote; theft of government property, entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.Mr. Lyon pleaded guilty to theft of government property and disorderly conduct. Both counts are misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of 1 year imprisonment. Judge Walton is scheduled to sentence Mr. Lyon on June 3.

Defense Lawyer Blames Trump in January 6 Trial

More from the New York Sun

Airports Promote Food Banks, Gift Cards for Unpaid TSA Workers as Spring Break Begins

Michigan Synagogue Attacker Is Naturalized Citizen Whose Hezbollah-Linked Relatives Died in Lebanon Airstrike

Religious Man Sues Los Angeles County for Not Letting Him Work From Home in June To Avoid ‘Pride’ Flag, Celebrations

More from the New York Sun

Airports Promote Food Banks, Gift Cards for Unpaid TSA Workers as Spring Break Begins

Michigan Synagogue Attacker Is Naturalized Citizen Whose Hezbollah-Linked Relatives Died in Lebanon Airstrike

Religious Man Sues Los Angeles County for Not Letting Him Work From Home in June To Avoid ‘Pride’ Flag, Celebrations

Lew Lehrman: Prophet of Honest Money

Jack Schlossberg’s Congressional Hopes Imperiled as Bloomberg Endorses Nadler Protégé, Micah Lasher

Blue States, With Taxes on High Earners, Commit Political and Economic Suicide

Frustrated Fani Willis Denounces GOP ‘Clown Show’ Even as She Suffers Setback in Effort To Avoid Paying Trump’s Legal Bills

Democrats’ Calls To Tax the Rich Overlook Urgent Need To Tame Reckless Government Overspending