Accusation That FBI Spied on Proud Boys Jan. 6 Defense Team Is ‘Baseless,’ Prosecutors Say
An FBI special agent and federal prosecutors deny allegations from defense attorneys in the Jan. 6 Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial that a paid informant spied on the defendants and their attorneys.
In a declaration filed on March 23 in U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s court, FBI Special Agent Kristina Spindel said the bureau never asked the informant in question to monitor the defense teams, and she didn’t provide information on them to the government.
The informant “was not tasked with collecting information on the defendants in the case,” Spindel wrote. “FBI did not ask the CHS-SA [confidential human source] about any knowledge of the defendants, including Enrique Tarrio, or the other defendants in this matter.”
The informant, who was attached to the FBI’s San Antonio office, provided information to agents on two of the Proud Boys defendants in 2019, but the information “did not pertain to their status as defendants in this matter,” Spindel said.
The FBI terminated its informant relationship with the woman on or about Jan. 18 after learning she already sat for a deposition with Proud Boys defense attorneys, Spindel said.
Judge Kelly suspended the criminal trial of five Proud Boys on March 22 when defense attorneys learned one of their own witnesses worked as an FBI informant for at least 22 months.
Kelly gave defense attorneys a day to respond to the Department of Justice’s filing denying any kind of spying operation. The trial will resume on March 24.
Attended Prayer Meetings
The informant interacted with at least one defense attorney and had contact with the defendants’ families, attorney Carmen Hernandez wrote in a motion seeking an emergency hearing on the issue.
“During this period of time, the CHS [informant] has been in contact via telephone, text messaging, and other electronic means with one or more of the counsel for the defense and at least one defendant,” Hernandez wrote. “During this period of time, the CHS also participated in prayer meetings with members of one or more of the defendants’ families.”
Defendants on trial include Zachary Rehl, former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, and Dominic Pezzola.
The men are accused of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings, obstruction of official proceedings, and conspiracy to prevent certain federal officers from performing their duties at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio, Rehl, Nordean, and Biggs face nine criminal counts related to the Capitol incursion, while Pezzola is charged with 10.
Prosecutor Denise Cheung called the defense attorneys’ spying contentions “baseless.”
Neither prosecutors nor the FBI has any notes, reports, or recordings of the defense team because they never sought or collected any, Cheung wrote in a response filed with the court on March 23.
The spying allegations were the latest chapter in a dramatic trial in which the defense has accused federal prosecutors and the FBI of fabricating, hiding, and destroying evidence. In February, defendants said a key piece of evidence in the case was planted on defendant Tarrio.
