The defense team for a member of the Proud Boys has called on the feds to unmask all of the informants and undercover agents involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol.
In a motion filed on Wednesday, the attorney for Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola called on the government "to reveal all informants, undercover operatives and other Confidential Human Sources (CHSs) relating to the events of January 6."
The motion contends that "at least 40 undercover informants or agents" were conducting "surveillance among defendants on January 6."
The motion notes: "Pezzola recently learned that a federal agency other than FBI — the Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) unit — was handling and running undercover CHSs [Confidential Human Sources] on January 6. The federal prosecutors in this case are refusing to disclose information regarding these non-FBI informants. The existence, and likely conduct of these CHSs is almost certainly exculpatory for Pezzola."
In the motion, Pezzola's attorney, Roger Roots wrote that two other law enforcement agencies outside of the FBI had undercover agents at the J6 protest, including "13 undercover plain-clothes agents" with the D.C. Metro Police Department."
"Some of these undercover Metro officers marched with the Proud Boy march. And some appear to have played roles of instigators, in that they are seen on body-worn videos chanting 'Go! Go!,' 'Stop the Steal!,' and 'Whose house? Our house!' on Jan. 6. Others generally followed demonstrators toward the Capitol," the motion said.
The defense motion this week comes amid the ongoing trial for the Proud Boys, where members including Pezzola, Ethan Nordean, Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl have been accused of seditious conspiracy and several other charges in connection to the J6 protest.
An attorney for Nordean previously filed a motion after "hidden messages" between two FBI agents were revealed. According to the motion filed in early March, government witness Special Agent Nicole Miller provided the court all digital messages related to her testimony; however, a further review of an Excel sheet showed additional messages that appeared to be hidden.
Investigative reporter Julie Kelly tweeted: "Office of DC US Atty office Matthew Graves continues to hide evidence from defense, now disclosing crucial role of undercover/human sources almost 4 MONTHS into the trial. As you know, Judge Kelly won't give af."
NEW bombshell filing in Proud Boys trial.
Defense writes that DOJ just recently disclosed involvement of undercover officers/informants from other agencies aside from FBI--DC Metro police and DHS. "At least 40 undercover informants..." pic.twitter.com/aNErkjDtAr — Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) April 6, 2023
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