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Ethan Nordean—a Proud Boys leader on trial for charges relating to January 6—asked a judge to remove two statements made by former President Donald Trump in his upcoming hearing this week.
Nordean, who is accused of aiding in the organization of the violent raid on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, is scheduled to appear in court this week alongside four other members of the white nationalist group, including the organization's chairman, Enrique Tarrio.
The five defendants, who maintain their innocence, will make their opening statements on Tuesday, according to court records.
On Friday, however, Nordean's attorneys filed a request to remove roughly 30 exhibits from the trial that were submitted by the U.S. government. In the motion, Nordean's legal team says that the exhibits were added after the Department of Justice (DOJ) was ordered to submit its final exhibit list on November 11.
Prosecutors did not alert Nordean and the other defendants that the exhibits had been added, court documents indicate.
"The parties are in the middle of voir dire now," read Friday's motion. "They must prepare their opening statements and for trial. They do not have time the weekend before trial to review dozens of additional exhibits on top of everything else."
The additional exhibits include a 53-second clip from a debate between Trump and President Joe Biden in September 2020. WUSA, a CBS affiliate based in Washington, D.C., reported Monday that the clip includes the former president telling the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" when asked if he was willing to condemn white supremacist and militia groups.
Trump's statement quickly turned into a slogan for the far-right organization and resulted in a surge of membership as well, according to a statement made by Proud Boys member Jeremy Bertino during a public hearing by the House committee investigating January 6. Bertino pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy in October.
The DOJ also included a tweet posted by Trump on December 19, 2020. WUSA reported that the tweet in question included a statement made by the former president that there would be a "big protest in D.C. on January 6th" after sharing baseless evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
"Be there, will be wild!" the president tweeted.
The January 6 committee also previously pointed to the tweet during its investigation that led it to refer the former president to the DOJ in December. Congressman Jamie Raskin, who served on the committee, said at a committee hearing in July that Trump's tweet was intended to "mobilize a crowd."
The DOJ argued in its response filed on Monday to Nordean's motion that the additional exhibits were added in "good faith" by prosecutors after a judge ruled in December which exhibits would be permissible in the case.
Prosecutors also said that the evidence added is "a small number of additional exhibits to the robust set of exhibits that defense counsel have had for nearly two months."
"The government has acted in good faith in providing a robust set of exhibits well in advance of trial and in adding a limited number of additional exhibits in the final preparation for trial," read the DOJ's response. "The government's inclusion of a handful of additional exhibits...creates no prejudice to the defendants."
Newsweek reached out to Nordean's attorneys for comment.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more