A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is threatening to flag two attorneys for possible disciplinary action for delaying the trial of a man who was jailed for assaulting police officers during January 6, 2021, the attack on the US Capitol.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, in court papers filed Thursday questioned whether attorney Joseph McBride was truthful when he said last summer He needs to push Christopher Quaglin’s trial in October; McBride claimed that he had not yet recovered from his May 2022 case of COVID-19, that he had chronic Lyme disease, and that treatment and recovery would take two to three months.
McBride said in his file that his doctors had advised that he “needed to take an aggressive course of elimination and neutralization of this condition”.
But the judge noted that, at the same time, McBride — who is representing several of the defendants on Jan. 6 — Continue doing media interviews In October, he spoke before a Republican county committee about his fight for the “January 6 political prisoners.” In November, McBride He tweeted a photo of him on the beach at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort And Another photo inside the Trump 2024 campaign ad partyMacfadyen Books.
“While attorneys – like all citizens – are entitled to speak freely, these public statements by McBride call into question the reality of his need for medical continuity due to his inability to represent Kwaglin last October,” McFadden wrote.
McFadden ordered McBride — who has since withdrawn from the Kwaglin case — and another attorney for Kwaglin, Jonathan Gross, to file a response by April 10 about why they had not been referred to the court’s grievance committee, which investigates complaints against the attorneys. The judge set the hearing for April 18.
In response to a reporter’s tweet about the judge’s order, McBride chirp: “Everyone should show up for this to hear the truth. Let’s GOOOOO!”
McBride He withdrew from the Kwaglin case this month — just weeks before the new man’s trial is due in April — because McBride said he needed to focus on another case on January 6th that was headed to trial at the end of March. McBride told the judge that Gross would take over Kwaglin’s case, saying that the switch would not prejudice the defendant and that the other attorney “knows Kwaglin’s case well.”
Shortly after taking the case, Gross tells Macfadyen that he intends to request another postponement of the trial. McFadden writes that Gross told the judge “he does not practice criminal law and is not qualified” to be Quaglin’s lead attorney at trial in a few weeks’ time.
“Coughlin’s attorneys have delayed this trial several times to the detriment of their client, who remains in custody, and to the inconvenience of the other defendants and the government, who are seeking a speedy resolution of this matter,” McFadden wrote. “Indeed, the court has doubts that McBride’s initial application for continuity was made in good faith.”
McBride said in a text message on Friday that he denies the “innuendos” in McFadden’s order about his assurances to the court about his medical condition and his requests to continue. McBride said he would respond to the court and looked forward to “revealing the truth and finding an appropriate resolution”.
McBride also said that his client believed the judge had so much personal animosity towards McBride that Quaglin did not think he could get a fair trial.
“As such, Mr. Quaglin asked me to stand down and assist Mr. Gross in taking the case – which is exactly what I did,” McBride wrote.
Gross did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Kwaglin is being held in the D.C. prison, where Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and others are on the Oversight and Accountability Committee. Friday visited While some conservatives continue to try to portray the defendants on January 6 as “political prisoners”.
Of the 6 January 20 convicts in custody in Washington as of earlier this month, 17 are accused of assaulting officers at the Capitol, According to the Just Security blog, which got a patch list for the DC partition recently. Six of the defendants pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, and obstructing the officers, and two more were convicted at trial.
A spokesperson for D.C. Prison did not immediately respond to a request Friday from the Associated Press for an updated list of the January 6 defendants being held there.
Quaglin, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, is accused of attacking several police officers trying to protect the Capitol from an angry pro-Trump mob that has blocked congressional ratification of the President Joe Biden wins.
Authorities say Kwaglin attacked the officers with a stolen riot shield and sprayed them with an irritating chemical. He faces charges including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon.
