The not-guilty pleas by Tarrio and co-defendants Joseph Biggs and Dominic Pezzola came during a virtual court hearing in Washington, just hours before the Democrat-led U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Capitol breach held a public hearing.
Two other defendants—Ethan Nordean and Zachary Rehl—could not be present for the hearing and are expected to be arraigned at a future date.
During Thursday’s hearing, one of the defense lawyers questioned whether prosecutors had intentionally timed the new indictment with the committee’s prime-time hearing, an accusation prosecutors denied and which U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Donald Trump appointee, called “unwarranted.”
“Mixing politics and criminal justice is dangerous,” said Nick Smith, counsel to Nordean. “We have to run from it like fire.”
Attorneys for the five defendants also complained about the committee’s plans to release transcripts from interviews with 1,000 witnesses, saying they fear the transcripts could be made public during the trial, which is scheduled to start Aug. 8.
Kelly said what the committee does is “beyond the power of anyone” sitting in the hearing, and while everyone should be mindful of its actions, he does not see an immediate need to delay the trial.
The conspiracy charges against Tarrio and four Proud Boys members were released on Monday. Tarrio was hit with another charge despite not even being present in Washington on Jan. 6.
That day, Tarrio and his co-defendants “conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote, and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States,” the Department of Justice said in a statement, asserting the men “directed, mobilized, and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement.”
Kelly also on Thursday denied a motion to compel the government to identify certain evidence in the case, ruling the government has already handed over some evidence and plans to provide the rest more than a month before the trial.
In its reply, prosecutors said Tarrio didn’t prove his arguments and that Washington’s population “is highly educated and politically savvy and has been exposed to the essentially the same news sources people in other parts of the country,” adding: “There is no reason to believe that the District’s entire population of nearly 700,000 people has been so affected by the events of January 6 or the subsequent media coverage that the Court cannot seat an impartial jury here.”
