Analysis: FBI’s Jan. 6 pipe bomb update omits key evidence, withholds video



An 8 ½-minute FBI video on the Jan. 6 pipe bombs, released last week, omits key new evidence, relies on likely manipulated, low-quality footage, and excludes crucial hours of security video that could clarify the most persistent questions that surround the languishing investigation.

The bureau released the video to revive public interest in a case that has gone unsolved for nearly five years. Its timing comes just two weeks after a video sleuth briefed congressional investigators, alleging serious flaws in the FBI’s account of the pipe bombs. Despite those claims — including apparent video manipulation and ignored public tips — the bureau has stuck to its original story.

‘You releasing that info made it impossible for them to even float that excuse.’

The new footage also offers no hint that the FBI considered publicly acknowledging another theory: that the pipe bombs were part of a poorly timed training exercise. FBI sources told Blaze News weeks ago about rumors the bureau had been preparing to report that several federal agencies took part in a training exercise that diverted police resources from the Capitol as thousands of protesters breached its barricades at 12:53 p.m.

Those same sources said that once word of this alleged new theory leaked, the FBI abandoned it. The latest video reflects that retreat, repeating the same facts and framing first presented in 2021.

RELATED: FBI sent 55 agents to the Capitol Jan. 6, none for ‘crowd control,’ former Chief Steven Sund says

“The 7th floor guys were pissed at you for going public with the ‘undisclosed training event’ scenario as a potential cover-up,” a source close to the FBI Washington Field Office told Blaze News. “I’m told you releasing that info made it impossible for them to even float that excuse after you picked it apart.”

Another FBI source previously told Blaze News that the bureau floated the idea that several federal agencies were involved in the pipe-bomb plot and cover-up. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.

New low-quality video

The FBI released snippets of new video of the alleged pipe-bomb suspect from the night of Jan. 5, 2021. That footage, of similar low quality as previously released video evidence, is edited in such a way that it excludes showing a U.S. Capitol Police squad SUV pull up directly across the street from where the suspect stood at 8:15 p.m.

The omissions come despite an independent video investigator telling Blaze News he has been feeding his findings to an FBI special agent at the Washington Field Office since late March. It is not clear what, if anything, the FBI has done with the extensive research done by an individual known on X as Armitas. He has asked Blaze News not to use his real name for security reasons.

Armitas’ report to Congress says video footage released by the FBI of the hoodie-wearing suspect was digitally altered. Software was used to crop the image area and reduce the video frame rate, he said.

RELATED: FBI Jan. 6 report sets off a firestorm: Why did it take 56 months to disclose 274 agents at Capitol?

Some of the video of the alleged Jan. 6 pipe bomber released by the FBI was low quality. FBI

The FBI says an individual of unknown sex wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, black gloves, and rare Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers planted pipe bombs at the Democratic National Committee and a short time later along the rear wall of the Capitol Hill Club not far from the Republican National Committee building.

The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department continue to offer a $500,000 reward for evidence that leads to an arrest in the case.

Aside from some short segments of new footage, the FBI update video is nearly identical to one released Jan. 2, 2021. It comes after Armitas submitted 26 pages of findings to the new House Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6 — and months after he said he began sharing those details with an FBI special agent.

Sources told Blaze News that reducing the frame rate on video makes it very difficult to perform a forensic analysis of the bomber’s gait, or manner of walking. Gait-analysis could help narrow the list of suspects or lead investigators toward a person of interest.

Congressional Black Caucus a target?

The FBI video’s animated map of the suspect’s travels glosses over an apparent stop the person made at a bush on the north side of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, 413 New Jersey Ave. Southeast. It appears, based on the bomber’s behavior, that the CBCI was the original target of the first pipe bomb, Armitas said.

The FBI video said the suspect “pauses near the corner of D Street,” but it failed to mention anything about the suspect seemingly attempting to place the device under the bush at the CBCI.

Video from Capitol Police CCTV Camera 795 showed the suspect walking north on New Jersey Avenue, then turning left into an alley next to the Black Caucus Institute building at about 7:47 p.m. The suspect spent more than a minute near the bush — first bent over and then sitting down in front of the shrub, video shows. The individual appeared to lean into the bush while seated, then got up and continued west down the alley.

A short time later, the alleged bomber came back up the alley past the bush toward New Jersey Avenue, then raced back into the alley as if he or she forgot something. The suspect then returned to New Jersey Avenue at 7:50 p.m. and walked south for a block before turning right onto Ivy Street Southeast toward the DNC, video showed.

Armitas posited that a piece of the pipe bomb broke off while the suspect was attempting to plant it at the CBCI. A construction worker appeared to notice the broken component at 1 p.m. on Jan. 6. The worker can be seen pausing to peer under the bush and then continuing down the alley.

The alleged Jan. 6 pipe bomber (left) stops and sits down at a bush next to the Congressional Black Caucus Institute the night of Jan. 5, 2021. A Capitol Police countersurveillance officer (right) peers at something under the same bush just minutes before he discovered the pipe bomb at the nearby Democratic National Committee on Jan. 6. U.S. Capitol Police CCTV

A two-man team of U.S. Capitol Police countersurveillance agents walked west up the alley at 1:02 p.m., stopped to chat for about 30 seconds, then returned down the alley. One of the officers noticed something under the bush, then leaned in for a closer look just before 1:03 p.m. The officers walked back to the nearby DNC, where one of them discovered the pipe bomb under a bush next to a park bench at 1:05 p.m.

Two buildings were constructed immediately north of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute building in the nearly five years since Jan. 6, so the alley and the bush are no longer there, according to street view images from Google Maps and Apple Maps.

Congressional dormitory, police lights

One of the new video clips released by the FBI shows the suspect walking east along C Street about 8:15 p.m. The video cuts off just before the suspect stops in the front garden of the C Street Center, 133 C St. Southeast. The building has long served as a dormitory or rooming house for members of Congress and staff.

Armitas said it appears the suspect was attempting to place the pipe bomb in the bushes in front of 133 C Street but may have been interrupted by a Capitol Police squad car that turned onto C Street from the east with its emergency lights on.

The squad car pulled over a dark-colored Jeep that minutes earlier had driven down C Street, turned left onto First, made a U-turn, and then drove down D Street, turned left onto Second and left again onto C Street. It appears the squad engaged its emergency lights just as the Jeep turned onto C Street, video showed.

There is no mention in any of the FBI materials across 58 months of a Capitol Police squad car parking directly across C Street from where the alleged would-be bomber stood at 8:15 p.m.

RELATED: GOP-run Jan. 6 subcommittee goes after trove of data deleted by Pelosi-appointed Jan. 6 committee

The pipe bomb suspect (above left) walking west on C Street toward Rumsey Court, stopping in front of a congressional rooming house (upper right), possibly looking to place a pipe bomb on Jan. 5, 2021. Capitol Police squad cars (below) with lights engaged were across the street as the suspect walked down the court to plant the bomb. FBI/@Armitas/U.S. Capitol Police CCTV

The bright blue-and-red emergency lights from the squad car reflected off of the suspect’s gray sweatshirt as he or she walked down into Rumsey Court from C Street, Capitol Police CCTV video shows.

Interestingly, the Capitol Police squad car was the same one the suspect appeared to wave to minutes earlier as the police vehicle drove south on First Street and the suspect walked north past the front of the Capitol Hill Club.

A second Capitol Police car turned onto C Street from the west at 8:18 p.m., did a Y-turn and pulled in behind the first squad. Both officers approached the Jeep with flashlights on. They wrapped up the traffic stop at 8:30. The suspect by then had escaped Rumsey Court and apparently disappeared.

Escape through hidden gate

Armitas said he tracked the suspect’s exit from Rumsey Court through a garden on the property of St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill and onto Second Street Southeast. The FBI’s video does not include this detail, stating instead that the suspect was “last seen” at 8:18 p.m. heading east on Rumsey Court.

The fence between Rumsey Court and the St. Peter’s garden did not have an obvious gate. It appeared as a contiguous fence across the property, Armitas said. So the suspect would have had to know how and where the hidden gate could be unlatched to access the St. Peter’s garden and make the escape onto Second Street, he said.

Blaze News has twice inspected the gate. Without familiarity with the property, it is nearly impossible to recognize the existence of the gate or find a hidden latch.

Bomb retrieval, missing video

Armitas theorized that the DNC bomb assembly was broken by the suspect during the attempt to drop the device next to the CBCI building. So the device the suspect set at the base of a park bench next to the DNC could have needed repair, he said.

Also, the suspect appeared to place the pipe bomb with the short end — where a 60-minute kitchen timer was attached — sticking out toward the sidewalk. When the pipe bomb was discovered at 1:05 p.m. on Jan. 6, the long end was sticking out with the egg timer pointed into the bushes, he said. Both facts would indicate the device was removed and later replaced, Armitas said.

RELATED: Bobby Powell gave his last breath working to expose Jan. 6 corruption

The pipe-bomb suspect places the device in the bushes outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at 7:54 p.m. Jan. 5, 2021, the FBI says. FBI

Those assertions and others could be proven or disproven if the FBI would release the DNC security video for Jan. 6. Several key Capitol Police security cameras were turned away from the DNC at crucial times on Jan. 6.

So the DNC’s security cameras appear to have the only footage that can answer questions about the Secret Service’s security sweep of the DNC building the morning of Jan. 6. They also hold the answer to whether the bomb was present while bomb-sniffing dogs did a sweep of parts of the building exterior.

Depending what the DNC video shows, the pipe bomb was either missed by the Secret Service and still sitting under the bench as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris pulled into the DNC garage around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 6, or the bomb was re-placed under the bench while Harris was inside the building.

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"Lectern Guy" from January 6th SPEAKS OUT on His Full Experience
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"Lectern Guy" from January 6th SPEAKS OUT on His Full Experience

New Jan. 6 subcommittee empaneled to tackle pipe bombs, fed-surrection, other issues



After nearly eight months of wrangling over jurisdictional and turf issues, a new Jan. 6 select subcommittee will begin oversight and investigation work on Sept. 2, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Wednesday.

The new investigation panel will be a subgroup of the House Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who did extensive investigative work on Jan. 6 issues during the 118th Congress that closed on Jan. 3, 2025.

'January 6th was the fulcrum event for the weaponization of government.'

The subcommittee, which will have full subpoena power, will be known as the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6, 2021. During the previous legislative session, Loudermilk’s Jan. 6 work was under the auspices of the Committee on House Administration and its chairman, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.).

Establishment of a Jan. 6 committee was a high priority of President Donald J. Trump, and it took the president’s persuasive skills to smooth over the disputes that delayed formation of the subcommittee. Final details were hashed out during recent meetings at the White House, senior officials told Blaze News.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Blaze News that establishment of the committee is a milestone.

RELATED: Metropolitan Police Department refuses public access to Jan. 6 use-of-force reports

The new Jan. 6 subcommittee will have a full slate of issues to explore. Getty Images

“This is an important development,” Fitton said. “The challenge is the investigation must turn inward on the House! Who protected [Lt. Michael] Byrd? Who made decisions and when about U.S. Capitol security measures? What about collusion with Biden DOJ, Fani Willis, etc., to jail Trump and other Americans?"

“There is no comparable congressional corruption and abuse in American history,” Fitton said.

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, said establishment of the J6 committee is long overdue.

“January 6th was the fulcrum event for the weaponization of government,” Howell told Blaze News. “It provided the supposed moral cover and justification for some of the worst abuses by law enforcement and the intelligence community in United States history.

Long overdue

“This committee should have been stood up long ago, particularly when it became evident that the supposed Weaponization Subcommittee was an unserious exercise, but better late than never,” Howell said. “There is much work ahead, and I expect there to be many fights over the enforcement of subpoenas. The Oversight Project stands ready to assist in any way we can.”

Although the subcommittee won’t officially begin work until after the August recess, some key staff are expected to remain in Washington setting the foundation for the first investigations to launch once the House is back in September.

The new Select Subcommittee comes into being amid a very different atmosphere in Washington than during the previous Congress, thanks to the election of President Trump last November.

Lack of cooperation from the Biden Department of Justice and FBI stymied the work of the former Subcommittee on Oversight that ceased operation with the closing of the 118th Congress.

The subcommittee has its work cut out on major Jan. 6 issues, including identifying the pipe bomber, exposing how many federal agents and informants were involved in the crowds at the U.S. Capitol, weaponization of the FBI and DOJ against more than 1,600 now-former Jan. 6 defendants, and public release of the rest of the Capitol Police CCTV security video.

The panel will also be tasked with investigating the killing of protester Ashli Babbitt and the questions that still surround former Capitol Police Lt. Michael Leroy Byrd.

Recently departed Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger apparently ignored November 2024 demands from Loudermilk’s subcommittee for more details on Byrd’s significant disciplinary history and efforts by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to financially help the man who gunned down the 14-year Air Force veteran.

RELATED: Feds settle multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the death of Ashli Babbitt

A densely packed crowd gathers on and around the West Plaza of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Justice Department

Loudermilk revealed in a Nov. 20, 2024, letter that the Office of Professional Responsibility files on three incidents involving Byrd were somehow missing. Manger was asked to explain that, but sources told Blaze News that Manger never responded to Loudermilk’s letter.

Blaze News reached out to USCP for comment. The story will be updated if we receive a response.

Serious questions remain about the DOJ report that cleared Byrd in the Babbitt shooting. The Biden DOJ used the wrong legal standard to justify not pursuing charges of excessive force against the 30-year Capitol Police veteran.

The death of protester Rosanne Boyland has also not been given attention by Congress in its work to date.

There are also many loose ends that were left behind by the Democrat-controlled Jan. 6 Select Committee empaneled by Pelosi in 2022. Witness transcripts, videos, and other materials that should have been preserved by the committee were destroyed. No one has been held to account for the destruction of legislative investigative records.

Loudermilk’s new subcommittee could also examine the apparently perjured testimony given by two former Capitol Police officers in the 2022 trial of the first group of Oath Keepers prosecuted by the Biden regime.

A Blaze News investigation proved that Officer Harry Dunn and Special Agent David Lazarus gave false and conflicting testimony on the witness stand regarding an alleged confrontation between a group of Oath Keepers and Dunn.

Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.

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Metropolitan Police Department refuses public access to Jan. 6 use-of-force reports



The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department refused to provide Blaze News with copies of the Use of Force Incident Reports from its massive presence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Blaze News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with MPD on May 15, seeking the officer-prepared reports on the use of force for crowd control at the Capitol during the explosive Jan. 6 protests and subsequent rioting.

‘No, you’re going to kill her!’

Under MPD policy, the department had until June 2 to provide a response to the Blaze News request, but failed to do so until June 10.

“Your request was considered,” wrote MPD FOIA specialist Shania Hughes in a letter to Blaze News.

“A review of our records determined the information you seek is law enforcement sensitive and not for public release.”

Hughes’ letter cited §2-534(a)(4) of the Code of the District of Columbia, which states:

The following matters may be exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this subchapter: Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters, including memorandums or letters generated or received by the staff or members of the Council, which would not be available by law to a party other than a public body in litigation with the public body.

The D.C. Code makes no mention of the subjective and nebulous term “law enforcement sensitive.”

Hughes’ letter said release of the details of force used against protesters at the Capitol “would constitute as a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” She cited §2-534(a)(2) and §2-534(a)(3)(c) of the D.C. Code, which make reference to “information of a personal nature” that would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

RELATED: Former Jan. 6 defendant gets life sentence for plot to kill FBI agents, other law enforcement

MPD Sgt. Frank Edwards fires crowd-control munitions into the packed West Plaza crowd at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Department of Justice / Metropolitan Police Department

The sections of D.C. Code do not define the term “personal privacy” or explain why it applies to police officers employed by a government agency who were on duty during rioting at the Capitol.

Blaze News filed another FOIA request with MPD on May 1, seeking a record of all Jan. 6 use-of-force complaints. The department returned a spreadsheet listing a single complaint having to do with “shoving.”

Jacqueline Hazzan, legal counsel for the MPD Office of Police Complaints, said the details of that complaint would not be released because they would “reveal information about the agency’s internal deliberative process before it was completed” and “cause an unwarranted invasion of others’ personal privacy.”

The issue of police use of force on Jan. 6 still draws interest 4.5 years later because of what is contained on Capitol Police CCTV security video, MPD bodycam footage, and third-party videos that were often seized by the FBI for use in prosecuting close to 1,600 people who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

‘It wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized how bad it was.’

Metropolitan Police routinely refuse to release any bodycam footage from Jan. 6. Former Jan. 6 defendants have posted a large cache of MPD bodycam video, but the department practice has been that the public is not allowed access to Jan. 6 video.

Blaze News covered a high-impact use-of-force case in the point-blank shooting of Pennsylvania dump-truck driver Mark Griffin with a 40mm shell filled with hard rubber baton rounds. The shot — fired by an officer, according to video — split Griffin’s left femur from top to bottom. The injury required several surgical procedures to repair, including insertion of a titanium plate with 14 screws.

Sgt. Frank Edwards, the officer who video shows fired the shot, told a colleague late in the day on Jan. 6 that MPD went through 500 crowd-control munition shells, grenades, and gas canisters that day.

Other prominent Jan. 6 use-of-force cases included the beating of protester Rosanne Boyland by MPD Officer Lila Morris. Boyland had collapsed at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel and appeared to be lifeless when Morris used a wooden walking stick to strike Boyland in the face, head, and ribs, according to video evidence.

RELATED: 141 days after President Trump’s pardon, Jan. 6 defendant Elias Nick Costianes Jr. released from prison

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Lila Morris winds up with a wooden walking stick to strike protester Luke Coffee and shortly turns her fury to a lifeless Rosanne Boyland outside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Department of Justice/Metropolitan Police Department Bodycam

It is unknown the extent of injuries Boyland suffered as a result. Third-party video and bodycam footage showed that Boyland was bleeding from her right eye and her nose. There was a visible injury above her right eye that was not mentioned or documented by paramedics, the emergency room physician, or the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in its autopsy report.

The use of the walking stick against Boyland was “brought to our attention and reviewed thoroughly,” MPD public affairs specialist Alaina Gertz told the Epoch Times in April 2022. The review “did not substantiate the allegations you have outlined,” she said, suggesting that the videos of Morris striking Boyland were not properly vetted for “authenticity.”

Bagshaw had ‘gone hands-on with demonstrators in Washington for years.’

The Epoch Times filed a FOIA request for Officer Morris’ Jan. 6 bodycam footage, but MPD refused to grant access, saying releasing the video would violate Morris’ privacy.

Protester Victoria C. White of Rochester, Minn., was beaten in the head, neck, and face by then-Lt. Jason Bagshaw and other officers inside the Lower West Terrace tunnel about 20 minutes before Boyland collapsed, video showed. Capitol Police CCTV security video and MPD bodycam footage showed that White was struck nearly 40 times with steel riot batons and fists.

At 4:11 p.m., a bystander at the tunnel mouth repeatedly tried to intervene to protect White. He shouted at police, “No, no, no, no. Please … please don’t beat her!” and “No, you’re going to kill her!” according to the bodycam of MPD Officer Andrew Wayte. In one violent series, Bagshaw repeatedly pummeled White in the side of the face with a closed fist, security video showed.

“It wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized how bad it was,” White said in a 2022 Jan. 6 documentary. She sued Bagshaw and MPD Officer Neil McAllister in March 2024. That lawsuit is ongoing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols.

RELATED: Fact-check: President Trump authorized 20,000 National Guard troops for duty on Jan. 6, 2021

Protester Victoria White is tossed around by police during a severe beating in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Bodycam Images/Metropolitan Police Department

The lawsuit said White was subjected to “objectively unreasonable, excessive, and indeed, deadly force that shocks the conscience.”

Bagshaw has been with MPD for more than 22 years. A July 2022 article in the Washington Post said Bagshaw has “gone hands-on with demonstrators in Washington for years, winning colleagues’ respect but drawing criticism from demonstrators.” The article did not mention Bagshaw’s actions against White in the tunnel on Jan. 6. Bagshaw was promoted to commander in April 2022.

The FBI began collecting use-of-force data from law enforcement agencies nationwide on Jan. 1, 2019. Of 18,514 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide, 5,481 reported use-of-force data to the FBI. Participation in the National Use-of-Force Data Collection is encouraged, but not mandatory.

Both MPD and the Metro Transit Police Department supply use-of-force data to the FBI, according to the FBI Crime Data Explorer.

In 2024, 11,445 of the nation’s 19,277 law enforcement agencies participated in the data collection system. The reporting agencies represent 72% of federal, state, local, and tribal sworn officers nationwide, according to the FBI.

In 2024, the primary uses of force reported included firearms, hands/fists/feet, canine, and electronic control weapons such as a taser, according to the database. Police uses of force were a response to failure to comply with verbal commands, attempt to escape or flee from custody, using a firearm against an officer or other person, displaying a weapon at an officer, and resisting being handcuffed or arrested, the FBI reported.

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No Amount Of Nancy Pelosi’s Revisionist History Can Erase Her Key Role In J6 National Guard Delay

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-11-at-10.01.23 AM-e1749654185503-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-11-at-10.01.23%5Cu202fAM-e1749654185503-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]Pelosi’s claim that she ‘begged’ Trump to send the National Guard to the Capitol on January 6th is a proven lie.

Fact-check: President Trump authorized 20,000 National Guard troops for duty on Jan. 6, 2021



The former Democrat co-chairman of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 continues to lie about President Donald J. Trump’s authorization of the D.C. National Guard on Jan. 6.

Amid the backdrop of the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) took to social media on June 8 and claimed, “Trump refused to call the National Guard during the Jan 6th insurrection.”

'Pelosi will never go for it.'

— (@)

The truth is that several days ahead of time, President Trump authorized up to 20,000 National Guard troops for duty on Jan. 6. Under the law, those troops would need to be requested by a governor or, in the case of the District of Columbia, the mayor.

Democrat politicians refused Guard help

Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected the offer of National Guard troops in a Jan. 5 letter to the Department of Defense.

Former Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund requested Guard troops days in advance during meetings with the House and Senate sergeants at arms. At the time, the House sergeant at arms, Paul Irving, reported to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The late Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger reported to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Sund was later told by Stenger that the National Guard request would not have flown because, as Irving put it, “Pelosi will never go for it.”

The sergeants at arms are two of the three voting members of the Capitol Police Board, which is responsible for security at the Capitol. The board refused Chief Sund’s requests for the National Guard until mid-afternoon on Jan. 6, after the Capitol had been breached and the grounds overrun with tens of thousands of protesters.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense inspector general’s report regarding the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the use of National Guard troops was discussed during a White House meeting on Jan. 3, 2021.

In attendance were acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Sec. Miller’s chief of staff, Kash Patel.

“The president told Mr. Miller that there would be a large number of protesters on January 6, 2021, and Mr. Miller should ensure sufficient National Guard or soldiers would be there to make sure it was a safe event,” Milley said.

Patel, who is now FBI director, said Trump did all he was constitutionally allowed to do.

“He said, ‘If you need up to 20,000 National Guardsmen and women, not just in Washington, D.C., but anywhere in the country, you have my authorization,’” Patel recalled.

Miller recalled the discussions this way: “The president said while we’re leaving, ‘Hey, one more thing,’ and we all sat back down and discussed what was going on on Jan. 6,” Miller said.

'I am stunned by the repeated statements by Pelosi.'

“The president was doing just what I expect the commander in chief to do, any commander in chief to do. He was looking at the broad threats against the United States, and he brought this up on his own. We did not bring it up.”

During a series of conference calls on Jan. 6, the Pentagon balked at the “optics” of having National Guard troops at the Capitol. Thus began a critical three-hour, 19-minute delay in putting boots on the ground at the Capitol.

The career officers at the Pentagon were more concerned with politics than with ensuring that the National Guard made it to the Capitol, said Casey Wardynski, former assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and Reserve affairs and a 30-year U.S. Army veteran who served former President Donald Trump at the Pentagon from 2019 to 2021.

“Instead of looking after what’s best for the country, they were looking to cover their asses and do what was best for their careers and for the perception of their favorite institution, the Army,” Wardynski told Blaze News.

New Jersey police arrived before National Guard

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said information uncovered by his investigators was ignored by the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee and left out of the Pentagon inspector general report issued in November 2021.

“It took too long for the D.C. National Guard to arrive at the Capitol. The 113th Wing Capital Guardians have a proud history protecting our nation’s capital and serving our nation’s leadership. Nevertheless, the New Jersey State Police from nearly 150 miles away responded to the Capitol before the D.C. National Guard.”

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

In Jan. 6 HBO documentary footage obtained by Loudermilk’s subcommittee, Pelosi expressed exasperation that the Guard was not at the Capitol, at nearly the same hour that her House sergeant at arms was refusing Sund’s desperate pleas for National Guard help.

Sund told Blaze News in 2024 that if Pelosi had simply granted his Jan. 3 request for the National Guard, “I don’t think we would be here discussing this today.”

“I am stunned by the repeated statements by Pelosi about there not being any National Guard deployed to the Capitol in advance of the attack on January 6,” Sund said, “when it was her sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives who denied my request for support on January 3, and then again repeatedly for 71 minutes while we were under attack on January 6.”

Sund said the response to his urgent request for help was “absolutely abysmal,” noting that by the time Guard members arrived at the staging location near the Capitol, they were no longer needed.

“They could have not shown up and it wouldn't have changed a thing,” Sund told Blaze News.

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Feds settle multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the death of Ashli Babbitt



Nearly four and a half years after Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd shot and killed Ashli Babbitt at the U.S. Capitol, her husband on June 6 signed an agreement to settle his $30 million wrongful-death suit against the federal government.

The agreement includes a $4.975 million payout. Other terms were not immediately announced.

'She was alive and breathing after being shot.'

“This fair settlement is a historic and necessary step for justice for Ashli Babbitt’s family. Ashli should never have been killed, and this settlement destroys the evil, partisan narrative that justified her outrageous killing and protected her killer,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Twenty-five percent of the lawsuit settlement will be held in a trust account against any possible award to Babbitt’s former attorney, Terrell N. Roberts III. Roberts asked to intervene in the lawsuit earlier this year, claiming he is owed 40% of any settlement amount.

Roberts terminated his relationship with Aaron Babbitt in early 2022. Babbitt’s D.C. attorney, Richard Driscoll, demanded that the issue be arbitrated by the Attorney/Client Arbitration Board of the District of Columbia Bar.

Despite repeated corporate media claims to the contrary, Judicial Watch handled the wrongful-death lawsuit pro bono.

Although the federal government admitted no liability in the settlement agreement, it is a tacit admission by the U.S. Department of Justice that Byrd was reckless and used excessive force when he slid from a hidden position in the House Speaker’s Lobby and fired one shot at Babbitt, who had climbed into a sidelight window just outside the entry doors.

The lawsuit complaint, filed on Jan. 5, 2024, alleged that Byrd was negligent in the handling and use of his Glock 22 sidearm and reckless in his decision to fire into the crowded hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby.

The suit also claimed the Capitol Police department was negligent in its supervision of Byrd, who has a long disciplinary history that includes firing his pistol into a fleeing vehicle near his home in 2004 and leaving his gun on a toilet tank in the Capitol Visitor Center.

Aaron Babbitt filed claims against the Capitol Police in June and September 2021 and augmented the claims in February 2022 and January 2023, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

RELATED: Capitol Police name permanent chief hours after union slams controversial interim pick

Ashli Babbitt was a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard.Photos courtesy of Micki Witthoeft and Aaron Babbitt

The suit was brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the entire federal government, of which the Capitol Police department is a part.

According to the lawsuit, Byrd’s bullet struck Ashli Babbitt in the left anterior shoulder at 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. The round “perforated her left brachial plexus, trachea, upper lobe of the right lung and second anterior rib, and came to rest in her right anterior shoulder.

“Video recordings show her alive and conscious, writhing uncontrollably immediately after the shooting,” the suit stated. “Ashli remained conscious for minutes or longer after being shot by Lt. Byrd. Ashli experienced extreme pain, suffering, mental anguish and intense fear before slipping into pre-terminal unconsciousness."

“Furthermore, nothing about the wound track described in the autopsy report would be expected to result in immediate death or instantaneous loss of consciousness,” the suit said, “and Ashli’s lungs contained blood, further confirming that she was alive and breathing after being shot.”

Babbitt was unarmed, hands raised

Although Byrd claimed that he feared for his life at the time he shot Babbitt, he “later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female,” the lawsuit said. “Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and officers in the lobby.

“Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone,” the suit said.

The killing became a polarizing event for Jan. 6 and drew vile responses from the left, with many claiming that Babbitt deserved to be shot because they believed her to be a rioter who was part of a mob. Death threats and harassment were directed at Aaron Babbitt. Immediately after the shooting, people would call the Babbitts' pool-cleaning business and ask, “Can Ashli come over and clean my pool?”

A self-described “anarchy princess” stomped on a birthday floral tribute to Babbitt on the steps of the Capitol in October 2022. The woman, Brianne Marie Chapman, often heckled Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft, at public events.

'Then-Lieutenant Byrd’s weapon was left unattended in a public restroom for approximately 55 minutes.'

Long investigations carried out by news media and Judicial Watch Inc. revealed that Ashli Babbitt tried to stop rioting that erupted in the Speaker’s Lobby hallway between 2:36 and 2:44 p.m. She shouted at rioters to stop and eventually threw a left hook to the face of rioter Zachary Alam to end his spree of vandalism and mayhem.

The suit was filed in San Diego, but the Biden DOJ immediately moved to have it transferred to the friendly confines of federal court in the District of Columbia. Judicial Watch was still fighting to move the case back to California when the “settlement in principle” was first announced May 2.

The DOJ declined to prosecute Byrd in 2021, stating there was not enough evidence that the officer willfully used excessive force in killing the 14-year U.S. Air Force veteran. The shooting-justification report was loaded with errors and did not use the proper U.S. Supreme Court litmus test for fatal use of force.

Byrd promoted, rewarded

A U.S. House subcommittee outlined how the Capitol Police covered up Byrd’s identity for eight months in 2021, paid more than $35,000 to house him in an admiral’s suite at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, provided $37,000 in unrestricted retention bonuses, and helped Byrd open a GoFundMe account that brought in more than $164,000.

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) made a $200 donation to Byrd's GoFundMe on Nov. 18, 2021. At the time, Kinzinger was a member of the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Kinzinger wrote on social media, “A worthy cause, as this man has faced quite an onslaught of misinformation and extreme threats.”

Capitol Police planned to use money from the Officers’ Memorial Fund for fallen officers to pay Byrd’s expenses, including overtime pay he lost by being off work following Jan. 6, the House report said. The plan was to submit Byrd’s proposal ahead of any other Memorial Fund payments, including those for 90 officers injured on Jan. 6.

The Capitol Police general counsel worked directly with Pelosi's staff to find ways to assist Byrd after the shooting. A police source who was in attendance at a Capitol meeting with Pelosi told Blaze News the speaker emerita declared that Byrd was not to be touched.

RELATED: Lawmaker who visited El Salvador to spring MS-13 gang member attacks Ashli Babbitt as a ‘domestic terrorist’

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Steven Robbs peers into the House Speaker’s Lobby after Lt. Michael Byrd shot Ashli Babbitt. A wrongful-death lawsuit filed against Byrd said tactical officers were in the hallway when Byrd aimed and fired at Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.Photo by Tayler Hansen

Capitol Police assigned Byrd a dignitary protection detail and planned to provide him with a department-issued shotgun for personal protection. However, Byrd failed the FBI background check and the shotgun proficiency test, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said.

Byrd was promoted to captain in 2023. Loudermilk said he was troubled by the promotion, asking then-Chief J. Thomas Manger to provide more information on the standards used for the promotion. Manger never responded, a Capitol Hill source told Blaze News.

Blaze News reached out to the USCP for comment.

Blaze News investigations exposed how Capitol Police have covered for Byrd for nearly 25 years. Byrd was recommended for termination in 2001 when an internal affairs investigation found he abandoned his post in the Speaker’s Office for a card game in a nearby cloakroom. When Byrd was confronted by a supervisor, he lied, defying video evidence to the contrary, the investigation found.

Byrd was suspended for a week after a 2015 incident in which he shouted at a Montgomery County police officer working security at a Maryland high school football game.

Byrd “became argumentative with the officer and began yelling profanities at the officer, calling him a ‘piece of sh**, a**hole, and racist,’” according to a report issued in 2024 by Rep. Loudermilk. Byrd accused the officer of “targeting the ‘black side’ of the field and then jumped the fence” to confront him.

In 2019, Byrd was again referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility for leaving his Glock pistol in a Capitol Visitor Center restroom.

“Then-Lieutenant Byrd’s weapon was left unattended in a public restroom for approximately 55 minutes before it was discovered by another officer,” Loudermilk wrote. Byrd was suspended without pay for 33 days.

Loudermilk disclosed that the records of three other OPR discipline cases against Byrd were somehow missing.

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Controversial assistant chief embroiled in 2010 fraud scandal named acting Capitol Police chief



Sean P. Gallagher, the assistant U.S. Capitol Police chief who became embroiled in a time-card fraud scheme in 2010 and was blamed by a top department commander for disastrous inaction in the USCP Command Center on Jan. 6, has been named acting chief of the department.

The U.S. Capitol Police Board made the appointment as the search begins for a permanent replacement for just-retired Chief J. Thomas Manger. The three-member board includes the House and Senate sergeants at arms and the architect of the Capitol. The police chief serves as a non-voting member.

'Supervisors are held to a lower standard, even when the conduct is criminal.'

Gallagher’s appointment as acting chief will most likely not lead to him being offered the permanent job, according to Capitol Hill sources who spoke with Blaze News on the condition of anonymity. Still, his appointment was described by several police sources as a morale-killer among the rank and file.

Gallagher has drawn fire throughout his nearly 25 years with U.S. Capitol Police, including a felony-level time-cardfraud case that involved him forging the signature of a USCP inspector in order to file bogus overtime claims, internal documents show.

Gallagher was one of the subjects of a scathing Jan. 6 whistleblower letter that alleged that he and the then-chief "simply watched, mostly with their hands in their laps" while officers fought for their lives across Capitol grounds after tens of thousands of protesters surrounded the building.

“It’s the white shirts that are so corrupt,” one source told Blaze News on June 2. “They’re the ones who almost got us killed on January 6.”

Acting Capitol Police Chief Sean Gallagher joined the department in 2001. His tenure has been marred by controversy.Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

The move to place Gallagher in the top spot was most likely intended as a resume pad to help him move on to another law enforcement department or agency, sources said.

Manger, who joined as chief in July 2021 and retired May 30, oversaw massive budget growth in the wake of Jan. 6. He submitted a budget request to the current Congress for nearly $1 billion.

Manger’s final six months in office were marred by high-profile security failures. In January 2025, a man was admitted through the Capitol Visitors Center checkpoint armed with a 9mm handgun hidden in his waistband. The man was later detained after he exited the Library of Congress.

On March 4, a congressional staff member who attempted to bring a loaded handgun through a security checkpoint told Capitol Police that he successfully brought the weapon through security the day before.

Manger blamed the security lapses on “the hardest kind of failure to address: human failure.”

Former Capitol Police Lt. Tarik K. Johnson, who was suspended for nearly 18 months after Jan. 6 by former acting Chief Yogananda Pittman and the Office of Professional Responsibility, said if Gallagher is named permanent chief, the truth about Jan. 6 will never come out.

“If he gets the position permanently, January 6th will go down in history as an insurrection caused by President Trump,” Johnson wrote on X, “as Gallagher will ensure nothing comes out that would disturb the insurrection narrative.”

Johnson was one of the first officials to call out the Jan. 6 inaction of Gallagher and Pittman that he said endangered House and Senate members as the Capitol was overrun. The leadership vacuum in the Command Center delayed evacuations and set up the conditions leading to the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt just outside the Speaker’s Lobby, Johnson has said.

Capitol Police radio transmissions show that Johnson pleaded for permission to evacuate the U.S. Senate just before 1:30 p.m. that day, but was greeted by complete silence from the Command Center. Johnson eventually acted on his own, rushing senators and staff to safety just as an angry crowd moved toward the main Senate entrance.

Johnson’s suspension was officially because he wore a red Make America Great Again ball cap as he moved in and out of the crowds on Jan. 6. Johnson counters that the real reason for his discipline and demotion was that his decisions exposed the failures of senior leaders assigned as area commanders for the Capitol that day.

Gallagher’s appointment is a head-scratcher, sources said, given a checkered history that includes sustained charges of felony-level time-card fraud in 2010 that cost taxpayers at least $10,000.

Overtime fraud discovered

Documents obtained by Blaze News in 2024 showed that Gallagher was recommended for termination for a time-card fraud scheme involving himself and two lieutenants under his command.

According to Rhoda Henderson, a retired USCP sergeant and whistleblower, the other participants in the fraud scheme included Deputy Chief John Erickson and former Lt. Wendy Colmore, who left the department in 2015 for a post in the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms office.

According to Office of Professional Responsibility disciplinary records obtained by Blaze News, Gallagher forged his supervisor’s signature on overtime pay submissions, using a different color pen for the forged signature from the one he used for his own. The fraud scheme was discovered in 2010 and sparked a long investigation.

An OPR memo dated Dec. 18, 2013, recommended Gallagher’s termination “for having defrauded the government of more than $10,000.”

U.S. Capitol Police Assistant Chief Sean Gallagher testifies during the House Committee on Administration Subcommittee on Oversight hearing on March 12, 2024.Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

“The offense is egregious and, absent any mitigating factors, warrants nothing less than termination,” the memo read. “This offense was willful and frequent, occurring on eight occasions. Captain Gallagher misrepresented his times, forged his supervisor’s signature on overtime authorization forms, falsified pay certification sheets, and forged his supervisor’s signature on pay certification sheets to defraud the government for significant personal gain.”

Despite the fraud alleged, Gallagher kept his job. A Capitol Police source told Blaze News that then-Capitol Police Chief Kim C. Dine intervened in Gallagher’s case. Dine assigned the discipline investigation to Inspector Daniel Malloy, the supervisor whose signature Gallagher was accused of forging. Chief Dine left the job in 2015.

The OPR investigation recommended that Gallagher be demoted from captain to lieutenant, but Gallagher escaped with only a 10-day unpaid suspension.

Jim Konczos, chairman of the Capitol Police Labor Committee’s executive board at the time of the overtime fraud investigation, described a department culture in which “supervisors are held to a lower standard, even when the conduct is criminal.”

Gallagher was promoted to assistant chief in October 2023 from his previous title of deputy chief and head of the Protective Services Bureau. He was named inspector in June 2018 and became commander of the Dignitary Protection Division. He became deputy chief in 2019. From 2010 to 2018 he was assistant commander of the Dignitary Protection Division and the Capitol Division. From 2008 to 2010, Gallagher was assistant commander of the Investigations Division.

The USCP Public Information Office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

‘Two bumps on a log’

A 16-page whistleblower letter sent to Congress in September 2021 faulted Deputy Chief Gallagher and acting Chief Pittman for inaction that led directly to injury of officers and put lawmakers in danger.

“In the Command Center, they simply watched, mostly with their hands in their laps,” wrote former Deputy Chief Jeffrey J. Pickett. “They did not try to help or assist as officers and officials were literally fighting for each other, their lives, and the Congress.”

The signature on the whistleblower letter was redacted, but Pickett later acknowledged writing the document.

“What I observed was them mostly sitting there, blankly looking at the TV screens showing real-time footage of officers and officials fighting for the Congress and their lives,” Pickett wrote. “This observation of their inaction was reported and corroborated by other officials and non-USCP entities.”

Pickett said he believed the inaction was intentional.

“It is my allegation that these two, with intent and malice, opted to not try and assist the officers and officials, blame others for the failures, and chose to try and use this event for their own personal promotions,” Pickett wrote.

“These two instead, while officers were being injured, elected to do nothing, lie and attempt to profit professionally,” Pickett wrote. “They chose to watch, as one non-USCP witness stated, ‘like two bumps on a log,’ make calls, and start to blame everyone for their failures.”

Former acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman testifies before a U.S. Senate committee on April 21, 2021.Photograph by Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pittman, who was named acting chief for the six months prior to Manger being named chief, in February 2023 became chief of police at the University of California at Berkeley. Although she did not yet qualify for Capitol Police retirement pension, Manger granted her five months of leave without pay until she reached the retirement threshold.

The department has been mired in other scandals since January 6. Former Officer Harry Dunn and Special Agent David Lazarus gave conflicting and apparently false testimony in the trial of four Oath Keepers and one associate in 2022.

Lazarus testified that he witnessed a confrontation between members of the Oath Keepers and Dunn in the Small House Rotunda, but at the time he cited, he was not even in the Capitol. The Oath Keepers had left the building prior to Lazarus meeting up with Dunn, according to a multi-part Blaze News video series by Steve Baker.

Lieutenant Michael L. Byrd, who shot and killed Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. outside the Speaker’s Lobby, was shielded from public view for seven months, hidden in a luxury hotel room at the Joint Base Andrews military facility in Maryland.

Capitol Police paid for $21,000 in security upgrades to Byrd’s Maryland home, awarded Byrd nearly $40,000 in unrestricted retention funds, and helped him establish a GoFundMe campaign that netted more than $164,000, according to a November 2024 letter from U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.).

Byrd had been accused of abandoning his post in the Speaker’s Office for a nearby cloakroom card game in 2001, then lying about it to internal affairs investigators.

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Fee-hungry ex-lawyer puts settlement of $30 million Ashli Babbitt lawsuit at risk, court filing says



The Maryland attorney who three years ago dropped Aaron Babbitt as a client in the shooting death of his wife on Jan. 6 is endangering a final settlement of the $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit between Judicial Watch Inc. and the U.S. Department of Justice, an attorney told a District of Columbia federal court on May 19.

Terrell N. Roberts III, who walked away from the case in February 2022, rejected an offer to set aside 25% of any financial settlement in a dedicated trust account while the issue of what fees, if any, Roberts is owed is determined in arbitration by the Attorney Client Arbitration Board of the District of Columbia Bar.

'We are representing Ashli’s family pro bono!'

“Plaintiffs are concerned by Mr. Roberts’ role in this case, which is frustrating completion of the settlement,” said Judicial Watch attorney Robert Sticht, who represents Aaron Babbitt of San Diego and the estate of his late wife, Ashli Babbitt.

Roberts wants U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes to decide the issue of attorney fees, arguing that arbitration could take six months. He also wants the judge to revisit her rejection of a charging lien against the settlement.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, claimed May 19 that the settlement agreement is for less than $5 million. Parties in the suit would not comment on the news story or the alleged amount. The Post reported incorrectly that Judicial Watch and Washington, D.C., attorney Richard Driscoll would take one-third of any settlement.

“I can say, contrary to initial WPOST report, @JudicialWatch is not getting a third (or any portion) of any settlement,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted on X. “We are representing Ashli’s family pro bono!”

Sticht now looks prophetic, as he tried to caution the news media against reporting that Judicial Watch would reap a windfall in the case.

Sticht was chastised and silenced by Judge Reyes at a May 12 hearing when he tried to announce to the press listening on the court’s audio feed that Judicial Watch will take no fees from the Babbitt lawsuit.

“This is crazy, and it is costing a lot of money,” Sticht said of the delays caused by the fee dispute. “And just so the court knows, for the record and all the press who may be on the telephone, Judicial Watch does not a get fee out of this settlement.”

RELATED: Federal judge explodes in Ashli Babbitt court hearing as wrongful-death case slows

Photo (left): John Sullivan; Photo (right): Aaron Babbitt

Judge Reyes talked over Sticht and chastised him for speaking directly to the media.

“Mr. Sticht, did I not just tell you that when I start talking, you stop?” Reyes snapped.

Roberts represented Babbitt from shortly after Babbitt’s wife was shot to death Jan. 6 by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. Roberts abandoned the case in late February 2022 but has still been seeking up to 40% of the financial settlement being negotiated by Judicial Watch. Babbitt was left to find new legal counsel after Roberts fired him as a client “for cause.”

Judicial Watch agreed to be bound by the decision of the arbitration board. Driscoll, who represents Aaron Babbitt for the narrow issue of the fee dispute with Roberts, filed for D.C. Bar arbitration May 9. He said now that Babbitt has asked for arbitration, both parties are required to take part under bar association rules.

Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 25% is the maximum fee allowed for all plaintiff attorneys combined.

Sticht said because “the likelihood of Mr. Roberts recovering such a fee is minimal, at best, given his admittedly brief and limited involvement in the legal matter,” the 25% set-aside “protects Mr. Roberts for an inability to recover an award.”

“Mr. Roberts rejected plaintiffs’ offer,” Sticht wrote in the court filing.

Roberts sought a charging lien from the court against the gross amount of any settlement. Judge Reyes rejected the idea, but allowed Roberts to be an intervenor in the case for the limited purpose of keeping tabs on settlement developments.

Roberts said if he is compelled to participate in arbitration, he will ask Judge Reyes to issue a stay in the lawsuit until the issue of attorney’s fees is settled.

RELATED: Ashli Babbitt stood up to him — now J6er 'Helmet Boy' faces new charges

Aaron Babbitt with his late wife Ashli, who turned 35 three months before she was killed on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.Photo courtesy of Aaron Babbitt

“As a fundamental matter, arbitration is not an efficient option at this juncture,” Roberts wrote to the court. “The process could take up to six months (if not more). That is too long given that we are a hair’s breadth from a settlement. The court could more practically handle the matter of attorney’s fees in a fraction of the time it would take to arbitrate the case.”

Sticht said that idea “goes well beyond the limited intervention the court permitted.”

“Mr. Roberts presents no justification for why the court should reconsider these issues,” Sticht wrote.

Roberts’ attempts to cash in on the lawsuit have added drama and frustration to an already tense courtroom atmosphere. Since the first hearing on the lawsuit on Aug. 6, 2024, Judge Reyes has repeatedly lost her temper with Sticht, shouting at him to “stop talking” and accusing him of giving “snide” answers to her questions.

Brian Boyd, a DOJ trial attorney, said in the filing that the government supports the proposed 25% set-aside because it “is sufficient to protect Mr. Roberts’ interests.”

Boyd said Judicial Watch’s agreement to abide by the arbitration panel’s decision “and disperse [sic] to Mr. Roberts that portion of the set-aside funds that ACAB determines Mr. Roberts is owed, if any, should eliminate Mr. Roberts’ concern regarding his ability to collect fees to which he is entitled.”

Trial in the $30 million lawsuit is set for July 2026. The election of President Donald J. Trump last November vastly changed the DOJ’s demeanor toward the case and pushed the government toward a settlement.

In the years since Babbitt was killed, President Trump has expressed support and sympathy for the Babbitt family while ripping Lt. Byrd as a “thug” and a “coward.” The president expressed his belief that Ashli Babbitt “was murdered.”

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Thom Tillis Wants You To Forget His Role In Tanking Ed Martin’s D.C. Attorney Nomination

Like with any politician who holds public office, Tillis should have to answer for his record.