A federal judge in Washington D.C. has rejected seven requests from a defendant trying to reveal FBI agents within the Jan. 6 crowds and obtain access to undercover videos filmed by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers. At least one of these officers allegedly encouraged the crowds at the U.S. Capitol.
In a 22-page decision, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras has dismissed William Pope’s various motions filed in his criminal case related to Jan. 6, which he had been filing since May 2023.
Judge Contreras has partially approved a government request to alter the evidence protective order in the case. “I now have the most restricted discovery access conditions of any Jan 6 defendant,” Mr. Pope wrote on X.
“All I’m asking for is a fair fight in court, but he’s denying me rights to defend myself Pro Se that aren’t denied to attorneys,” Mr. Pope told The Epoch Times in a statement.
“Even though some January 6 attorneys have filed highly sensitive materials as public exhibits, or leaked them on social media, I have not released a single sensitive or highly sensitive file governed by the protective order,” he added.
Mr. Pope, aged 38 and publisher of the news website Free State Kansas, was present at the Capitol on January 6, reporting on the protest and subsequent violence.
Federal prosecutors have accused him of civil disorder, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, entering and staying in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive behavior in a restricted area, obstructing entry or exit in a restricted area, disorderly conduct within the Capitol building, obstructing passage through Capitol grounds or buildings, and participating in a parade, demonstration, or picket within a Capitol building.
Mr. Pope’s latest request to the court was to force federal prosecutors to disclose all FBI special agents or other employees considered “material witnesses” present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and provide “all photographs, videos, and records related to their presence.”
In this motion, Mr. Pope referenced two suspected FBI agents who were present at the Jan. 6 events at the Capitol alongside former special agent John Guandolo, who previously served as the Bureau’s liaison with U.S. Capitol Police.
Mr. Guandolo “has said in interviews that he was with several active-duty FBI agents on January 6, and that he and those agents have been interviewed by the FBI regarding their observations,” Mr. Pope wrote in his Feb. 12 motion.
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