A federal judge in Washington rejected a proposed defense from a man accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 riot that he was just following orders of then-President Donald Trump.
In his opinion Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates cited the Jan. 6 committee’s finding that Trump knew it would be illegal to stop the certification of the 2020 election that day. It’s the first time a judge referred to the committee’s findings in issuing an opinion related to the storming of the Capitol.
“The conclusions reached here — that even if protesters believed they were following orders, they were not misled about the legality of their actions and thus fall outside the scope of any public authority defense — is consistent with the Select Committee’s findings,” Bates wrote in a footnote to the opinion.
