Jan. 6 hearings 'poisoned' jury pool, says attorney for Shaler riot suspect

An attorney for a former Shaler Area substitute teacher charged in the Capitol riot contends the Jan. 6 committee hearings in Washington, D.C., are poisoning the jury pool and producing evidence that must be turned over to the defense.

In a motion to compel discovery filed Monday, the attorney representing Robert Morss said he needs additional information turned over in the committee hearings to supplement his motion seeking a change of venue for trial. That trial is scheduled for Aug. 29.

“The committee’s nationally televised hearings have irreparably poisoned the jury pool — most dramatically in this District (Washington, D.C.), the jurisdiction that suffered the physical effects of the Jan. 6 riot and the months of severe security measures imposed in its aftermath,” wrote attorney John Kiyonaga.

Kiyonaga said he is seeking evidence “pertaining to possible collusion between the committee and the executive branch, specifically the Department of Justice.”

The government has not yet responded to Morss’ motion.

Morss is charged with attacking a police line in the Lower West Tunnel at the Capitol that afternoon and helping to organize a shield wall.

The government also has said he fought with officers over control of a flag pole and tried to rip away a police baton and helmet visor from them.

He has been held in custody since his arrest. Although Morss has sought release several times, the judge assigned to his case has denied it each time.

The most recent such denial was earlier this month, when U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden called Morss’ motion for release “meritless.”

“He allegedly participated in a mob attack against police in the Lower West Tunnel,” McFaddenn said. “His decision to join a violent crowd then has led him into such a crowded trial now.”

In his newest motion, Kiyonaga quoted extensively from comments made by the chair of the Jan. 6 committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

“The committee has spoon fed to the entire nation a precisely choreographed rendition of Jan. 6 defendants as ‘insurrectionists’ and murderous orchestrators of an attempted coup,” Kiyonaga wrote.

He also cited a story about ratings for the primetime television coverage of the committee hearings, noting at least 19 million people watched.

What’s being presented at the committee hearings has been unfair, Kiyonaga wrote, because none of the people charged in the attack have been able to cross-examine witnesses or question the committee members who are providing commentary.

“Millions of people have therefore viewed hearings which not only portray Mr. Morss (and every other Jan. 6 defendant) as a violent insurrectionist, an orchestrator of an attempted coup, and a threat to American democracy — but also proclaim that any counter narrative or defense is reprehensible,” Morss’ attorney wrote. “The committee’s portrayal of the Jan. 6 defendants as members of a seditious, murderous mob renders the notion of an impartial jury anywhere, but especially in the District of Columbia, risible.”