TWO-FACED: Insurrectionist Brandon Straka may have violated plea agreement with CPAC stunt
Brandon Straka, the Capitol insurrectionist and Walk Away founder, took to performance art at CPAC – even though he cooperated with federal prosecutors to garner leniency in a plea deal for his crimes. In a cosplay moment, the federal witness spent hours in a phony “cell,” pretending he was in the same cage that he escaped by snitching on his fellow coup conspirators.
This is "Walk Away" founder Brandon Straka — who did not serve any prison time in his Jan. 6 case thanks to, as his attorneys described it in their sentencing memos, "substantial" cooperation with investigators. https://t.co/nnJR3CFX8x
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) August 5, 2022
With Straka’s attempts to publicly downplay his plea agreement, a federal judge said that he could now possibly face a charge of making false statements.
A sentencing memo led Judge Dabney Friedrich to ask Straka’s attorneys if they wanted to withdraw his plea, saying she would “gladly” hold an evidentiary hearing, Washington D.C. CBS affiliate WUSA 9 reported.
Straka was initially charged with multiple felony counts, including impeding law enforcement during the Capitol riot. Videos of the chaos agent encouraging members of the Trump-supporting mob to steal an officer’s riot shield have been widely circulated on social media.
Filming rioters taking a shield away from a U.S. Capitol police officer near a doorway entrance to the building, Straka can be heard saying “take it, take it,” and telling insurrectionists to “go, go, go.”
Recently unsealed documents detail Straka’s cooperation with the federal investigation into Jan. 6th and the testimony he gave against his fellow rioters – providing information to the FBI about rally organizers and over a dozen “Stop the Steal” members.
Straka’s attorney, Stuart J. Dornan, wrote in a memo that his client provided “significant information” to investigators – including Women for America First founders and Stop the Steal organizers Amy Kremer and her daughter Kylie.
Ali Alexander was also named and described as the “preeminent leader of the Stop the Steal movement.”
The newly unsealed filings do include a list of people Brandon Straka provided the DOJ with information about, including several "Stop the Steal" organizers and various right-wing social media personalities. pic.twitter.com/wslWAKI5Gz
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) July 27, 2022
The sentencing memorandum, filed on January 13, 2022, was presented to the judge asking for a minimum of four months of home detention, community service, and three years of probation.
Referring to Straka as a “social media influencer,” the judge wrote in the sentencing statement:
“Even if he didn’t personally engage in violence or property destruction during the riot, Straka encouraged and celebrated the violence of that day.”
The judge pointed out Straka’s live streaming of the insurrection, and his proclamation that “we’re not going to be peaceful much longer.”
In an interview with U.S. Probation, Brandon Straka said he felt “remorseful,” and “if he could go back in time, he would not have gone to Washington, D.C.” — a contradiction to the narrative he pushed at the most recent appearance at the GOP’s multi-annual White Power conference.
During Straka’s voluntary interview with federal investigators, he claims to have erased incriminating videos and posts out of “shame” for his participation in trying to overthrow the government.
Though federal prosecutors conceded that Straka himself didn’t enter the Capitol building on Jan. 6, they did say that:
“Straka recorded the chaos and heard the rioters as they chanted remarks such as ‘this is our house,’ and ‘this is our country.’ At no time did Straka turn away. Instead, Straka aligned himself with the rioters by making comments such as ‘We’re going in. They’re saying we’re going in.’ Straka participated in the chants and yelling that occurred outside of the U.S. Capitol.”
Before he turned them in, anyway.
After news of the unsealed documents hit the press, Straka took to the far-right social media platform GETTR to plead his case, saying “There is NOTHING WRONG with talking to the DOJ and telling them your friends are innocent.
The right-wing influencer provided information on America’s Frontline Doctors founder Simone Gold, who was arrested, charged, and sentenced to two months in prison for her role on Jan. 6th.
Though Straka claims he had no part in tattling on his insurrectionist friends, the unsealed documents reveal that he turned over voicemail messages from Gold that prosecutors deemed “valuable.”
In December 2021, Straka gave federal investigators information on a registered sex offender living near his Nebraska home.
Regarding his cooperation, the FBI said “There is no indication that Mr. Straka was not truthful, complete, and reliable concerning information that he provided to the government.”
As founder of the Walk Away campaign encouraging Democrats to leave the party in support of Trump, Straka pled guilty to the less serious misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. But the judge who sentenced him called out the chaos agent on comments he made contradicting those stated during his plea hearing.
We shall wait and see if accountability catches up to the right-wing troll, and if his CPAC stunt comes back like a boomerang.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
