Saturday, August 7, 2021

In Jan 6 Case Harrelson Is Charged On Videos DDC Insiders Withhold, Inner City Press Challenges

 

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Podcast Song Filing
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

FEDERAL COURT, August 5 -- After the DC Circuit's decision in US v. Munchel, DDC Judge Amit P. Mehta had before him Capitol breach defendant Kenneth Harrelson. He also had video exhibits submitted by DOJ - exhibit Inner City Press has been denied access to, as recently as August 5.

And so on August 5, Inner City Press filed a letter and motion with Judge Mehta, now on its DocumentCloud here. An excerpt:

"Re: PUBLIC Access to videos (judicial documents) in US v. Harrelson, 21-cr-00028-APM-10 Dear Judge Mehta:    This is a request for access to videos used as judicial documents in the above captioned case, which I have been reporting on for Inner City Press. Before this submission I asked DOJ for access to the videos, citing your July 13 minute order.... I have today been told that DOJ interprets your Order as ONLY requiring or even allowing them to release these judicial documents to some, and not others. This seems absurd, given the case law about the availability of judicial documents to the public, not to a subset thereof.    I understand that DOJ has interpreted a number of DDC orders in the January 6 cases in this restrictive way - this should be addressed more broadly, but in this Harrelson case, this is a request that you address the issue of whether the judicial documents should be made available to the public, or only a subset (and if so, why). I have also written to you on USA v. Schwartz, 21-cr-178 (APM), on June 24 (no response). If necessary, to expedite things (Inner City Press is reporting on this case today) APPLICATION FOR ACCESS TO VIDEO EXHIBITS."

Similarly, Inner City Press asked DOJ and then Judge Timothy Kelly for access to the videos that DOJ had shown to the court in the case: judicial documents that, under case law, must be made available to the public. But it was denied access, on the theory that Judge Kelly's order earlier in the month limited access to these judicial documents to a particular sub-set of the public.

 Inner City Press on July 27 wrote to Judge Kelly, including in the form of a motion, now on DocumentCloud, here. By noon the next day, July 28, nothing - no responses, no response. We'll have more on this. For now, podcast here; music video here.

Inner City Press live tweeted Riley June Williams on January 25, here. 


  From January 22, song here: Thread here.

 Inner City Press' John Earle Sullivan song on SoundCloud here. 


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