Brian Cole's Lawyers Admonish Jeanine Pirro for Yapping Her Mouth - emptywheel

"But Jeanine Pirro did. She want on social media and repeated the apparent miscitation of Cole's own words I laid out here, treating a comment made in the present tense this month - "I really don't like either party at this point" - as if it were a comment about his mindset on January 5, 2021."

"The government-induced excitement around the arrest of Mr. Cole should not take this Court's focus away from two essential principles of law that govern bail hearings.1 1 Indeed the U.S. Attorney has made numerous comments in contravention of Local Criminal Rule 57.7(b), specifically concerning the "existence or contents of any confession, admission, or statement given by the accused" ((b)(3)(ii)) and "opinion[s] as to the accused's guilt or innocence or as to the merits of the case or the evidence in the case" ((b)(3)(vi)). See https://abcnews.go.com/US/pipe-bomb-suspect-disappointed -2020-election-results-us/story?id=128157568 (U.S. Attorney Pirro telling the media that based on the evidence, it is "unmistakable" that Mr. Cole is guilty and that "[t]his guy was an equal opportunity bomber."); see also https://www.facebook.com/judgeje aninepirro/posts/my-office-has-filed-court-documents-that-brian-cole-jr-accusedofplacing-pipe-b/1424070829083142/ (U.S. Attorney Pirro posting on Facebook that Mr. Cole "has admitted that he was responsible for the devices and gave a detailed confession to the charged offenses")."

DOJ released a detention memo for accused January 6 pipe bomber Brian Cole. Conservative online actors largely ignored the memo, focusing instead on alleged benefits-fraud claims in Minnesota. Jeanine Pirro posted and repeated an apparent miscitation, presenting a present-tense comment — "I really don't like either party at this point" — as if it described Cole's mindset on January 5, 2021. Cole's attorneys contend that government-induced excitement and public statements should not influence bail determinations and may violate Local Criminal Rule 57.7(b) prohibitions on comments about confessions and opinions on guilt.

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