On the day his trial was scheduled to begin on January 6th in Washington, D.C., Blaze Media journalist Steve Baker pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges against him and gave a “disgraceful” statement in court. He said he would not take the training. — Solid results.
“I made this decision specifically to avoid the embarrassment of a trial,” Baker said outside the venue. E. Barrett Prettyman in U.S. court after Tuesday's change of plea hearing. “You know, I've seen enough of these trials in the media room and in the courtroom to know that this is exactly what it is.”
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper set a sentencing hearing for March 6, 2025, but appeared to expect it to be delayed by a presidential pardon.
Baker, who covered the Jan. 6 protests and riots on his blog Pragmatic Constitutionalist, was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on the Jan. 6 charges as a politically conservative Because they were the only journalists involved, they intended to use the selective prosecution defense.
“That doesn't mean he has to say 'I meant to do this' as part of his defense.”
But Mr. Cooper separated Mr. Baker from the defense and denied discovery requests related to dozens of journalists who were not indicted because they were in and on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. Mr. Cooper similarly rejected Mr. Baker's last-minute motion to postpone the trial. Due to former President Donald J. Trump's re-election and possible pardon on January 6th.
Baker said he had originally intended to go to trial, but after seeing Judge Cooper's strong stance during a pretrial hearing on Nov. 6, he became convinced it wasn't worth it.
“I was really willing to take a risk, but after the election last Tuesday and the pretrial hearing the next day, last Wednesday, I said there and then that the court's inflexibility is going to be here for a long time. I realized, it's a trial,'' Baker said. “I said yes, and that's when I told my lawyer, 'I didn't do it.'”
Baker expressed frustration with the lack of evidence in his case and the government's reliance on statements he made after the protests to allege a so-called mental state at the Capitol.
Blaze Media journalist Steve Baker has been blocked from using the selective prosecution defense by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
Surveillance cameras from the U.S. Department of Justice, Metropolitan Police Department, and Capitol Police
“They are making accusations that are not supported by the video they provided to us at the time of discovery,” Baker said. “At some point, [attorney Bill Shipley] He called me and said, “I think they're trying to send a signal that they want you to go to court and do this, because the video they're sending shows you Because it reflects what I was only doing as a journalist in the building that day.'' And that's exactly what I did.
Defense attorney Bill Shipley said Baker's change of plea did not amount to a confession.
“We don't have to confess. We just have to acknowledge that there is evidence that the government will use to show intent, and we are not going to challenge that evidence today. No,” Shipley said. “But that doesn't mean he has to say 'I meant to do this' as part of his defense.”
Baker said he felt the Justice Department was pursuing him because his comments since January 6 and his reporting as an independent journalist and later as an investigative reporter for Blaze Media had embarrassed the government. said.
Baker said he criticized what Judge Cooper wrote about judges and the Department of Justice in the District of Columbia and argued that he criticized the workings of the criminal justice system.
“He then gave a long and passionate defense of how fair they were,” Baker told Blaze News. “The judges, the members of the court, have worked hard to ensure that all of the defendants on January 6 received a fair trial.”
Shipley said the defense has given prosecutors the names of 61 journalists who entered restricted areas of the Capitol but were not charged with any crime. Baker said he has a long list of more than 90 journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, bloggers, stringers and freelancers who were at the Capitol.
Defense attorneys William Shipley (left) and Edward Tarpley Jr. speak with Blaze Media journalist Steve Baker at a press conference after Baker pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges on Jan. 6. I attended with Mr.Rebecca Zeljko/Blaze News
“Only three or four of us have been tried, indicted, convicted or found guilty. And all of us are voices on the right side of the political ledger,” Baker said. said.
Baker ended up just pleading guilty because there is no “no contest” plea in federal criminal court, and using an Alford plea requires approval from the attorney general. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to the crime he is charged with, but accepts that he will be sentenced for that crime.
“That wasn't going to be approved.” [Alford plea]'' Baker said. “And the bottom line is that what I'm talking about is a factual error, and I'm pleading guilty to their allegations today because I went through the shameful process of going through these trials. Because that's just the way they are.'' As I said before, they lie, and I witnessed them. ”
Baker said if President-elect Donald J. Trump makes good on his January 6 campaign promise to pardon the defendants, “then I'm very confident that I'll be at the top of the list.” .
Baker said Judge Cooper seemed to accept that a pardon could come from the White House. The judge decided to deliver a monologue normally reserved for sentencing hearings because “it is unlikely we will see you in March.”
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