Trump Impeachment Lawyer who Called Capitol Assault 'Heinous' Defending Florida Man Charged in Riot
A lawyer who defended former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial where he called the Jan. 6 Capitol assault "heinous" is now defending a Florida man who has been charged in connection with the riot, the Associated Press reported.
This week, attorney Michael van der Veen of Philadelphia, Penn., filed a motion to represent Jason Dolan, 44, of Florida in Washington D.C.'s federal court. Dolan is a member of the far-right Oath Keepers group and was arrested last month. Prosecutors said Dolan joined multiple Oath Keepers on Jan. 6 on the steps of the Capitol and moved to break into it.
"The entire team condemned and have repeatedly condemned the violence and law-breaking that occurred on Jan. 6. In the strongest possible terms we've advocated that everybody be found, punished to the maximum extent of the law," said van der Veen during Trump's second impeachment trial where Trump was acquitted after being charged with inciting the riot.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Dolan is charged alongside other members and associates of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group in the Jan. 6 attack.
He was recently added to the Department of Justice's largest conspiracy case stemming from the deadly riot.
Trump was impeached by the House on the sole charge of incitement of insurrection one week after the riot.
Van der Veen didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Tuesday.
At one point during the impeachment trial, van der Veen drew laughs from senators when he said that any witness depositions should be done in person in his office in Philadelphia.
"I don't know why you are laughing," a visibly angered van der Veen said. "I haven't laughed at any of you and there's nothing laughable here."
In his closing argument, van der Veen called the impeachment a "complete charade," though he denounced the Capitol breach as a "heinous act on the home of American democracy."
Dolan, a former Marine from Wellington, Florida, is among 16 members and associates of the Oath Keepers who are charged with conspiring to block the certification of President Joe Biden's victory. Prosecutors say Dolan used the moniker "Turmoil."
Several Oath Keepers, wearing helmets and reinforced vests, were seen on camera shouldering their way up the Capitol steps in a military-style stack formation on Jan. 6. Prosecutors say Dolan and another defendant joined with the stack toward the top of the steps and the group forcibly entered the Capitol.
After the riot, prosecutors say Dolan was among several Oath Keeper defendants seen gathered outside the building with the leader of the extremist group, Stewart Rhodes, who is referred to only as "Person One" in court documents. Rhodes has not been charged in the attack.
More than 450 people across the U.S. have been charged so far in the riot. Prosecutors have narrowed in on the Oath Keepers and another far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys, as they try to determine how much planning went into the attack.
