An attorney who represents the largest number of defendants charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and who has criticized vaccine mandates has dropped out of sight amid conflicting statements by associates over whether he has been hospitalized with covid-19, U.S. prosecutors told judges Monday.
John M. Pierce of Los Angeles has been incommunicado for the past seven days, leaving 17 clients effectively without defense counsel, prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington said.
“Hopefully, Mr. Pierce will soon regain his health and be able to continue his representation of the defendant,” prosecutors said in notices to judges. “The government did, however, want to make the Court aware of Mr. Pierce’s reported illness and its impact on the case so that the Court can take any steps it believes necessary to ensure that the defendant’s rights are adequately protected while Mr. Pierce remains hospitalized.”
Ryan Marshall, a Pierce representative, declined to comment publicly.
The U.S. filings put a fresh spotlight on Pierce, whose conservative rhetoric has attracted Trump supporters facing criminal charges and whose business and legal tactics have drawn scrutiny from adversaries who question whether his political or financial interests are affecting his representation of clients.
Pierce gained national notoriety last summer, when he was hired to defend Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager charged with killing two people during a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin. Other high-profile clients include Trump lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, former Trump aides Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. He has spoken out against mask and vaccination mandates, encouraged violence against anti-fascist protesters and falsely suggested that former president Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
[D.C. judges express frustration about possible leniency in Capitol riot cases]
Over two days last week, Marshall indicated to a judge that Pierce’s absence was due to a conflict, later told prosecutors that he “had just gotten word that Pierce had been in an accident” and the following morning told another judge that Pierce was “hospitalized with covid-19, on a ventilator and nonresponsive,” prosecutors said.
Marshall eventually told a prosecutor that one of Pierce’s friends told him that Pierce was sick with the virus, but another said he was not, the government said in filings.
Marshall has been appearing in court on Pierce’s behalf but is not a licensed attorney, might not ever become one given pending felony charges, and “cannot ethically or legally represent Mr. Pierce’s clients,” prosecutors said Monday.
The chief financial officer of Pierce’s legal nonprofit, Marshall has been charged with falsifying court documents and fraud. Marshall has pleaded not guilty.
In Wisconsin, Pierce was ultimately fired by Rittenhouse’s family amid a dispute over funds he raised for the case, with prosecutors questioning the ethics of his raising millions while being deeply in debt himself. Rittenhouse’s new attorneys say Pierce’s actions had interfered with his client’s criminal defense.
Pierce’s debt stems from his Los Angeles-based firm, which until recently focused on civil rather than criminal litigation, according to news reports. The Harvard-trained Pierce broke litigation funding ground in 2017, helping to form a boutique law firm financed by hedge funds to take on contingency-fee cases against large companies in exchange for a cut of damages awards. But the firm imploded amid debt and financial scandal, and Pierce pledged future revenue to multiple lenders.
After attending rehabilitation for substance abuse issues, Law360 reported, Pierce in 2020 created his current firm, Pierce Bainbridge P.C., working with Trump attorney L. Lin Wood to launch crowdfunding efforts for conservative defendants.
[Judge asks why Capitol rioters are paying just $1.5 million for attack]
Pierce Bainbridge has been sued multiple times for failure to pay its bills.
That record has not stopped many of those charged in D.C. federal court from hiring Pierce, who has argued that Trump supporters were allowed to enter the building. His clients include several alleged associates of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, two right-wing groups accused of conspiring to stop President Biden from taking office. He also represents Leo Brent Bozell IV, the son and grandson of prominent conservative activists. On Monday, he or a representative filed papers formally confirming to a court his latest representation of a Jan. 6 defendant.
To the surprise of some fellow defense lawyers, Pierce has taken confrontational and high-risk positions in court and appeared to rule out plea deals for many clients. He also has called the riots a government setup, echoing a talking point on right-wing media.
“This whole thing was absolutely a false-flag FBI and intelligence community and military special operations set-up,” he wrote in a late July email to a group of lawyers coordinating defense efforts. The message was shared with The Washington Post. “I don’t [think] a single defendant should take any plea that involves one additional day in jail. At least that’s my mind-set.”
Another attorney replied, “John, can you explain more about how this false flag set-up worked? I’m unclear about the details of what you’re saying.” Pierce did not elaborate.
In another email chain discussing Capitol Police interviews, Pierce wrote, “THIS WHOLE THING WAS AN LEO/IC SET-UP,” referring to law enforcement officers and the intelligence community, “AND WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO PROVE IT.”
Pierce represents more defendants in this case than any other attorney, and as privately retained counsel, he is virtually alone among lawyers in representing more than three defendants.
The volume of evidence and complexity of legal issues involved in each riot case is significant. At an Aug. 10 hearing, David Fischer, an attorney for a co-defendant with Pierce client Kenneth Harrelson in the largest Oath Keepers conspiracy case, likened the workload for each lawyer in the case to one or two death penalty cases.
[Not patriots, not political prisoners — U.S. judges slam Capitol riot defendants at sentencing]
At the same time, lawyers involved in the cases estimated it may cost $500,000 per defendant to go to trial, leading several to predict that all defendants will eventually need either federally funded defenders or access to donor funds. For now, outside of Pierce, virtually all lawyers with a handful or more clients are with the Federal Defenders Office of D.C., which in some ways can pool resources like a defense firm.
Pierce has also stated in court that he planned to raise a “public authority defense” for Harrelson, saying the alleged Oath Keepers associate believed that Trump legally sanctioned their lawbreaking. Pierce’s donor-fueled nonprofit, the National Constitutional Law Union, has pledged to directly fund clients and law firms within its mission, highlighting Jan. 6 prosecutions, victims of “cancel culture” and surveillance abuses.
Pierce did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. A phone number listed on Pierce Bainbridge’s website has been disconnected, and Pierce’s phone was not set up to accept messages. James Kelly, listed as co-counsel with Pierce in a Jan. 6 case, said Monday that he cut ties with the firm in June because he wasn’t paid, is withdrawing from the case and declined further public comment.
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