“A Tale of an American Political Prisoner”

Part 12: The Federal Courthouse; Washington, DC

–The “OathKeeper 1” Trial: The Government’s Rebuttal Case–

by: Jessica Watkins (X: @J6ssicaWatkins)

A True Story; 100% verifiable with Courtroom Transcripts, Evidentiary Exhibits, Court Documents, and Testimony.

Remember when I told you that Trials are inherently rigged against the Defendant? That’s because the Government gets two arguments for every one that the Defense gets. Once the Defense had Rested their Case, the Government gets to “try again”. Yeah, it’s not fair, but it is what it is. What can I say? The Government hates losing; it makes ’em look like petty tyrants with a boot on the neck of the “little people”. To quote J.R.R. Tolkien in the epic conclusion to The Lord of the Rings,

“…it’s these men, Sam. The Chief’s men. If any of us little people stands up for our rights, they drag us off to the Lock-holes.”

~Shirrif Robin Smallburrow (The Return of the King)

Or…

“To crooked eyes, truth may wear a wry face”

~Gandalf the White (The Two Towers)

Yes. I am THAT nerd, the one who has read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit so compulsively, that I have quotes from the books memorized. But the reason I had THESE specific quotes memorized, is because they were directly relevant to my case. So much so, that I wrote them on the front cover of my legal paperwork. The Government was certainly looking at us and our behaviors on January 6th through “crooked eyes” and when our Case in Chief showed their lies for what they were, truth certainly wore a “wry face”. And they were most CERTAINLY hellbent on “dragging us off to the Lockholes”. If I recall correctly, the Government wanted their Rebuttal Case to last WEEKS. It would have dragged our trial out to last a full 3 months. Judge Mehta wasn’t having it. I think he had seen enough to realize that little else could be gleaned. He told the Government to wrap it up. Thanksgiving was coming, and he wanted the trial to END. The Government decided to just nibble away at me and Tom Caldwell’s testimony. Tom’s was low hanging fruit, frankly I think it was a bad idea to put him on the stand. His testimony was a total s***show. But then they turned their sights on MY testimony in ways I do NOT appreciate.

Firstly, they attacked the statute that says that “If you make less than X amount per year, that you don’t need to file taxes”. It’s right there in the tax code, written in plain English where anybody can understand it. So, the Government went and pulled a different phrase from an unrelated code, “cropped it” so that the context was missing, and then tried to impeach MY ATTORNEY’S credibility based on yet another lie. It pissed him off. Then they attacked my statement when I said “…look at my face before I walked in that hallway. I was laughing, smiling and having a good time. Then look at my face when I came back out. I wasn’t smiling AT ALL! …Do you think that was fun for me?” The Government would use this line to extend (enhance) my prison sentence. They stated that this was a lie, and it would add YEARS to my prison sentence. No s***. But more on that later. The FBI Special Agent (I think Palian or Eller) was testifying that I had lied, that I was INDEED having fun. Why? ***dramatic reveal*** They showed the footage of me in the Rotunda a little while after I left the Hallway. It showed me following a man, and then taking a hit off his joint. Yes, I smoked a little weed inside the Capitol. Sorry folks… I’m not a saint.

The Government impeached my testimony based on this. “AHA! Ms. Watkins WAS indeed having fun!”. But that’s not what my testimony stated. What I said, was “Do you think [the hallway] was fun for me?” Not… “I never smoked weed after”. I mean fer chrissakes! I swear; lying, obfuscating, and misleading the Jury is practically a mission statement with these people. Then, the FBI agent was asked by Jeffery Nestler “…and during her debriefing, did Ms. Watkins tell you that she had smoked a marijuana cigarette?” … “Yes, that is correct”… So yeah, I TOLD the FBI/Prosecutor that I smoked weed. I wasn’t hiding it. Any my testimony said “…look at my face before I went in that hallway. I was laughing, smiling and having a good time. Then look at my face when I came back out. I wasn’t smiling at all.” It was commentary on the events of the Hallway. And no. It absolutely WAS NOT fun. It was TERRIFYING actually, unexpectedly getting crushed with a broken arm and ribs; unable to breathe. I was PANICKED. It was NOT fun. But they said this was a lie, because 15 minutes later, I smoked a joint. You probably would too, if you had just survived that. I’m just sayin’. The Government wrapped up their Rebuttal, it was a lot shorter than I am sure they wanted. But Judge Mehta wasn’t letting this trial drag on any longer. I was grateful, I was just ready for it to end myself. Once the Thanksgiving break ended, and the trial resumed. The “Closing Arguments” would be read. It would be the worst Thanksgiving of my life. I was facing a Life Sentence, which hung over my head like the blade of a guillotine.