Barrett delivers 1st majority opinion for Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered her first Supreme Court majority opinion Thursday, ruling against an environmental group that had sought access to government records.
President Donald Trump’s third nominee wrote for a 7-2 court that certain draft documents do not have to be disclosed under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
The case was the first one Barrett heard after joining the court in late October, and it took four months for the 11page opinion to be released. Two liberal justices, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, dissented.
It is something of a tradition for new justices to be assigned a case in which the court is unanimous for their first opinion, but it doesn’t always happen.
Both of Trump’s other nominees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, wrote unanimous first opinions.
A group of five Arizona Army National Guard citizen-soldiers was honored in a send-off ceremony Friday afternoon in Phoenix ahead of their deployment to the Middle East.
Friends, family, civilians, airmen and other soldiers attended the ceremony to support the Arizona C-12 Fixed Wing Guard members, who are pilots, at the Papago Park Military Reservation as they prepare to leave for about a year.
The smaller group is the first of two rotations of the detachment to deploy for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom, an overseas military operation.
Friday’s deployment ceremony is also the second of at least two from the Arizona Army National Guard this year. On Feb. 13, a group of about 40 Arizona National Guard soldiers was honored in a ceremony at the Military Reservation before their deployment.
Guardsman proud to deploy a second time
On Friday, Valerie Sepp sat with her 7-week old baby, Colton, and watched as her husband, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tyler Sepp stood in formation during the official ceremony.
“I’m very proud of him,” Valerie Sepp said as she held back tears.
“He works very hard at what he does to make sure that not only our family but everyone has what they need, so it’s joy, it’s nerves, it’s a little bit of everything. But the overall feeling is good.”
This is Tyler Sepp’s second deployment in his 11 years of service, he said. Though it’s difficult to leave his wife, who is also a Guardsman, and baby, Sepp said he is proud to serve.
“It’s a big honor, that’s what it means. Just to put on this uniform, every time I do I feel proud,” he said as he cradled his newborn son.
“It’s just been something I’ve always wanted to do.”
During the ceremony, an Arizona state flag was presented to Chief Warrant Officer 4 Angela Duff, commander for Arizona’s C-12 Fixed Wing detachment.
“We have trained and spent countless hours in preparation for this very moment,” she said during the ceremony. “Our combined efforts and professionalism
will enable us to work toward mission success.”
Arizona adjutant general recognizes deployments
Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire, whose retirement was announced Friday, said the small group of Guard soldiers will be operating C-12s in the “central command area of responsibility” over the next year.
McGuire, Arizona’s adjutant general, said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of focus for the Arizona National Guard has been on COVID-19, wildfires and civil unrest, but in the meantime, almost 1,000 soldiers and Airmen have been involved in overseas deployments over the past year.
“It’s really important for our fellow citizens to remember how critical the citizen-soldiers are to the United States Army and Air Force,” he said.
All Arizona Guardsmen train in the Valley, are Arizona citizens and all work other jobs, McGuire said, adding that this unit has been deployed twice since he’s been acting general.
“The sacrifices these young men and women have made, continuously, especially since we operationalized the Guard after 9/11 is incredible,” he said.
Support ‘crucial’ for Arizona Guardsmen and their mission
Staff Sgt. Michelle Young, flight operations noncommissioned officer, said she already said goodbye to her 9-yearold daughter before today’s ceremony.
“I have her full support, so she’s just excited, for her, to get it over with and have us reunited again,” Young said.
Young said she will be in charge of flight planning and flight tracking.
This is also Young’s second deployment, but her first with the C-12 Fixed Wing detachment, she said.
The C-12 Fixed Wing Detachment is the only fixed-wing asset for the Army National Guard in Arizona, according to Young.
Young’s best friend Jazmin Arteaga said she flew to Arizona from Las Vegas to support her friend in today’s ceremony.
“It was emotional but a very proud moment for me to watch her and see how much she’s grown and I know that she’s going to do great,” Arteaga said. “I know she has what it takes to do everything she needs to do to come back.”
Arteaga said she and Young talk every day and that supporting Guard members and their mission is important and “crucial.”
Prior to the ceremony, the Guard soldiers went through a premobilization process, which includes training, before they’re deployed overseas, a spokesperson said.
The Sepps said they were glad they knew about the deployment in advance so they had extra time to prepare for Tyler’s departure.
“I’m just really blessed with a strong and independent loving woman. She’s going to take care of things while I’m gone,” Tyler said.
Though they knew about the deployment for a little while, not having her husband around “still will be tough,” Valerie said, “I’ll miss him a ton.”
A federal hearing Friday intended to decide whether to release a Phoenix man who took part in the raid on the U.S. Capitol wearing a fur hat with horns instead detoured into questions about how he gave a network TV interview from jail.
Judge Royce Lamberth heard arguments about whether Jake Angeli, 33, should be freed from custody while awaiting federal trial on six charges. He did not immediately rule Friday, saying he needed to review more evidence.
But, toward the end of the hearing, Lamberth pointedly asked the attorney for Angeli, Albert Watkins, whether he went behind his back to conduct the interview with CBS News. Under federal regulations, the judge pointed out, Lamberth would have had to approve the interview.
Instead, Lamberth said, he was notified about the interview about noon on Thursday, the day it was posted as part of the premiere episode of “60 Minutes+,” an online-only offshoot of the iconic newsmagazine.
“Can you tell me how that came about?” Lamberth asked Watkins. “The circumstance seems to be you did it as subterfuge.”
Watkins told the judge the interview was conducted in his office and he didn’t think he needed permission to record from the video system set up in his office.
The judge said he was told that the jail where Angeli is being held was only told the meeting was between a client and his attorney.
Watkins disputed that. “I didn’t represent that to them,” he said, adding that he also “didn’t tell them it was an interview with ‘60 Minutes.’”
The judge replied: “I’m sure you didn’t.” When The Republic sought an interview with Angeli, both the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the sheriff ’s office that runs the Alexandria, Virginia, jail, replied that written permission needed to be given by every party in the case including the attorneys and the judge. Watkins denied the Republic’s interview request, ending the process.
A press representative for CBS News returned a request for comment with a transcript of the script for the segment.
In the segment, the correspondent tells viewers that Watkins “invited us to join a video call with his client to ask some questions.”
The interview begins with Watkins asking Angeli if he was alone in the room at the Alexandria, Virginia, jail with the door shut. Watkins then introduces the correspondent, who leans into view.
That Angeli’s interview aired on the premiere episode of “60 Minutes+,” an offshoot of the legendary televised newsmagazine exclusive to the newly created Paramount+ streaming service, indicates how much he has become one of the faces of the Jan. 6 raid.
Angeli’s unique attire — shirtless, showing off elaborate tattoos, face painted red, white and blue, and fur bonnet topped with horns — made photos of him among the most iconic images of that day.
Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in the hours-long occupation of the U.S. Capitol. It delayed a joint session of Congress, presided over by then-Vice President Mike Pence, that was set to certify the states’ electoral votes confirming President Joe Biden’s win and then-President Donald Trump’s defeat.
Angeli briefly took the dais of the Senate, sitting at the seat where Pence had been minutes before. Angeli, according to a video shot by a journalist working for the New Yorker magazine, called Pence a “traitor” and left a note on his desk. The note read: “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming!”
Angeli was arrested after his return to Phoenix, when he showed up at an FBI office for what he thought was a continuation of a phone interview he conducted with agents the day after the raid on the Capitol. Angeli had been made aware authorities had circulated his photo seeking to find out who he was.
Angeli, according to court filings, has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest. His attorney said it was because of COVID-19 concerns. Angeli, per his avowed religious beliefs, has said he would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine.
Angeli was charged with six crimes, including two felonies, that could net him more than 20 years in prison. Among the charges are that he entered the U.S. Capitol with the corrupt intent of disrupting the proceedings.
He was charged under his legal name, Jacob Chansley. He used the Angeli name to identify himself as he became a fixture at protests and rallies around the Phoenix metro area over the past two years.
A judge in Phoenix had ruled that Angeli should remain in custody. Among the arguments made was that he had intended to return to D.C. for Biden’s inauguration.
Watkins, on Friday, said that with Biden in office, and with Angeli’s public apologies, including on “60 Minutes+,” there was no need to hold him.
Watkins said Angeli was one of thousands of Trump supporters who are now disillusioned. He said that holding Angeli in custody would further the divisive climate in the United States, rather than help heal it.
Watkins said Angeli was among thousands of people who heard Trump speak at the Ellipse park ahead of the raid on the U.S. Capitol.
“These are our neighbors. They are our friends. They are our relatives. They’re our colleagues. They’re our fellow Americans,” Watkins said. “There are too many of them to hold them in disdain.”
Watkins also disputed arguments from prosecutors that Angeli was among the ringleaders of the raid.
“My client was wearing horns and fur,” Watkins said. “He had tattoos around his nipples. He wasn’t leading anybody anywhere. He was a follower.”
Watkins said Angeli was simply following Trump’s orders on Jan. 6 and that he had no plans for violence.
“If President Trump had told him to walk to the Washington Monument, stand on his head and say a prayer,” Watkins said, “my client would have walked to the Washington Monument, stood on his head and said a prayer.”
Watkins said that by the time Angeli was at the Capitol, police were essentially waving them inside. He said a video showed an officer telling Trump supporters: “The building is yours.”
The judge disputed that, saying he thought it was a protester saying that, not an officer.
Lamberth also said he recalled seeing a photo on the front page of the Washington Post showing a man with a fur hat and horns walking through the door of the U.S. Capitol while people, feet away from him, were climbing through a broken window.
“If others had shoved police aside,” Lamberth said, “I understand the door might be open.”
The judge allowed that he couldn’t be sure the man pictured was Angeli. “Maybe it was someone else,” he said.
Watkins assured him the photo likely was of Angeli. “I can imagine there were not many individuals who were wearing horns, fur, and tattoos on their torso,” he said.
The image mentioned appeared on the front page of the Feb. 11 edition of the Washington Post. It was from security footage from cameras inside the U.S. Capitol and was among evidence used in Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall said that in the “60 Minutes+” interview, Angeli said he still held some of the same beliefs that caused him to rush into the U.S. Capitol.
“Your honor has no reason to believe, based on the evidence in this case, that if he were released, he would not continue to do so,” Paschall said.
Although it wasn’t specifically referenced in the hearing, Angeli was an adherent of the QAnon conspiracy theory that imagined Trump leading an investigation into a long-standing global cabal of celebrities and politicians who ran the world and committed unspeakable crimes against children.
Angeli, as he appeared at protests in Phoenix, held up an intentionally weathered sign that read: Q Sent Me.
Paschall said that it should have been obvious to Angeli that he was taking part in a violent insurrection. She said the government had obtained video of Angeli standing on scaffolding that was set up for the Biden inauguration. Below him, she said, he could see a police line squaring off with a mob.
“There is no way the defendant could believe that it was OK,” Paschall said. “That he could continue to walk up those steps.”