(NewsHill.org)- Court documents reveal that on January 7, the day after the defense discovered that a witness subpoenaed had been an informant for the FBI, defendant Zachary Rehl asked the Justice Department (DOJ) to produce any DOJ reporting data concerning the defense team.
An indictment accuses Rehl, a former local Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio, a former national chairman, and members Ethan, Joseph Biggs, and Dominic Pezzola of plotting “to obstruct the legal transfer of presidential authority by force.”
Carmen Hernandez, Rhel’s lawyer, filed a motion on Wednesday demanding disclosure of all DOJ reports, including recordings and memos regarding “any reporting on and recordings of the defense team,” after the government said that someone set to take the stand in the trial as a witness for the defense had served as a confidential human source from April 2021 to January 2023.
While the source disclosed to the FBI on or around January 9 that she had been subpoenaed to appear in the matter and had previously participated in a deposition, the DOJ disputed any such reports, recordings, or notes in its response filing on Thursday. As Tarrio’s defense declared on Wednesday that they planned to draw evidence relating to the reporting and invite her to testify, the DOJ claimed the source’s FBI reporting became relevant to the case.
Rehl has been at the center of many of the Proud Boys’ more controversial moments as the leader of the Philadelphia branch of the organization since at least 2018. He is a Marine veteran and the son and grandson of Philadelphia police officers.
Shortly after the racial justice demonstrations of 2020, Rehl was seen sipping beer and yelling with others in the parking lot who openly carried a Proud Boys banner at a “Support the Blue” gathering outside the Fraternal Order of Police lodge in Northeast Philadelphia.
He helped plan the “We the People” march in favor of Trump in front of Independence Hall in 2018, which attracted a small audience but sparked violent confrontations with a more considerable number of counter-protesters.
Trump said on the conservative social media site Parler when it seemed like he might lose the 2020 presidential election, “Hopefully, the firing squads are for the traitors who are attempting to steal the election from the American people.”
Prosecutors claim that the Proud Boys leadership chose Trump to coordinate the group’s presence in Washington on January 6 when he urged his followers to a demonstration to protest Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s win.
After being arrested at his Port Richmond home in March 2021, he has been held in federal detention ever since.
