An armed Secret Service agent reportedly turned away a process server who was trying to serve former President Donald Trump with a subpoena on behalf of a Capitol riot defendant.
Politico reporter Kyle Cheney shared a court document on social media which provides details of the encounter.
“A Jan. 6 defendant attempting to subpoena Donald Trump for a deposition had his process server turned away at Mar-a-Lago by an armed person he believes to be a Secret Service agent,” Cheney tweeted.
The process server in the memorandum had expressed his “intention to subpoena [Trump] and several individuals associated with the Trump administration.”
“While attempting to lawfully serve” Trump, the process server was “turned away (by) an armed individual,” according to the filing.
They believed the individual to be a government employee, “specifically an agent of the United States Secret Service.”
The incident took place at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida late last week.
A Jan. 6 defendant attempting to subpoena Donald Trump for a deposition had his process server turned away at Mar-a-Lago by an armed person he believes to be a Secret Service agent pic.twitter.com/90Fe4J6b04
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 5, 2022
Secret Service Agent Turns Away Trump Subpoena
The defendant in the memoranda is only defined as a ‘Mr. Thompson.’
According to the Justice Department’s log, there are two individuals with the last name of Thompson. One has already been charged and sentenced.
Another defendant, Dustin Byron Thompson, had indicated through his lawyer a desire to subpoena President Trump last month.
In the hours after his arrest on numerous counts, Thompson was blaming Trump for inspiring him to take part in the riot at the Capitol.
Thompson’s lawyer claimed at the time of his arrest he and others “got brainwashed to the point they felt duty-bound to follow the encouragement of their commander-in-chief during a highly charged political rally immediately preceding the invasion.”
Trump’s words inspired Columbus man to join mob that breached Capitol, attorney says https://t.co/83aQIsulJk
— Columbus Dispatch (@DispatchAlerts) January 25, 2021
RELATED: January 6 Capitol Riot Defendant Found Not Guilty After Testifying Police Let Him Into The Building
One Defendant Found Not Guilty After Claiming Police Let Him Into Capitol
Reuters reported last February that several defendants in the January 6 riot cases have attempted to blame former President Trump for their actions that day.
“The boss of the country said, ‘People of the country, come on down, let people know what you think,’” one defense lawyer explained. “The logical thinking was, ‘He invited us down.’”
Another lawyer claimed the event was “inspired by the President of the United States.”
Donald Trump defended his Jan. 6, 2021 address to supporters before the riot at the U.S. Capital, and claims he would have marched with them but the Secret Service stopped him https://t.co/EDG3nvwAG5
— Bloomberg (@business) April 7, 2022
Rather than trying to depose the former President and being turned away by the Secret Service, another January 6 defendant has used a different defense.
Matthew Martin, a former government contractor from New Mexico, argued that he was let into the Capitol by police officers, an argument that was clearly successful.
A federal judge sided with Martin, suggesting the defendant “reasonably believed” that police officers were allowing the crowd in, and found him not guilty of each of the four misdemeanors he had been charged with.
A lot less messy than having your process server removed from the grounds of Mar-a-Lago by an armed Secret Service agent.
Trump has vociferously defended his speech on January 6th and even insisted he would have taken part in the march to the Capitol if not for Secret Service.
The former president told The Washington Post that the “Secret Service said I couldn’t go” or “I would have gone there in a minute.”
