{"id":82158,"date":"2021-09-02T12:29:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T16:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=82158"},"modified":"2021-09-02T12:30:54","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T16:30:54","slug":"lawyer-representing-17-jan-6-defendants-has-mysteriously-gone-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=82158","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer Representing 17 Jan. 6 Defendants Has Mysteriously Gone Missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawyer Representing 17 Jan. 6 Defendants Has Mysteriously Gone Missing: Court Filings<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By Jack Phillips
\nThe Epoch Times<\/p>\n

An attorney who is representing 17 accused Jan. 6 Capitol breach defendants has disappeared, possibly suffering from COVID-19, according to a court filing on Monday.<\/p>\n

Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips said in a court document (pdf)<\/a> that nearly 20 cases related to the Jan. 6 incident are not proceeding after John Pierce, the lawyer, went missing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Police release tear gas into a crowd during clashes at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Shannon Stapleton\/Reuters)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pierce, according to the court filing, is \u201creportedly ill with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and unresponsive.\u201d <\/strong>Pierce\u2019s law firm associate, Ryan Marshall\u2014who is not a licensed attorney\u2014has been appearing in Pierce\u2019s place at court hearings and proceedings. Marshall also was the one who revealed Pierce\u2019s alleged hospitalization and condition, said the filing.<\/p>\n

The lawyer, who generally posts on Twitter several times per day, has not posted since Aug. 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause Mr. Pierce is unavailable and Mr. Marshall cannot ethically or legally represent Mr. Pierce\u2019s clients,\u201d Phillips said, \u201cthe government is making the Court aware of Mr. Pierce\u2019s reported illness so that it can take any steps it believes necessary to ensure the defendant\u2019s rights are adequately protected while Mr. Pierce remains hospitalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

But later in the court filing, the U.S. attorney\u2019s office said it obtained\u00a0\u201cconflicting information about Mr. Pierce\u2019s health and whereabouts.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it was revealed publicly that Pierce was hospitalized with COVID-19, a report from NPR, citing unnamed sources, said that he may have been suffering from dehydration, exhaustion, and is believed to have symptoms related to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

And a colleague of Pierce, Brody Womack, told Business Insider<\/a> that Pierce \u201cappears to have been suffering from dehydration and exhaustion in relation to his tireless work on behalf of his clients,<\/strong> including the many defendants he represents in connection with the January 6, 2021 protest at the Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n

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