Hillary Clinton’s former lawyer who helped concoct the Trump-Russia-collusion hoax of 2016 said the quiet part out loud after Nikki Haley won the Washington, D.C., Republican presidential primary over the weekend.
“Tough jury pool,” Marc Elias posted on X on Sunday after Haley defeated former President Donald Trump by a vote margin of 1,274 to 676.
His inference was clear: Trump would face a hostile jury filled with Democrats if he is forced to stand trial for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
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But Elias’ comment also suggested that Trump will surely never get a fair trial in Washington, which is why Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called on Congress to pass her bill that would move trials of J6 defendants out of heavily Democratic Washington — where Joe Biden received 93% of the vote in 2020.
“This is why the Matthew Perna Act is so important for President Trump and J6 defendants to move trials out of DC in order to receive a fair trial,” the Georgia Republican posted on X on Monday. “You can’t find a jury of your peers in DC if you are a Republican, and Nikki Haley no longer counts!”
Greene was referring to the Matthew Lawrence Perna Act of 2024, which she introduced on Friday.
The bill is named after Perna, who, as Greene’s office stated in a press release, was “a victim of the cruel and unusual treatment inflicted by Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice, tragically leading to his untimely death.”
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Perna, 37, committed suicide while awaiting sentencing for his part in the J6 riot.
According to NBC News, Perna claimed he was swept into the Capitol along with the crowd and spent 20 minutes inside, spending some of that time chanting “USA! USA!” and recording the mayhem. He also claimed that Antifa radicals were primarily to blame for breaking the doors and windows at the Capitol.
In December 2021, the Justice Department announced that Perna had pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of Congress, a felony, and three related misdemeanor charges.
He faced 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
His lawyer told NBC that Perna was “psychologically frail and not able to deal with the stress of the situation.”
Greene’s office said her bill is “a critical step in ensuring that the political persecution witnessed in the aftermath of January 6th is curtailed by the law.”
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“Matthew Perna’s tragic death serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of unchecked government brutality. His life could have been spared if not for the relentless persecution by the Biden regime,” her office added.
According to the release, Greene’s bill would:
- Prohibit detention for nonviolent political protesters and allow for civil action against any violations.
- Ensure fair and speedy trials for defendants while providing remedies against “malicious over-prosecution.”
- Restrict the government’s ability to use national defense or foreign policy justifications to deny citizens knowledge of government surveillance or investigation.
- Mandate that judges impose sentences consistent with applicable guidelines for defendants involved in covered political protest offenses.
- And finally, transfer the venue of criminal trials for nonviolent political protesters out of Washington, D.C.
“Having personally witnessed the abuses in the DC jail, where patriotic Americans are left to suffer by the very government meant to protect them, it is evident that reform is urgently needed,” Greene said in a statement last week.
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