Win McNamee/Getty Images
The lawyer for Jacob Chansley, more commonly known as the “QAnon Shaman,” made a bold offer in an interview when asked to respond to evidence that his client, charged with storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6, is a “leader” of the QAnon movement.
In an appearance on Law&Crime podcast Objections, hosted by Adam Klasfeld, lawyer Al Watkins was asked if Chansley would admit that the QAnon conspiracy theory — which holds that Democrats are part of a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles persecuting Donald Trump — is a lie.
“He was known, and prosecutors allege, that he was a leader of [QAnon],” Klasfeld added.
“I haven’t seen any prosecutorial allegations that my client was a leader of that,” Watkins said.
Klasfeld noted the allegation is contained within a government memo that describes Chansley as “a self-proclaimed leader of QAnon,” who is also viewed by other members as a leader of the group.
“Do me a huge favor and scan that and send it to
Watkins said that his client would “very easily” denounce the beliefs of QAnon, but Klasfeld noted that in a statement Chansley did not do so.
“I am deeply disappointed in former President Trump,” Chansley said in the statement. “He was not honorable. He let a lot of peaceful people down. I have to leave judging him up to other people.”
Watch a snippet above, and listen to the full podcast, via Law&Crime.