‘QAnon Shaman’ Wants to Testify at Trump Impeachment Trial Because ‘He was Betrayed’ by the Former President
Jacob Chansley, who calls himself the “QAnon Shaman” and was a prominent figure of the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol, now “regrets” being “duped” by former President Donald Trump, and offered to testify at his upcoming impeachment trial.
Chansley’s lawyer Albert Watkins announced the offer last week, explaining that it is important for senators to hear from someone who was incited and then “betrayed” by Trump.
Chansley, a “self-proclaimed leader” of QAnon, became an instant symbol for the insurrection, as he stormed the Capitol without a shirt on and while sporting a furry viking helmet and red, white, and blue paint.
Now, the previous Trump loyalist, who was “horrendously smitten” by the former president, feels as though Trump “duped” and “betrayed” him and fellow “patriots” by inciting the riot and then failing to grant them pardons.
If Chansley faces jail time for all of the crimes he has been charged with for his involvement in the siege, he could face up to twenty years in prison.
According to court records, Chansley told investigators he came to the Capitol “at the request of the president that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6,” also describing Mike Pence as a “child-trafficking traitor.”
“He regrets very very much having, not just been duped by president, but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position of making decisions he should not have made,” Watkins said of his client during a recent interview.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) criticized the request, writing in a Twitter post that he could not think of a better way to turn the trial into a “complete circus.”
“I cannot think of a better way to turn the upcoming impeachment trial into a complete circus than to call the QAnon Shaman as a witness on anything,” the senator said on Twitter, adding, “If we open the witness door in the Senate there will be lots of witnesses requested on a variety of topics. And the trial will go for months, not days.”
The House impeached President Trump without a witness.
If we open the witness door in the Senate there will be lots of witnesses requested on a variety of topics. And the trial will go for months, not days.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 29, 2021
Watch above, via NBC.
