D.C

Accused Capitol riot pipe-bomber Brian Cole Jr. in federal court on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of planting two pipe bombs outside of respective political party headquarters in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 9 (UPI) — Brian Cole Jr. pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges accusing him of placing pipe bombs outside political party headquarters ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protest.

Cole entered his plea during an arraignment hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He faces charges of interstate transportation of explosives, malicious attempt to use explosives and related federal charges.

Cole, 30, allegedly placed a pipe bomb near the entrances of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the night of Jan. 5, 2021, but neither exploded.

Federal prosecutors said he admitted to placing the explosive devices and that he hoped they would explode and generate news coverage.

Cole said the 2020 election was stolen from voters and that he blamed both political parties because they are the ones in charge of the nation’s politics.

Prosecutors said Cole bought materials to make the bombs over several months ahead of the Capitol protest, and investigators used cellular tower data, credit card records and a license plate reader to identify him.

His attorney said Cole has been peaceful, was diagnosed with autism and the pipe bombs were incapable of exploding, CNN reported.

Cole is a resident of Woodbridge, Va., where he lives with other family members inside his mother’s house that is about 30 miles from the capital.

He was employed by a bail bond business and was arrested at his mother’s home on Dec. 4.

A federal grand jury indicted him on the charges for which he was arraigned on Friday.

He has another court hearing scheduled on Jan. 28 to determine if he should remain in detention or be allowed to post bail and be released from custody while the case is argued in court.

Jan. 2 (UPI) — A Washington, D.C., federal magistrate judge ruled Friday that a man who allegedly set pipe bombs outside of political party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021, must stay behind bars before his trial.

Brian Cole Jr., 30, faces charges of transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. The charges have a maximum sentence of 30 years.

He allegedly placed two bombs in front of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters, though the bombs never detonated. He was arrested Dec. 4 and hasn’t entered a plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones filed a request on Dec. 30 to keep Cole in jail while he awaits trial. Cole’s attorneys wanted him released into the custody of his grandmother.

Judge Matthew Sharbaugh wrote in his ruling filed on Friday: “Although home incarceration and a GPS monitor would provide some check against Mr. Cole’s ability to carry out any menacing or dangerous conduct in the community, the Court is simply not satisfied these conditions rise to the necessary level.

“This is particularly true based on the severity of the potential danger Mr. Cole is alleged to pose, given his alleged persistent acquisition and retention of so-called ‘bombmaking parts,’ and given his reported penchant and capacity to create explosive devices and deploy them in public settings.

“If the plan had succeeded, the results could have been devastating: creating a greater sense of terror on the eve of a high-security Congressional proceeding, causing serious property damage in the heart of Washington, D.C., grievously injuring DNC or RNC staff and other innocent bystanders, or worse,” Sharbaugh wrote.

Sharbaugh announced Dec. 30 that Cole was indicted on the two charges but that he has not yet accepted the indictment because the Justice Department’s move seeking federal charges from a local grand jury is part of an ongoing debate in the courts. That case is pending in the federal appeals court.

According to a court filing, Cole told investigators that he disliked both political parties and was “watching everything, just everything getting worse.”

He believed the allegation that the 2020 election was stolen.

“If people feel that their votes are like just being thrown away, then … at the very least someone should address it,” Cole said, according to the filing.

“According to the defendant, he was not really thinking about how people would react when the bombs detonated, although he hoped there would be news about it,” the filing said.

“The defendant stated that he had not tested the devices before planting them. He claimed that when he learned that the devices did not detonate, he was ‘pretty relieved,’ and asserted that he placed the devices at night because he did not want to kill people.

“The defendant denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,” the filing said.

Cole is from Woodbridge, Va., where he lives with his mother and other family members.

The case baffled law enforcement for almost five years. The pipe bombs were made of 1-inch galvanized pipes, 8 inches long with end caps, homemade black powder, wires, metal clips and a kitchen timer. The FBI has said the bombs were viable and could have hurt people nearby if they had detonated. The bombs sat for 15 hours before being discovered.

Jan. 1 (UPI) — President Donald Trump ended the lease for the National Links Trust, which manages Washington, D.C.-area public golf courses owned by the National Parks Service.

The Department of the Interior sent a letter Tuesday formally cutting ties with NLT, which has managed three golf courses on public land in the District since 2020 — Langston Golf Course, Rock Creek Park Golf and East Potomac Golf Links.

The letter said that NLT had failed to complete required capital improvements and to provide a plan to fix alleged defaults in the lease.

The goal of the lease was for the NLT to redesign and renovate the historic sites where the golf courses lie. It would use money from donors and the District’s government.

“The Trump administration prides itself on getting the job done for the American people and partnering with others who share that same goal,” the Interior Department told The Hill.

The NLT said it was “devastated” to get the notice and is “in fundamental disagreement with the administration’s characterization of NLT as being in default under the lease.”

“We have always had a productive and cooperative working relationship with the National Park Service and have worked hand in hand on all aspects of our golf course operations and development projects,” the organization said.

NLT will stay in place to keep the courses running, but all renovation projects will stop.

Michael McCartin, NLT co-founder, told the Washington Post that it opted to keep the courses open for the workers and golfers.

“Our mission is to provide affordable and accessible golf,” McCartin said, “and our obligation is to our employees and the community. These are important places, and without an alternative, we can’t let them sit, closed and unavailable to the community.”

The Washington Post reported that Trump has expressed interest in the East Potomac course, wanting to redesign it and potentially host the Ryder Cup. But those potential plans have worried residents who are concerned about access and affordability.

“The DNA of municipal courses is a bit different than those owned and operated privately and much different than country clubs,” Jay Karen, chief executive of the National Golf Course Owners Association, told The Post.

“Munis are all about supporting the widest-possible access to the game, while also preserving critical green spaces, for perpetuity. … There is a greater sense of history and pride in a community around their public parks that happen to be golf courses,” Karen said.

A source told The Hill last week that NLT had hired a lawyer and was considering litigation.

“This is not the update we wanted to send, and we worked tirelessly to try to avoid this outcome,” the NLT said Wednesday. “While this termination is a major setback, we remain stubbornly hopeful that a path forward can be found that preserves affordable and accessible public golf in the nation’s capital for generations to come.”

An arrested sign was on display during a press conference at the Department of Justice Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4. Brian Cole Jr. is scheduled for a detention hearing Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 30 (UPI) — Attorneys for Brian Cole Jr., the man accused of building and laying pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., at two political party headquarters, are arguing for his pre-trial release.

Cole, 30, has autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, his attorneys said in a Monday night filing. He is scheduled for a detention hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

The attorneys argued that “government-induced excitement” around Cole’s arrest is premature and potentially violates court rules.

“The question is whether there is a present danger — a contention the government never actually makes, and something belied by the past four years in which Mr. Cole has lived without incident,” Cole’s attorneys argued in their filing. “No device detonated, no person was injured, and no property was damaged.”

“Whatever risk the government posits is theoretical and backward-looking, belied by the past four years where Mr. Cole lived at home with his family without incident. All of this weighs heavily against an inference of current danger to the community at large,” his attorneys wrote.

Cole was arrested Dec. 4 and hasn’t entered a plea. He is accused of placing two pipe bombs — that never detonated — outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington.

He faces charges of transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. The charges have a maximum sentence of 30 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones filed a request Sunday to keep Cole in jail while he awaits trial.

Cole is from Woodbridge, Va., where he lives with his mother and other family members.

Dec. 23 (UPI) — The federal government is suing Washington, D.C., to ease its gun-ownership laws, which are the strictest in the nation.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed the suit Monday in federal court seeking to declare the laws unconstitutional and prevent the District from enforcing them. The laws ban most semiautomatic rifles and other firearms from being registered with the police department. This makes any possession of those guns illegal. AK-47s and AR-15s are among those that are illegal. Those owning those guns can face misdemeanor charges and fines.

The action “underscores our ironclad commitment to protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Washington, D.C.’s ban on some of America’s most popular firearms is an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment — living in our nation’s capital should not preclude law-abiding citizens from exercising their fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

The suit cites District of Columbia v. Heller, which was decided by the Supreme Court in 2008. Before Heller, the District made it illegal to carry unregistered firearms but it also banned the registration of handguns. The Heller decision said that people can have guns in their homes for self-defense.

After Heller, the District updated its gun laws and included a registry and training requirements. But it still makes assault rifles impossible to register.

The suit filed by the Justice Department argues the merit of the law.

“D.C.’s current semi-automatic firearms prohibition that bans many commonly used pistols, rifles or shotguns is based on little more than cosmetics, appearance, or the ability to attach accessories, and fails to take into account whether the prohibited weapon is ‘in common use today’ or that law-abiding citizens may use these weapons for lawful purposes protected by the Second Amendment. Therefore, the District’s restrictions lack legal basis,” the filing said.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday, reported by the Washington Post, that the District would “vigorously defend our right to make decisions that keep our city safe.”

“Gun violence destroys families, upends communities, and threatens our collective sense of safety. MPD has saved lives by taking illegal guns off our streets — efforts that have been praised by our federal partners,” Bowser said. “It is irresponsible to take any steps that would lead to more, and deadlier, guns in our communities, especially semi-automatic rifles like AR-15s.”

Lawyers from Everytown Law, a gun safety organization, said the city’s gun bans are legal.

“The legal consensus is clear: assault weapon bans are constitutional. Since the Supreme Court’s rulings in Bruen and Rahimi, federal courts have repeatedly affirmed that these laws are consistent with the Second Amendment,” Bill Taylor, deputy director of Second Amendment litigation at Everytown Law, said in a statement. “Assault weapons are designed for mass devastation, and we look forward to supporting D.C. as it defends this critical common-sense safety measure.”

District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told prosecutors in August not to enforce felony charges for the city’s ban on openly carrying rifles and shotguns in public or the city’s ban on magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.

Dec. 15 (UPI) — A judge in Connecticut on Monday ordered the disbarment of Hunter Biden after his convictions on federal gun and tax charges and then pardoned by his father, Joe Biden, as president.

In Waterbury, Judge Trial Referee Patrick Carroll III suspended him from practicing law in the state after finding he violated the rules of professional conduct for attorneys.

In April, Biden voluntarily surrendered his license to practice law in Washington, D.C.

The judge found he violated several ethical rules for lawyers, including engaging in conduct for “dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. Carroll also cited the Washington disbarment in his decision.

During the virtual hearing, Biden, 55, didn’t contest the decision and didn’t speak. He appeared with his lawyer, Ross Garber.

Biden graduated from Yale Law School and passed the bar one year later in 1997. But Biden apparently hadn’t practiced law in recent years with no cases in state or civil court.

A reciprocal discipline was imposed in the District of Columbia, where Biden lives and consented to disbarment. There were two other grievances filed by private individuals after Biden’s federal convictions on tax and gun charges last year.

Paul Dorsey, a private attorney who filed a grievance, objected to the proposed resolution because Biden does not admit to the criminal acts.

“It was very frustrating, very odd, and frankly, I don’t think the court should accept the proposed disposition as it is written because it doesn’t comply with the Practice Book. He has to admit to it, and he’s not doing that,” Dorsey said.

The proposed disposition does not include the admission of a crime because of Biden’s pardon by his father on Dec. 1, Leanne M. Larson, first assistant chief disciplinary counsel, said.

In Delaware federal court, he was found guilty of purchasing a gun in 2018 while allegedly lying on a federal form about not illegally using or being addicted to drugs. He was scheduled to be sentenced before the pardon, facing up to 25 years in prison. As a first-time offender, he could have stayed out of prison.

Biden also faced charges in California for not paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. He agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges hours before jury selection was scheduled to begin in September 2024.

After the pardon, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika closed the gun case, though she didn’t toss out the conviction.

The federal pardon covered the gun and tax offenses and any “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.”

“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden said in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

Biden said it was clear that his son was “treated differently” than other people who have faced similar circumstances, and that Hunter Biden was “singled out because he is my son.”

The younger Biden said in a statement that he has taken accountability and responsibility for his mistakes “during the darkest days of my addiction.”

“I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering,” he said.