Proud Boys leaders ask DOJ to help subpoena Trump

An attorney for one of the leading members of the right-wing Proud Boys group said on Thursday that they need assistance from the Justice Department to subpoena former President Trump in their ongoing seditious conspiracy trial, according to multiple reports.

Norm Pattis, the attorney for Proud Boys member Joseph Biggs, said in court on Thursday that they need the government’s assistance to serve the subpoena due to the presence of Secret Service, according to the Washington Post.

“At all times relevant, Trump was president of the United States, and it’s the government’s obligation to produce him,” Pattis said, the Post reported.

“Donald Trump called on patriots to stop the steal,” he added, according to NBC News. “We’re calling on Donald Trump to take the stand.”

Biggs is one of five Proud Boys on trial for seditious conspiracy related to their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Attorneys for the five defendants have previously argued that Trump bears responsibility for the Jan. 6 riot, pointing to several of the former president’s public statements leading up to and during the incident.

“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said at a September 2020 debate, when asked to condemn white supremacist and militia groups.

Biggs and his fellow Proud Boys members are the third group to stand trial for seditious conspiracy over the Jan. 6 riot, after several members of the right-wing Oath Keepers group were found guilty of the charge in November and January.