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A man accused of planting two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., the night before the January 6 riot has pleaded not guilty. His attorney tells NPR he voted for President Trump twice and that Trump's blanket pardon for the January 6 defendants should apply to him too. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: The FBI arrested Brian Cole Jr. at his home in suburban Virginia in early December after a nearly five-year investigation. Cole has been indicted on two explosives charges, and he's been ordered to remain in custody pending trial. John Shoreman is one of Cole's attorneys. He says the government has portrayed Cole as a crazed bomb-making lunatic. Shoreman says that's not Cole at all.
JOHN SHOREMAN: Couldn't be further from the truth. That's not the individual that they've arrested. He's a mild-mannered man whose life is run by strict routine.
LUCAS: Cole is 30 years old. He lived with his mother in Virginia and worked at the family's bail bond business. Shoreman says Cole has been diagnosed with autism as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Prosecutors say Cole built, transported and planted two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Party headquarters on the night of January 5, 2021. The devices, which did not explode, were discovered the following day, January 6, just as a mob of Trump supporters was descending on the U.S. Capitol nearby. Ultimately, financial records and cell phone data helped lead investigators to Cole. Prosecutors say Cole voluntarily spoke to the FBI after his arrest and confessed. Shoreman says that's something the defense plans to address as the case moves forward.
SHOREMAN: Whether or not that post-arrest interview constitutes a confession - a lawful confession - is something that we will need to visit at a later stage in this case.
LUCAS: Shoreman has reviewed the video and transcript of Cole's post-arrest interview. He notes that people diagnosed with autism and OCD, such as Cole, are often highly intelligent but vulnerable. And he says the defense plans to explore the possibility that Cole was coerced in that interview.
SHOREMAN: We'll have to see how the FBI behaviorists who interviewed him - whether they recognize that vulnerability, whether they took advantage of that vulnerability and whether, as a matter of law, that rises to the level of coercion.
LUCAS: More broadly, Shoreman says Cole's statements in the interview are full of contradictions. He also argues that prosecutors have parsed it and put forward the bits they like and ignored the bits they don't.
SHOREMAN: It's clear that Brian Jr. voted for Trump on two occasions - 2016 and 2020 - and that he was upset by the results of the election in 2020. Felt that, in his words, 50% of the voting electorate was being ignored.
LUCAS: Shoreman also says he believes that President Trump's sweeping pardon for every person charged or convicted of offenses related to the events that occurred at or near the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, applies to Cole as well.
SHOREMAN: Any charges relating to the activities of January 6 are subject to pardon. Now, my client's been charged with activities that related to January 6. Therefore, those charges should be pardoned.
LUCAS: Prosecutors say Cole denied to investigators that his actions were directed at Congress or related to the election certification on January 6. In Shoreman's view, it's impossible to separate Cole's alleged actions from what transpired at the U.S. Capitol. Ultimately, Shoreman says, the court is going to have to determine the scope of Trump's pardon and whether it applies in this case.
Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
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