Republic file photo Jon Schaffer is facing six federal crimes for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia has said it is continuing its efforts to coordinate the exchange of evidence and depositions in two civil lawsuits seeking to hold several far-right extremists financially liable for injuries sustained by police during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack — a move that could result in evidence collected against a former Columbus resident being used in a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.
The District of Columbia recently told a federal judge presiding over a civil lawsuit against former Columbus resident Jon Schaffer and a few dozen other defendants that it is continuing to “coordinate discovery, including depositions” with attorneys involved in a separate civil lawsuit filed against Trump, two of his campaign committees and several individuals who participated in the attack.
“The District continues to coordinate discovery, including depositions, with the plaintiffs in Smith v. Trump,” according to a status report filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. “…The District is hopeful that agreement will be reached and the coordination order entered within the coming days so that depositions may proceed.”
Schaffer, for his part, was served with a notice of deposition on March 20, according to the status report. He is also one of three defendants who have “produced a handful of documents” for the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 14, 2021, seeks to hold Schaffer and 36 others civilly liable for, among other things, the medical expenses of D.C. police officers who were injured when defending the U.S. Capitol from a violent mob of pro-Trump rioters who attempted to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to a copy of the complaint.
The other lawsuit, filed Aug. 26, 2021, in the same court by eight Capitol police officers, alleges that Trump “employed, planned for and encouraged the use of force, intimidation and threats to try to stop the Congressional count of electoral votes on Jan. 6,” according to a copy of an amended complaint.
The lawsuit further alleges that members of the extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — which Schaffer has acknowledged being a founding member of — responded to Trump’s false claims of election fraud and efforts to incite outrage among his supporters and “planned and coordinated among themselves to come to Washington, D.C., and violently attack the United States Capitol and the law enforcement officers defending it.”
“While the attack was ongoing, Trump and his co-conspirators contacted members of Congress, not to offer support or protection, but to pressure them to delay further and to stop the congressional count,” the complaint states. “…Trump later confirmed that he and the attackers shared the same goal, stating, ‘Personally, what I wanted is what they wanted.’”
Prior court filings have indicated that the discussions between the attorneys in both lawsuits have included, among other things, “coordinating depositions” and “sharing documents produced in each case,” raising the possibility that evidence collected against Schaffer, including a deposition, could be provided to attorneys in the lawsuit against Trump as part of the discovery process.
Discovery is the formal process in which the parties of a lawsuit exchange information about witnesses and evidence that they plan to present at trial.
One of the most common methods of discovery involve depositions, which are out-of-court statements given under oath by individuals who are involved in a case. Depositions also can be used to obtain the testimony of witnesses who cannot appear during the trial.
Several of the defendants in the lawsuit against Schaffer also are defendants in the lawsuit that names Trump as a defendant. The two lawsuits are considered to be related because they involve common issues of fact and arise from the same event, according to court records.
If evidence involving Schaffer ends up being used in other lawsuits, it would not be the first time that Schaffer has played a role in legal proceedings related to the Jan. 6 attack, beyond the criminal case against him.
Schaffer’s attorney in a criminal case against him has stated in court filings that the Oath Keeper’s cooperation with federal authorities has involved “the largest conspiracy arising out of the (Jan. 6 insurrection) that has been indicted to date.”
In October 2022, Schaffer’s attorneys included language in a court filing about Schaffer allegedly cooperating with federal authorities investigating Thomas Caldwell, an Oath Keeper who was found guilty by a jury the following month on charges of seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack.
Caldwell is named as a defendant in the lawsuit involving Trump.
Schaffer, who formerly was a musician in the heavy metal band Iced Earth, pleaded guilty in April 2021 to, among other things, breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, armed with bear repellent and obstructing an official proceeding.
However, federal prosecutors are currently sorting out how a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that limited the scope of the obstruction charge Schaffer pleaded guilty to will impact his criminal case.
Schaffer was one of the first six insurrectionists to push through the damaged doors of the Capitol and was photographed inside wearing a hat that said, “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member,” with bear spray in his hand, according to the lawsuit.
As part of his guilty plea in his criminal case, Schaffer acknowledged that he is “a founding, lifetime member of the Oath Keepers” and believes that “the federal government has been ‘co-opted’ by a cabal of elites actively trying to strip American citizens of their rights.”
Both civil lawsuits, as well as the criminal case against Schaffer, were pending in federal court as of Tuesday morning. A federal judge has scheduled a status conference in the civil lawsuit against Schaffer for Oct. 29.
