In court on Friday, before the case was handed over to the jury, Assistant US Attorney Michael Gordon pored over Barnett’s Jan. 6 account and pierced holes in his testimony, visibly angering Barnett.
Barnett, who had said a day earlier that he would apologize to Pelosi, D-Calif., if he were in court, admitted during cross-examination that when a police officer told him he had to get out of his office, he responded, «You have to renounce communism.»
Barnett also admitted to telling an official on Capitol Hill: “We are in a war. You have to choose a side. Don’t be on the wrong side or you’re going to get hurt.»
Defending his actions, Barnett said he did not believe he had broken the law on January 6.
«I made some serious mistakes and I’m sorry, but I don’t think I broke the law,» Barnett said Friday. «I feel like a f—— idiot.»
Two years after the riots, the FBI and Justice Department investigation into the attack on the Capitol has yielded 900 arrests and nearly 500 guilty pleas.
dareh gregorian contributed.