A former federal prosecutor who oversaw more than 200 cases related to protests against former President Trump’s 2017 inauguration has been accused of withholding evidence, according to a lawyer disciplinary complaint.
Former D.C. District Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens allegedly attempted to edit or hide video evidence used against defendants that otherwise could have been used to free them from criminal charges, the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) argued .
Muyskens’ cases involved accusations of rioting, conspiracy and destruction of property during Trump’s 2017 inauguration, primarily targeting the protest group DisruptJ20. A total of 230 people were arrested as part of the protests.
Disciplinary lawyer Hamilton Fox claims Muyskens relied on video evidence provided by Project Veritas, a conservative activist group famous for undercover videos, to support the prosecutions, knowing the video was deceptively edited.
Fox also claims that Muyskens attempted to hide from the court that Project Veritas was the source of the video evidence by removing references to the group and editing some clips, which he says deprived the defendants of a full legal defense.
Muyskens knew that “editing the original videos could harm the prosecution and help the defense,” the complaint said. Fox also claimed that Muyskens’ “statements and omissions to the government…were false and misleading.”
Muyskens’ charges against more than 100 defendants were eventually dropped after some of the early trials ended in acquittals.
Fox also claims that Muyskens made false allegations during investigations into the alleged misconduct, both to the disciplinary office and the Department of Justice.
A D.C. Superior Court judge concluded in November 2018 that Muyskens intentionally withheld evidence but did not act maliciously, according to the disciplinary office.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
