Joseph D. McBride

Last updated
Joseph D. McBride
Born (1978-06-30) June 30, 1978 (age 46)
Alma mater John Jay College of Criminal Justice (BA)
Yeshiva University (JD)
Employer(s)The McBride Law Firm, PLLC
Known forOperating the January 6th Legal Fund, representing Richard Barnett, representing the Tate brothers
Website The McBride Law Firm

Joseph Daniel McBride (born June 30, 1978) is an American criminal defense and civil rights lawyer. He founded The McBride Law Firm in 2019 and is widely known for his representation of those charged during the January 6 United States Capitol attack, including Richard Barnett. [1]

Contents

Raised in Brooklyn, McBride graduated from law school in 2014 and spent several years in Manhattan representing defendants as a legal aid attorney. Following the January 6 Capitol attack, he represented a number of those involved in the event, and appeared on behalf of U.S. House Select Committee witnesses. [2]

He has worked as an attorney and counselor at his New York City law firm since 2019. [3]

Early life and education

McBride was educated at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he graduated with a political science and history degree in 2011. He graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University with a J.D. in 2014. [3]

According to McBride, he was inspired to become a lawyer after his adopted brother, Anthony, was pressured into pleading guilty or facing 10 years imprisonment for a crime he claims his brother did not commit. [4]

Career

McBride founded The McBride Law Firm, PLLC, and has served as an attorney and counselor at the firm since 2019. [3] He also received the Avvo Client's Choice Award in 2019. [4]

January 6 clients: DOJ prosecutions

Richard Barnett

McBride became an advocate for those charged during the January 6 Capitol attack. He also operates the January 6th Legal Fund for the legal needs of his clients involved in the events of January 6. [5] McBride took Richard "Bigo" Barnett as his client, an Arkansas window installer who put his feet on a desk in the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on January 6, 2021. In April 2021, a judge released Barnett from pretrial detention, deeming him not dangerous enough to remain in jail; this followed a federal appeals court ruling in March that made it harder for the Department of Justice to keep those not accused of assault or planning an attack to stay imprisoned. [6] [7]

In March 2021, after an incident at a virtual hearing with U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper in which Barnett became frustrated because of his pretrial detention, McBride defended his client in a statement to NBC News : "Mr. Barnett's frustration stems from the fact that he is incarcerated pre-trial, despite lacking any criminal history...Normally, facts like these are more than enough for an individual to fight their case from the outside." [8]

Barnett was eventually found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to serve 54 months in prison. [9]

Ryan Nichols

McBride also represented January 6 defendant Ryan Nichols, who was released from pretrial detention by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan in November 2022 after 20 months of imprisonment. [10] McBride had spent months filing motions for Nichols' release from pretrial detention, and complained that officials at a correctional facility in Washington, D.C. had stolen a thumb drive containing attorney-client privileged information, a claim contested by Judge Hogan. [10] However, Hogan concluded that Nichols had issues with access to discovery, and that the facility holding him in Rappahannock, Virginia was not suited for the large amount of digital video evidence he had to review for his trial, and agreed to release him. [10] [11]

Nichols was eventually found guilty of all charges and sentenced to serve 63 months in prison. [12]

Christopher Quaglin

In March 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden claimed that McBride had misled the court during the trial of January 6 defendant Christopher Quaglin about the qualifications of another lawyer to whom he was transferring the case. [13] However, McFadden declined to discipline McBride, and only admonished him with a statement. [14] [15] In April 2022, Quaglin had filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and jail superintendent Ted Hull treated him with "malicious indifference." [16] [17] [18] As reported in Law & Crime that month, McBride noted that since Quaglin's arrest a year prior he had been transferred to half a dozen different facilities, and said: "The intensity and duration of his mistreatment grows worse with each transfer." [16]

Quaglin was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 144 months in prison. [19]

January 6 clients: Select Committee

McBride also appeared on behalf of January 6 select committee witnesses Alexander Bruesewitz and Ali Alexander, as reported by Politico in January 2023. [2]

Keith Raniere

"There is a system of laws and procedures set in place and if somebody's going to lose their trial, it's got to be a fair trial. They've got to lose on the facts, by the rules."

—Joseph D. McBride, 2021 [20]

McBride worked as a defense attorney on the legal team of NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere. [21] [22] [23] In 2021, before Raniere's appeal to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, McBride expressed concern with how the FBI was handling the case. [21] In a February 18, 2021 appearance on the Law & Crime Network, he said: "We have a lot of questions about the FBI's work in this case. People here were hurt on some level but the question...is about proving each element of each crime beyond a reasonable doubt. We don't think that the government did that in this case." [24] [25]

McBride also spoke to Channel 13 news in Tucson, Arizona about the case in February 2021, stating: "There is a system of laws and procedures set in place and if somebody's going to lose their trial, it's got to be a fair trial. They've got to lose on the facts, by the rules." [20]

Views

McBride was described by the Washington Examiner as a supporter of Donald Trump. [26] He has accused the FBI of discriminating against Catholics and compared defendants accused of crimes during the January 6 attack to Jesus. [27] From January 3 to 5, 2023, McBride undertook a three-day fast on behalf of the January 6 detainees. [28] Catholic Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò sent McBride a letter voicing support for the fast and stating: "I can only encourage and bless this commendable gesture of penance." [28]

McBride is pro-life and voiced strong support for the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June 2022. [29]

In May 2022, he spoke against prolonged solitary confinement on his Twitter account, stating that it "violates a prisoner's human rights every time it is used," and thanked U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert for opposing the punishment of January 6 detainees during pretrial confinement. [30]

McBride has appeared on Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News, among other outlets. [4] [ non-primary source needed ] He was featured on Part 3 of Tucker Carlson's Patriot Purge, a three-part series that concluded in November 2021. [4] [ non-primary source needed ] On March 9, 2023, McBride appeared with Donald Trump Jr. on an episode of Trump's online video series Triggered. [31] [ non-primary source needed ] While appearing on Tucker Carlson's program, McBride said that a man whose face was obscured by red paint at the January 6 attack was "clearly a law enforcement officer"; a HuffPost reporter later produced evidence showing the man to be fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. [32]

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References

  1. ↑ Levenson, Michael (2023-01-23). "Jury Convicts Man Who Posed With Boot on Desk in Pelosi's Office". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-01-24. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  2. 1 2 Cheney, Kyle; Wu, Nicholas (January 6, 2023). "Who repped who in the Jan. 6 probe: A look at the frequently used witness lawyers". Politico . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  3. 1 2 3 "Joseph Daniel McBride: Resume". Avvo . Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Our Team | THE MCBRIDE LAW FIRM, PLLC". McBride Law NYC. Archived from the original on 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  5. ↑ "January 6th Legal". McBride Law NYC. Archived from the original on 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  6. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn (April 28, 2021). "Man who put his feet on desk in Pelosi's office during Capitol riot to be released from jail pending trial | CNN Politics". CNN . Archived from the original on 2023-01-24. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  7. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn; Cohen, Marshall; Rabinowitz, Hannah; Budd, Malika (March 26, 2021). "Appeals court ruling paves way for release of alleged Capitol rioters with extremist ties, but at least one Oath Keeper will stay in jail | CNN Politics". CNN . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  8. ↑ Madani, Doha (March 4, 2021). "'Not fair!': Man who put feet on desk in Pelosi's office has outburst at hearing for Capitol riot". NBC News . Archived from the original on 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  9. ↑ Feuer, Alan; Montague, Zach (2023-05-24). "Jan. 6 Rioter Who Reclined in Pelosi's Office Given Sentence of More Than 4 Years". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  10. 1 2 3 Cheney, Kyle (November 10, 2022). "Jan. 6 defendant who posted violent diatribes granted pretrial release". Politico . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  11. ↑ Longview News Journal Staff (November 12, 2022). "Jan. 6 defendant Ryan Nichols granted pretrial release". CBS 19 . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  12. ↑ Texas Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach. United States Attorney Office, District of Columbia
  13. ↑ Fischer, Jordan (March 24, 2023). "Judge threatens to refer Jan. 6 defense attorneys for discipline over trial delays". wusa9.com. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  14. ↑ Richer, Alanna Durkin (April 21, 2023). "Judge scolds 1/6 lawyer, but won't seek disciplinary action". San Diego Union-Tribune . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  15. ↑ Richer, Alanna Durkin (April 21, 2023). "Judge scolds 1/6 lawyer, but won't seek disciplinary action". Federal News Network . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  16. 1 2 Sarnoff, Marisa (April 27, 2022). "New Jersey Man Charged with Assaulting Police Officer Caught in Doorway Crush on Jan. 6 Sues DOJ Over 'Mistreatment' in D.C. Jail". Law & Crime . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  17. ↑ "QUAGLIN v. GARLAND et al". Justia Dockets & Filings. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  18. ↑ "QUAGLIN v. GARLAND, 1:22-cv-01154 - CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  19. ↑ New Jersey Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Assaulting Law Enforcement and Other Charges During Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. US Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
  20. 1 2 Coleman, Mary (February 17, 2021). "NXIVM leader Keith Raniere serving 120-year sentence in Tucson as attorneys prepare for appeal". www.kold.com. Channel 13 KOLD. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  21. 1 2 Mercury, Anna (February 21, 2021). "Raniere Appellate Lawyers Speak Out About His Appeal". Frank Report. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  22. ↑ Gavin, Robert (February 15, 2021). "NXIVM leader Keith Raniere recovering from coronavirus". Albany Times Union . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  23. ↑ Bruno, Giuliana (February 17, 2021). "As NXIVM leader's lawyers plan appeal, victims continue healing process". ABC 10 . Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  24. ↑ Kalmbacher, Colin (February 19, 2021). "Here's What We Know About Convicted NXIVM Sex Cult Leader's Legal Strategy to Appeal 120-year Sentence". Law & Crime . Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  25. ↑ "L&C Daily: NXIVM Leader Keith Raniere Recovering From COVID 19 As His Attorneys Prepare for Appeal". Youtube.com. February 18, 2021. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  26. ↑ Poff, Jeremiah (2023-04-05). "Christians warn against 'absurd' comparison of Trump Holy Week arrest to Jesus". Washington Examiner . Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  27. ↑ Roche, Darragh (2023-02-18). "Attorney for series of Jan. 6 rioters compares their fight to Jesus". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  28. 1 2 Human Events Media Group (December 31, 2022). "EXCLUSIVE: Archbishop Vigano Calls for 3-Day Fast for Jan 6 Detainees". Human Events . Archived from the original on 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  29. ↑ "Joseph D. McBride, Esq". Twitter . June 25, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  30. ↑ "Joseph D. McBride, Esq". Twitter . May 23, 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  31. ↑ Narrative Shattered: What The Media Still Doesn't Want You to Know About Jan 6th | TRIGGERED Ep. 14, 2023-03-09, archived from the original on 2023-06-20, retrieved 2023-06-20
  32. ↑ Draper, Robert (2023-06-23). "Far Right Pushes a Through-the-Looking-Glass Narrative on Jan. 6". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-06-23. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
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