Jacob Chansley, the horned rioter who also goes by Jake Angeli, is willing to testify against Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, his lawyer told the Associated Press. Attorney Albert Watkins told the outlet that while Chansley was at one time “horrendously smitten” with Trump, he now feels let down by the former president after his Capitol rioting charges went un-pardoned.
“He felt like he was betrayed by the president,” Albert Watkins told AP.
Watkins said he hasn’t spoken to any senators about Chansley potentially testifying, but feels it’s important that Senate members hear from someone who was incited by Trump.
“If the pending Article of Impeachment has merit, the voice of Mr. Chansley and the voice of others in [his] position must be heard and believed,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
After Trump refused to pardon Chansley and others who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection, Watkins said Chansley regretted being “duped” by the former president.
“He regrets very, very much having not just been duped by the president, but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made,” he told KSDK.
The sentiment is a far cry, however, from Chasnely’s initial riot remarks. The Arizona man, who also hails himself as a “QAnon Shaman,” previously called the Capitol attack a “win.”
“The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker… I consider that a win,” he said.
Chansley hasn’t entered a plea yet for his riot-related charges, which include civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, demonstrating in a Capitol building and more.
According to the Associated Press, Chansley is accused of carrying a spear into the Capitol, ignoring officers’ commands to leave and writing a threatening note addressed to Former Vice President Mike Pence.
Chansley is scheduled to be arraigned for the charges later today (Jan. 29) in Washington, D.C.