John Smyth
2025-04-24 14:36:28 UTC
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Permalink'They laughed while they destroyed us': Agonizing ordeal of one J6er at
the hands of a weaponized FBI'
''Explosive court filings containing internal FBI communications expose
what appears to be a calculated, malicious campaign by activist agents
within the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center to destroy Zach Rehl's
life''
<https://www.wnd.com/2025/04/they-laughed-while-they-destroyed-us-agonizing-ordeal-of-one-j6er-at-the-hands-of-a-weaponized-fbi/>
'WASHINGTON — They came before dawn.
Not with facts. Not with a warrant for justice. But with battering rams,
AR-15s, flash grenades and the chilling certainty of a government gone
rogue.
Zachary Rehl, a Marine Corps veteran and former leader of the
Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter, was yanked from his home at gunpoint by
an army of FBI agents as if he were a terrorist.
His wife, six months pregnant, watched helplessly as federal agents
dragged away the man she loved.
His crime? Supporting President Donald Trump and walking peacefully
through the U.S. Capitol building for 20 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, a
misdemeanor by every legal standard, but under a weaponized, Biden-era
DOJ, that stroll became a "seditious conspiracy."
Rehl carried no weapon. He committed no violence. Yet, he was branded an
enemy of the state, stripped of his honor, his military benefits were
revoked and he practically starved to death while locked in solitary
confinement for nearly three years and denied bail.
His daughter was born while he rotted in a concrete box.
And now, finally free, thanks to a commutation from President Donald
Trump, Rehl is exposing the truth in a battle to clear his name that
could span years: The FBI didn't just bend the law, he says. They broke
it, over and over again.
And laughed while doing it.
The evidence suggests it wasn't Rehl plotting a conspiracy – it was the
FBI.
Explosive court filings containing internal FBI communications expose
what appears to be a calculated, malicious campaign by activist agents
within the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center to destroy Zach Rehl's life,
secure convictions at any cost and shatter his family in the process.
The documents comprise text messages between FBI agents that were
accidentally disclosed to defense attorneys by federal prosecutors
during the discovery phase of the 2023 seditious conspiracy trial of
Rehl and co-defendants Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola, Joe Biggs and
Enrique Tarrio.
According to logs among the agents exhibited in two publicly accessible
motions filed by the defense on behalf of Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean
– HERE and HERE – FBI agents are seen discussing spying on Rehl's
attorney-client meetings and crafting strategies to secure his
conviction.
And bragging about it.
Jury convicts Proud Boys members Zachary Rehl, Enrique Tarrio, Ethan
Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Dominic Pezzola of seditious conspiracy in U.S.
Capitol riot, by Bill Hennessy
During the 2023 trial, journalist Julie Kelly reported on the accidental
"'spill' of FBI secrets" as well as how Judge Timothy Kelly sided with
the prosecution in whitewashing the incriminating text messages.
Indeed, she reported, "[Judge] Kelly, outside the eyes and ears of the
jury, held a hearing with both sides on March 9 to determine how to
proceed after the defense team uncovered messages indicating FBI agents
doctored internal reports, destroyed evidence and tipped off prosecutors
about defense strategy on the government's highest-profile January 6
case."
Today, in his efforts to obtain full justice and hopefully convince
President Trump to turn his presidential commutation into a full pardon
as so many other Jan. 6 prisoners received, Rehl is intent on
publicizing how unfairly and outrageously he was treated by the
Biden-era federal prosecutors and judges.
Some of the text messages exchanged between FBI Special Agent Nicole
Miller and ***@fbi.sgov.gov show they were fearful Rehl would take
his case to trial and expose the government misconduct:
MILLER: Found an email thread with REHL and his attorney MOSELEY. The
attorney raised some interesting points.
WANG: Hopefully all related to him pleaing out.
MILLER: Nope. He mentioned how we (GOV) did things improperly.
WANG: Oy.
MILLER: I need to find other emails, but his one email def indicates
that they want to go to trial. But don't freak out Jason and Luke yet or
[yourself].
WANG: I'm not freaked out.
Worse, while Rehl was incarcerated, the agents targeted Rehl's pregnant
wife, Amanda, with what appeared to be a malicious scheme to break the
family.
Exhibits of their logs in the publicly available court filings show many
messages exchanged between agents displaying clear animosity toward the
Proud Boy defendant and glee at his misfortune, including advancing a
false narrative of infidelity on the part of Rehl's wife with her
husband's friend "Aaron."
"They better give you those calls! I want the ones from after the 8th,
when we hit Aaron's house! They are going to be SOOOOO good!" Miller
wrote to Wang, giddy over the prospects of Rehl's marriage falling
apart.
"I know!" Wang replied. "I don't see any emails from Aaron past the 6th,
even though there are email as late as yesterday.
"Maybe [Aaron] sent them from Amanda's account. She sleeps over a lot,"
Miller quipped.
"Bahaha," Wang replied.
The ploy failed – Aaron's girlfriend was the driver – but the agents'
glee persisted:
MILLER: Just listened to about 7 min of yelling … Zach to Amanda lol.
WANG: Bahah. Did he find out she's hooking with Aaron?! I'm waiting for
this to be a legit thing. And when it is … popcorn!
MILLER: Not yet. Haven't come across that one."
WANG: Dang it
MILLER: Hahaha [I'll] bring beer.
WANG: Yes.
The FBI's vendetta didn't stop at humiliation. Rehl's service to his
nation – years in the Marines – meant nothing. The moment "seditious
conspiracy" stained his record, the government revoked his benefits and
the U.S. Treasury Department demanded $100,000 in repayment, leaving
Amanda, a housewife, to fend for herself.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Zach Rehl
Legal fees bled them dry, thousands a month, while the Treasury
Department loomed like a vulture.
The FBI sought to bankrupt the Rehls, a violation of due process,
cheering as military benefits were revoked and Amanda faced foreclosure.
"I also want to know if his house got foreclosed," Miller said after
laughing at the prospects of Amanda abandoning her marriage.
"Oooh. I wonder," Wang replied. "I hope so."
"I mean, if we really want to work all the PB [Proud Boy] members, he's
the one to go after especially his wife's PayPal and her Venmo acct,"
Miller continued, pushing to choke off any lifeline from supporters.
"I agree with you!!!" Wang replied.
Prosecutors, too, pounced – court records show they attempted to fine
over 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants with restitution amounting to the total
they would garner in donations to their legal funds, as if asking for
help were a crime. In many instances, federal judges ordered defendants
to pay the government money they raised for their legal defense.
This wasn't law enforcement, but rather, a crusade to punish dissent,
executed with taxpayer dollars.
The logs also hint at evidence tampering, a federal crime.
In a text message to ***@fbi.sgov.gov, Miller instructed the other
agent to remove evidence that would show she was working undercover as a
confidential human source, or CHS.
"You need to go into that CHS report you just put and edit out that I
was present," she wrote.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has offered no public proof of the
Proud Boys organization's alleged plot, yet denies Rehl's motion to
dismiss, alongside co-defendants Biggs and Pezzola.
Some legal experts call the presidential commutations – leaving felony
convictions intact – baffling, but the FBI's actions are outright
lawless.
Their laughter over Amanda "probably leaving" Rehl – "I'll bring beer,"
Miller quipped – exposes a culture of cruelty that demands
accountability. Congress must investigate. Were these rogue actors or
does this reflect systemic rot? How many others faced similar treatment?
The FBI's internal messages came to light during the trial when defense
attorney Nicholas Smith, representing Proud Boy co-defendant Ethan
Nordean, cross-examined Agent Miller.
Miller testified that she filtered a large Excel spreadsheet of FBI
messages, submitting only those she deemed relevant to prosecutors, who
then shared them with defense teams as part of routine evidence
disclosure during the trial's discovery phase.
However, a "hidden" cell in the spreadsheet contained over 1,000
unfiltered messages from other agents, exposing misconduct.
Defense attorneys included a few pages of the unfiltered messages in
motions to dismiss, until Judge Timothy Kelly intervened, ordering
defense counsel to destroy them, shrouding the scandal that has left the
Rehl family fighting to reclaim their lives after a harrowing four-year
nightmare.
As WND reported, prosecutors denied Rehl and his co-defendants Joe Biggs
and Dominic Pezzola's recent motion to dismiss the Jan. 6 charges
against them. Yet, not a shred of public proof shows Rehl plotting
violence or orchestrating a "coup," while mounting evidence suggests the
FBI orchestrated his downfall, violating his Fourth Amendment rights and
federal law in the process.
Nearly three years in solitary pretrial detention broke Rehl's body, but
not his spirit. He told the media the judicial overreach felt like
"communist China" – words that earned him terror enhancements from Judge
Timothy Kelly, despite his having committed no violent acts.
He and his co-defendants fight on, their motions to dismiss denied,
while the FBI's own chats expose the real conspiracy: a calculated plot
to destroy lives for "wrongthink."
Rehl's former attorney, Carmen Hernandez, who defended him at trial,
calls the FBI's conduct unprecedented and like nothing she has seen
throughout her 40 years of practicing law.
"These messages were personal, nasty – hidden glee at someone's
misfortune," she told WorldNetDaily. "I've never seen such
unprofessional animus from law enforcement, even against mafia or
murderers. The judge blocked me from cross-examining Miller – said we
were 'showing bias.' It was distasteful, unconstitutional."
Hernandez slams the charges as baseless:
"Rehl, Biggs, Pezzola – veterans who own guns – could've brought
firearms to D.C. if they'd planned a coup. They didn't. The evidence was
ridiculous."
Was this a rogue cell or FBI policy? How many others suffered?
Hernandez argues the lack of Trump pardons for these prisoners shows
"whoever reviewed J6 cases [or the president] didn't grasp the evidence
– or didn't want to. Seditious conspiracy sounds serious, but dig in,
and it's nonsense."
Still branded a terrorist, convicted of multiple felonies despite
President Trump's commutation, Rehl is unable to secure employment as he
fights to clear his name and support his family'