March 30, 2023

"After serving eleven months in solitary prior to his sentence being imposed, and only 16 months of his sentence thereafter, it is appropriate this gentle and intelligent young man..."

"... be permitted to move forward with the next stage of what undoubtedly will be a law abiding and enriching life. I applaud the decision of the US Bureau of Prison in this regard."


The headline implies that the early release is because of that newly seen footage. Was it?
It was not immediately clear what led to Chansley's early release, and [the lawyer] declined to comment, saying: 'This was a decision of the US Bureau of Prisons. I cannot speak for the US Bureau of Prisons.' 
Federal guidelines allow for reduced prison time due to good behavior, but under those guidelines Chansley would have expected to serve at least 35 months and 22 days of his 41-month sentence. Instead, he was transferred to the halfway house after just 27 months in prison, including the time served prior to his sentencing. A BOP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com....

100 comments:

rcocean said...

Any comment from the disgusting Federal Judge that allowed him to lanquish in Solitary for 11 months, for NO REASON. Or sentenced him to 4 years in prison for tresspassing?

Mr Wibble said...

Of course, it was. Good for Tucker and McCarthy for getting the video out, and all the other journalists who have pushed hard to be advocates for these folks.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

NOT enough F U's for the following liars:

NBC news (Terry Moran(D))
Adam Schitt(D) - lying liar who lies
Pelosi - corrupt money grubbing money whore + lying liar who lies
ABC, CBS, NYT, CNN, MSNBC-jokeNetwork, NPR PBS"news" etc...
All elected lying democxrats

BIII Zhang said...

Gee, one wonders if this completely INCOMPETENT lawyer should be sued by this innocent man who was falsely convicted and imprisoned by his corrupt government, with the help of this lawyer.

One wonders whether any other lawyer will step up pro bono and sue the federal government for this injustice.

Not really ... nobody wonders whether any of those things are going to happen because we all know that they're NOT going to happen.

gahrie said...

One down...

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Trump should give that poor man some big bucks. I doubt he will.

Ampersand said...

Early release certainly avoided some really bad optics. But I share AA's doubts about the timeline. It'll be interesting to see what happened here.

Mattman26 said...

Released "after just 27 months in prison . . . ."

Jesus. In most US cities, you could rob a bank and shoot a bunch of people in the process and not spend that much time in prison.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

according to the corrupt immoral a-hole left - this guy is a terrorist.

the actual trans-terrorist who killed 6 people, including three 9 year old children in cold blood - is a poor victim.

Interested Bystander said...

It's good that he has been released. "Just 27 months..." Over two years in a jail cell for what amounted to tresspassing. Antifa goons in Portland tried to burn down a police station with the police locked inside. I don't think anyone was ever prosecuted for it.

narciso said...

there were no grounds to hold him, it was a token counsel, watkins who exhibited him like a trophy,

Dave Begley said...

Why is it that the Brit press in the US is so much better at reporting the facts than the MSM?

Saint Croix said...

The headline is implies that the early release is because of that newly seen footage. Was it?

I assume the lawyer made a stink about it with various judges and phone calls were made.

It's a Brady violation, a due process shit-show, a 9-0 Supreme Court opinion.

A Biden nominee for district judge just got skewered for not knowing what a Brady violation is.

cf said...

Justice is hideous if this is it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Next up: Reparations for the extreme sentences imposed on these tourists. Why is the chief judge in DC keeping 100 of her rulings secret? Democracy dies in darkness or something like that, right?

Michael K said...

I think the Biden/Garfinkle regime has more political prisoners than Russia.

Ancient Mariner said...

The mere fact that he served any time at all for a simple misdemeanor -- of which he did not appear to actually be guilty -- is an atrocious miscarriage of justice, not to mention the additional fact that he spent NEARLY A YEAR in solitary confinement before being brought to trial.

The Vault Dweller said...

So 27 months in confinement for a crime where there was no evidence of any violence or threat of violence, whereas the 2 lawyers who firebombed a police car during the Black Lives Matter riots got a year and a day sentence.

Wince said...

"After serving eleven months in solitary prior to his sentence being imposed, and only 16 months of his sentence thereafter, it is appropriate this gentle and intelligent young man..."

I wouldn't expect my lawyer to say "only" 16 months.

whiskey said...

The fellow quoted and referred to you as his lawyer is his former lawyer, Albert Watkins. His current lawyer, Bill Shipley, has this to say in response. https://twitter.com/shipwreckedcrew/status/1641474102551797761?cxt=HHwWgoDT6fr_18ctAAAA

stlcdr said...

just 27 months...

Enigma said...

Nothing about the Jan 6 prosecutions and Capitol Hill hearings was accidental. Nothing. Before the video release this was thought to deliver a political advantage and to also punish the 'insurrectionists.' The change does indeed suggest or reveal that they now want to make it go away and be forgotten.

Every little thing in DC is calculated for political advantage. Every single little thing. They are aggressive predators and not as stupid as they may appear, but also often fakers.

Paddy O said...

What are his options for lawsuits given his imprisonment was driven by a congressional committee?

Humperdink said...

Eleven months in solitary. Mark, Chuck, gadfly, readering nod.

One of the huge stains on America justice. Just shameful.

tim maguire said...

I can't imagine they'd admit he's being released due to the video footage as that would immediately find it's way into his wrongful imprisonment suit. #lawsuits I hope win

Sebastian said...

Why was he put in solitary in the first place? On what grounds, and by whom?

Butkus51 said...

and when they came for you there was nobody to object

TreeJoe said...

Seems to me like the BoP is getting ahead of what is coming on this.

In the least transparent way possible

Joe Smith said...

From what I've read, it is not an early release.

Either way, the people who withheld exculpatory video evidence should replace him in prison...

Two-eyed Jack said...

Chansley's lawyer explains this all quite succinctly here:

https://twitter.com/shipwreckedcrew/status/1641474102551797761

Owen said...

Where does Chansley go to recover the many months of his life that the Deep State stole from him?

Here’s an idea: he should self-identify as a black trans and mobilize that “community” to demand reparations.

holdfast said...

Meanwhile, he’s already served far more time for looking and acting like a clown in the wrong place than some antifa thug would ever serve for trying to kill or injure police officers defending a federal courthouse.

Never mind the rioters who burned cars and storefronts during Trump’s inauguration.

These J6 persecutions have done a hell of a lot to convince many conservatives that the federal justice system is nothing but a corrupt praetorian guard.

Birches said...

Eleven months solitary confinement?!? Oh I hope he becomes a millionaire from the lawsuit.

RNB said...

Setting up for a policy of "At this point, what does it matter?"

hombre said...

Eleven months in presentencing solitary! How disgraceful are our corrupt President, AG, DOJ, criminal legal system and DC judiciary.

They make me proud to be an ex-Democrat!

Critter said...

Translation: the new video embarrasses the regime so let's get him out of the limelight.

walter said...

"It was not immediately clear what led to Chansley's early release, and [the lawyer] declined to comment, saying: 'This was a decision of the US Bureau of Prisons. I cannot speak for the US Bureau of Prisons.'
After being pantsed.
Fuck them.

hombre said...

"The headline is implies that the early release is because of that newly seen footage. Was it?"

Very likely. Perhaps some Democrat deep stater at the Bureau of Prisons is still capable of shame.

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Levi Starks said...

It doesn’t take much guesswork.
The evidence that would have Acquitted him had the government followed the rules of due process is now used to release him early. It’s the closest thing you’ll get to an admission of prosecutorial misconduct.

Chuck said...

I'm okay with this.

What bothers me right now, is that while I previously posted on Althouse Blog comments the hyperlink (through GWU's Program on Extremism) to Jacob Chansley's November 17, 2021 DC District Court sentencing hearing -- and I'd like to post it again, now -- GWU seems to have deleted or relocated the link. I have asked them for a fresh, working link.

Anyway, as someone who has read and re-read Chansley's plea agreement and his sentencing hearing transcript, I know very well that this guy is a sad, pathetic, psychologically-damaged ne'er do well. He expressed, in his own words, in open federal court, his great remorse for what he did on January 6. How he now felt that the cause that day was wrong and baseless. How he felt betrayed by Trump for having led that movement, such as it was.

I don't know what role this guy can play in society going forward, but I hope it is very limited. What I fear greatly is that a role will be created for him. A role, as I commented earlier this month, much like Kyle Rittenhouse. A sort of "Fox Celebrity," being paid to appear at all sorts of al-right functions and to once again go back to spewing the lies that led to January 6. In other words he will go back to his status pre-1/6/21; a loser-pawn being used by the TrumpWing strategists.

bagoh20 said...

In the future, the last few years will be looked back on the way we look back at the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials, except that those travesties were legal in their time, and these new atrocities are not only illegal, but in direct conflict with the purpose that the United States was established and fought for for so long, including all the wars and civil rights protests, and all the deaths, arrests, and sacrifices made over the last 250 years to prevent the government from abusing it's citizens. There will be many to shame, and many legacies ruined by the truth. The nation will have another failure tarnishing it's struggle to be exceptional in the history of mankind.

Quaestor said...

Brady v. Maryland. Merritt Garland ignored his duty to persecute and psychologically torture Jacob Chansley. He thinks he's immune. We'll see...

Josephbleau said...

The Bureau of Prisons can’t just release people without explanation. Did they notify the victims and let them comment. The victims being the citizens of the US who were at risk of having their nation destroyed by these violent terrorist insurrectionists who were worse than the 911 murderers? What about AOC who was so scared she cried!

Was the release a part of a secret deal to let him out so that the hiding of Brady material will never see judicial review and is now moot?

Regarding Solitary Confinement, UN Special Rapporteur Juan E. Mendez said in this report:

“Solitary confinement, [as a punishment] cannot be justified for any reason, precisely because it imposes severe mental pain and suffering beyond any reasonable retribution for criminal behaviour and thus constitutes an act defined [as] … torture.”

It seems that the Democrat Government of DC disagrees with the UN when dealing with the people they don’t like.

hugh42 said...

The politics of the entire ordeal are obvious.

Steve said...

So the conspiracy theorists were right?

Shameful that america keeps political prisoners. Are we going to review the other protesters detention?

traditionalguy said...

Wait, wait. I thought he was the treason leader of all time.

The FBI said so.

YoungHegelian said...

What ever the authorities say, you know Chesley got released because the case against him was shown to be untenable.

I still want the members of the prosecution team hung out to dry if it can be shown that they withheld exculpatory evidence (e.g. the videos released by Tucker Carlson).

Sue their asses off, Mr.QShaman! Sue 'em good & hard!

'TreHammer said...

Various commentary on the Internet indicate the early release was not a result of the release of the video footage. "Good behavior" has been given as the reason.

'TreHammer said...

Various commentary on the Internet indicate the early release was not a result of the release of the video footage. "Good behavior" has been given as the reason.

Bill Crawford said...

"...after just 27 months in prison."

JUST 27 months in prison!!!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Great back and forth on this topic guys! Really good points to consider. Glad I stopped by.

Nancy said...

"After" does a lot of work these days. E.g. principal fired "after" teacher shows children picture of Michaelangelo's "David".

Chuck said...

About "solitary confinement"...

That is Chansley's lawyer's claim. It is not any sort of stipulation by the government. Chansley, while awaiting trial, applied to Judge Lamberth for dietary privileges, and Lamberth (noting that he was criticized heavily for the decision) allowed Chansley to get a fully organic diet. Chansley was moved to Virginia from the DC jail for that accommodation. The Bureau of Prisons did state that Chansley was in "administrative segregation" for a period of time, but it was during the height of the COVID pandemic. Chansley expressed great praise and thanks to Judge Lamberth in his courtroom for the dietary accommodation.

DINKY DAU 45 said...

For more than 30 minutes, Chansley spoke to Lamberth about the impact jail has had on him, and the guilt he feels for breaking the law.
He said he was wrong to enter the Capitol on January 6, and that he is not an insurrectionist or domestic terrorist, but rather a “good man who broke the law.”
His sprawling speech held the attention of the judge, as Chansley quoted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and “The Shawshank Redemption,” and described wanting to live his life like Jesus Christ and Gandhi.
“The hardest part about this is to know that I’m to blame. To have to look in the mirror and know, you really messed up. Royally,” Chansley said.

Finally one of the perps takes responsibility for breaking the law as he said.Do stupid things pay the price. Lets see if he learned a lesson .Proud boys and Oath keepers doing big time for seditious conduct 10 years or so..Lets see what they learned after they become BUBBAS GIRLFRIEND. Im to blame says the Shaman props to him.

Aggie said...

@Dave Begley said: "Why is it that the Brit press in the US is so much better at reporting the facts than the MSM?"

This should answer your question - it's a long-form essay, but very much worth the read:

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation

narciso said...

the deal was negotiated before the release of the videos, but after the foia request by various parties,

n.n said...

Follow the guards, stay inside the lines, ignore Whitmer-event forcings, avoid "heroes" bearing scalpels... look out for the rug.

Christopher said...

A key to understanding this is that he's had two attorneys, and not a few observers think the first attorney was slipshod. The twitter link above is to a tweet series from Lawyer Two, dumping all over Lawyer One:


Let me make something CLEAR.

The videos released and played on Fox News DID NOT play a role in any "early release" for Jake Chansely.

Al Watkins claiming that to be the case is FALSE and is Watkins to continuing to deflect blame away from himself for his horrible work.




Jake's sentence was 42 months.
The final 6 months are ALWAYS in a Halfway House by BOP police. So total custodial time was going to be 36 months.
But there are programs in BOP that allow a prisoner to earn credit on his sentence beyond "Good Time" credit.

Jake took advantage of those opportunities.

He was arrested in Jan 2021, and was detained the entire time. He served 26+ months in custody.

When I first spoke with him in Nov. 2021, I told him his release date was likely Feb. 2023.

He thought it would be early 2024.

Al Watkins never explained to him how custodial time calculations work.

Jake was released on exactly the time frame that I predicted to him, and the slight delay was only from getting some paperwork processed internal to BOP to give him credit for a program he completed.

We have known the release date for a period of time, but kept it quiet so as to not have a crowd show up at either the BOP facility or the Halfway House.

Al Watkins deserves NO CREDIT nor is he absolved of his failures while representing Jake.

n.n said...

"...after just 27 months in prison."

JUST 27 months in prison!!!


27 months, yes, for a Capitol Hill fire; but, it's only 9 trimesters, with a a hope and a brayer of remaining viable.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The corrupt Soviet left would jail all who disagree with them, if they could.

n.n said...

Sue their asses off, Mr.QShaman! Sue 'em good & hard!

That sounds vaguely transphobic.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

An American Mandela.

Lincolntf said...

I hope he gets a qualified ghost writer and tells the full story in an NYT bestseller.

Narr said...

Still, we have to hope he's learned his lesson.

(The Organs are not your friend.)

Bruce Hayden said...

“Or sentenced him to 4 years in prison for trespassing?”

Except that he probably wasn’t trespassing. The Capital Police allowed him to enter and escorted him around the building. That sure sounds permissive to me. Which man’s that he arguably was licensed to be there, and, thus, not trespassing. This is very possibly why he was released - the prosecution had hidden this exonerating evidence from the defense, and almost no one saw it before Tucker Carlson broadcast it. With the video, it became impossible to presume that his mere presence there constituted trespassing.

walter said...

I suggest a nice release vacay in..oh...say...Royal Oaks, MI

pacwest said...

"Good behavior" has been given as the reason.

Does good behavior mean he finally realized how many fingers they were holding up? Cheney and Kizinger (and Chuck via his support for them) should be taken out and shot. Not really, but solitary confinment for 2 years might be a good option. These people are truly the enemy of the American citizenry.

Amadeus 48 said...

Give me a break. People arrested in the St George Floyd (" I ate too many drugs") riots got no jail time and a nice payday grom some jurosdictoons (police brutality!). Chansley wasn't let out 14 months early, he was let out 27 months late.

gahrie said...

"After" does a lot of work these days. E.g. principal fired "after" teacher shows children picture of Michaelangelo's "David".

????

What age were the children? You know that that statue is on public display and is one of the most famous pieces of art in History? I'd be pissed if high schoolers weren't shown a picture of David.

Mutaman said...


BIII Zhang said...


"One wonders whether any other lawyer will step up pro bono and sue the federal government for this injustice."

Althouse is tanned and rested.

bobby said...

My guess: As part of this, he has now signed an NDA and will not talk about what has happened, he will not sue, he will shut up and disappear. Because he's an embarrassment.

Next prez candidate needs to promise pardons and reparations to all Jan 6 idiots. They should have been convicted of simple trespass, and some did indeed fight cops, but the State has surrendered its legitimacy in this episode.

effinayright said...

I could be wrong, but I recall Tucker mentioning that the shaman "apparently would be released soon" during one of his J6 presentations.

If so, the revelations didn't spring him.

Can someone roll the tape and find out?

Mary Beth said...

Gee, one wonders if this completely INCOMPETENT lawyer should be sued by this innocent man who was falsely convicted and imprisoned by his corrupt government, with the help of this lawyer.

Was he incompetent? Did anyone else's lawyers get access to the videos? What is one lawyer going to do when the federal government says, no, you can't have this? A plea deal might have been the best anyone could have done.

Yancey Ward said...

Chansley's present lawyer explains that the video had nothing to do with the early release- that Chansley earned the early release for good behavior in actions he has taken over the course of his incarceration. Chansley should sue his original lawyer and the US government, but he will probably just be thankful to be out of the D.C. Gulag.

Mutaman said...



I'm not sure its a good idea for the Know Nothing crowd to make this poor soul their poster child. Better stick to Kyle Rittenhouse.

Richard said...

The reason they released him early is to make room for Trump.

hombre said...

According to the Shaman's lawyer, nobody gets credit for a conscience on this. This was his predicted release date per BoP guidelines.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

That seems like a long time in solitary confinement; have the authorities involved made any comment on that? I mean, why so long in solitary confinement as part of pre-trial or pre-sentencing detainment?

hpudding said...

He is a hero to the right-wing.

Paul said...

What goes around.. comes around.

Paul said...

What goes around.. comes around.

Joe Bar said...

What, exactly, did this man do?

Joe Bar said...

Here is a link to a tweet about a 23 month old baby. He was killed in a gang shooting. No one will go to jail. Why was this man jailed?
https://twitter.com/wesyang/status/1641596679894827009

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Donald Trump didn’t pardon the January 6 rioters because:

1. He thought they were guilty.
2. He thought they were innocent but was afraid if he pardoned them he would lose his impeachment trial and be barred from running for President again.

I believe they were guilty but those of you who don’t should be giving Donald Trump the white feather.

FullMoon said...

Twenty seven months is enough time for average person to lose their job, their car, their home, and their spouse.

Michael K said...

Blogger hpudding said...

He is a hero to the right-wing.


No, he was a victim of your fascist government. Like the other 1,000 charged in this political exercise.

Michael K said...

Blogger Mutaman said...



I'm not sure its a good idea for the Know Nothing crowd to make this poor soul their poster child. Better stick to Kyle Rittenhouse.


You fascists are celebrating today. 6 Christians killed and Trumnp indicted. Try to keep your celebrations decently quiet.

Yancey Ward said...

Left Bank,

Only a truly depraved person would have expected the Biden Administration to persecute these people this way. Now we know.

walter said...

Left Bank,
It's all relative to the pharma captured, CCP compromised, crime family supporting pants shitting pseudo-prez called Pedo Pete.

walter said...

I mean, get yer folks' collective shit together to work angles that don't make Trump a sympathetic figure.
Joementia's juice squad is under a lot of pressure.

Tina Trent said...

What Vault Dweller said. Elite leftist terrorists almost never pay for their crimes, especially when they set out to kill police. The two NYC lawyers who tried to murder cops with fire bombs and delivered bombs to other rioters were granted extremely unusual special treatment. The Biden administration rescinded the terrorism charges against them because they "otherwise lived exemplary lives" and actually dropped their previous guilty pleas, thus limiting their sentences to a maximum of two years. The female who firebombed a police car and built other bombs for distribution got a mere 15 months. It's unclear what the male received. He expressed no remorse, manufactured bombs, and was caught on video distributing bombs to other BLM terrorists. Johnathan Turley has a few great articles explaining how unusual the leniency was at his blog.

JAORE said...

No one expects the Soros DA's.

JAORE said...

"He is a hero to the right-wing."

Yeah, I'm positive you can link to many prominent R's that proclaim him "hero".

On the other hand I can link to many saying he was a victim.

Perhaps you conflate the two. There's a lot of that on the left.

What a maroon
- Bugs Bunny

Dude1394 said...

Tar and feather is required for our corrupt justice system.

damikesc said...

"Anyway, as someone who has read and re-read Chansley's plea agreement and his sentencing hearing transcript, I know very well that this guy is a sad, pathetic, psychologically-damaged ne'er do well. He expressed, in his own words, in open federal court, his great remorse for what he did on January 6. How he now felt that the cause that day was wrong and baseless. How he felt betrayed by Trump for having led that movement, such as it was."

Coerced confessions were wrong when done by our enemies. They are not better when our own judges require the same.

damikesc said...

"Chansley expressed great praise and thanks to Judge Lamberth in his courtroom for the dietary accommodation."

Coerced praise is no better than coerced confessions.

damikesc said...

"I'm not sure its a good idea for the Know Nothing crowd to make this poor soul their poster child. Better stick to Kyle Rittenhouse."

Unsure why anybody would oppose supporting somebody unfairly imprisoned.

Committing a crime should not lead to an outright violation of rights. George Floyd's actions, after all, did not justify his killing.

Michael said...

Actually, this whole case was beginning to stink on steroids in a way that the Government and the Media could no longer contain. So they took what they saw as the easiest way out.

farmgirl said...

“I don't know what role this guy can play in society going forward, but I hope it is very limited.“

Ego much?