John Sullivan’s request to release seized funds DENIED -with serious analysis by the Court
“The cases Mr. Sullivan primarily relies upon in support of his motion only serve to emphasize the deficiencies in his declaration.’
Dear John…
...You really wanted to keep the >$90,000+ in unjust enrichment, didn’t you? DENIED try again.
See DDC-ECF for the one page order -And for the record the cases you cited -the Court completely eviscerated your argument
“The cases Mr. Sullivan primarily relies upon in support of his motion only serve to emphasize the deficiencies in his declaration.”
For months Defendant Sullivan has been fighting to recover the seized funds he received when he entered into multiple and exclusive licensing agreements with several media outlets. The temerity of it all —he was indicted for his criminal behavior, such as participation in Jan6th, his encouraging others it participate in assaulting law enforcement and destruction of Government property…
As noted in the December 6, 2021 MEMORANDUM OPINION. (See Scribd Account for a free copy of the Memorandum Opinion) Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan
February 3, 2021, Mr. Sullivan was charged in a six-count Indictment, see previous article
February 3, 2021 Sullivan - Indictment
May 19, 2021 Sullivan Superseding Indictment which added the following additional charges; (1) unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds or buildings, in violation of 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(1)(A)(i); and (2) false statement or representation made to an agency of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2).
November 10, 2021 - SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT as to JOHN EARLE SULLIVAN (1) count(s) 1ss, 2ss, 3ss, 4ss, 5ss, 6ss, 7ss, 8ss. (FORFEITURE ALLEGATION) or you can download a copy via my Scribd Account
On April 28, 2021, a magistrate judge approved two sealed warrants authorizing the government’s seizure of $89,875 in Mr. Sullivan’s bank account ending in 7715 and $1,000 in the Venmo account linked to Mr. Sullivan’s bank account. You’d never actually know this April 28, 2021 Seizure Case No 1:21-sz-00001 is related to Defendant Sullivan unless you actually read the whole docket
MOTION to Seal Case by USA as to $89,875.00 U.S. CURRENCY IN ONE JP MORGAN CHASE ACCOUNT AND $1,000.00 U.S. CURRENCY IN ONE VENMO ACCOUNT PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. § 981 AND 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c).
REDACTED DOCUMENT by USA as to $89,875.00 U.S. CURRENCY IN ONE JP MORGAN CHASE ACCOUNT AND $1,000.00 U.S. CURRENCY IN ONE VENMO ACCOUNT PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. § 981 AND 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c) to 5 Seizure Warrant Returned Executed
Actually you would have already known because back in February 2021 I walked you through the various court filings and expressed disgust (at the conclusion of the Feb 2021 article) that Defendant John Sullivan had unjustly enriched himself by entering into multiple licensing agreements with the following media outlets -I literally spelled it out in February 2021👇🏻
…Australian Broadcasting; Left/Right, LLC; Agreement to release video footage with Rocky Mountain Public Media; and License Agreement with CNN… here I uploaded the “memorandum concerning release conditions” to my public drive
As you’ll note starting on page 18 of the Seizure Warrant Affidavit the Affiant was able to track and trace the unjust enrichment that Defendant Sullivan made. The Defendant was paid over $90,000+ for his Video footage.
..After engaging in the alleged conduct – namely, attempting to obstruct or impede a proceeding before Congress by entering and remaining in the United States Capitol without authority and committing an act of civil disorder and engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct Sullivan sold his recorded footage from the Capitol to various media companies...
The funds paid by these media companies, as described below, are the Target Proceeds that the government intends to seize in the instant warrant to prevent dissipation in advance of forfeiture. Descriptions of the Target Proceeds, including where I believe they are located, are based on my training, experience, defendant’s pleadings with the Court, and my review of lawfully obtained records.
The bottom line is Defendant Sullivan was paid more than $90,000 for his footage, the problem is his own footage was used to indict him and a subsequent superseding indictment.
..there is probable cause to believe that the Target Proceeds funds are subject to civil forfeiture pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(C), and criminal forfeiture pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(C) in conjunction with 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c), as property derived from proceeds traceable to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c).
…Specifically, the Target Proceeds represent the funds Sullivan obtained by filming and selling footage of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots, which proceeds would not have existed but for Sullivan’s illegal participation in and encouragement of the riots, property destruction, and violence inside the U.S. Capitol in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)
As you’ll note in the Memorandum-Opinion the Court methodically explained how Defendant Sullivan failed to present an adequate argument that seizing those funds somehow is tantamount to violating Defendant Sullivan’s various Constitutional rights and noted the Defendant’s arguments were “conclusory“… meaning the Defendant argued the $90K+ are not directly tied to Count One of the Superseding Indictment(s)…whereas the Government argues with facts that there’s a through line and the nexus is Sullivan’s participation in the Jan6th Attack
“…The government opposes Mr. Sullivan’s request for the release of the seized assets and for a pretrial hearing. The government argues that there is a “dearth of caselaw supporting a pretrial hearing to contest the seizure where, as here, no Sixth Amendment right is at stake and the claimed basis is a need to pay household expenses.”
…significantly, Mr. Sullivan does not address information included within a pretrial services agency report documenting “multiple vehicles owned by the defendant,” as well as “significant funds in unspecified bank accounts of the defendant – funds that wholly predate, and lie entirely outside the scope of, the government’s seizure warrants.”
Mr. Sullivan enjoys assets beyond those seized by the government that he could use toward paying for rent and his other household necessities. Thus, absent more information, the Court finds that Mr. Sullivan has not met the threshold standard for a pretrial hearing relating to his seized assets…
But I’ll tell you pages 13 thru 16 of the December 6, 2021 Memorandum-Opinion are certainly worth reviewing closely because it wasn’t just the Defendant asking the Court to order the Government return said funds but Sullivan also lost his bid to “forbid the Government from future seizures of funds”
Mr. Sullivan’s interest in acquiring access to the seized funds for rent and household necessities “is obviously far less pressing” than a defendant’s exercise of his Sixth Amendment right.
Mr. Sullivan has not provided any evidence demonstrating that he is unable to pay for rent or other household necessities without the seized assets. Put simply, the Court has no reason to believe that Mr. Sullivan will be significantly harmed if adjudication of his claim is delayed until a post-trial proceeding pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2. Finally, the third factor—risk of erroneous deprivation—also does not fall in Mr. Sullivan’s favor
Again you can pull down the vast majority of Court filings behind the ECF paywall by simply going to my Scribd Account:
https://www.scribd.com/user/489178812/File-411
And with that I believe you are all caught up on Defendant Sullivan’s case, -also just an FYI I probably won’t be writing tomorrow or Wednesday…how dare my job get in the way of my extracurricular reporting… and as I stated part 2 of that Ocean sunrise can be viewed below …
Or you can watch the full six minute sunrise via my YouTube channel -Apologies in advance for a few seconds of wind noise on the mic -I bought a fuzzy spicy pepper mic cover but didn’t bring it with me the morning I shot the video.
Again I likely won’t be publishing over the next few days because I’m not a cyborg nor can I clone myself. Also I beech you to stop listening to the Blue-QANON that are claiming Devin Nunes retirement is some how linked to the Azores, China, 5G or otherwise incongruent conspiracy theories.
I mean FFS …as Mashable noted earlier today -Nunes’ recent retirement announcement is directly linked to an offer to “run” Trump’s new social media platform…I do not understand how Blue QANON can literally just make up shit & thousands of twitter followers believe it…
…retire due to a recent opportunity he "could not refuse." Not long after those reports, multiple news outlets confirmed the offer: CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). The company also released a statement.
Furthermore Nunes’ local paper scooped most MSM that Nunes would be retiring at the end of December 2021 to go work for Trump’s new social media platform venture. And yes I’ll acknowledge that it’s kind of odd that Nunes’ isn’t retiring at the end of his current term (2022) but decided to go work for Trump. That yes it looks rather odd but there’d nothing in the public record to suggest he’s somehow complicit with China, 5G or the Azores. I just do not understand why so many people believe that kind of Blue QANON disinformation…
Be smart and use your noodle..and stop polluting it with the Blue QANON-sense, trust me on that once you extricate yourself from them —only then do you realize just how much full of unfounded conspiracies they traffic in —just to stay relevant because twitter is their only source of income, of which I’m pretty sure a few of them have failed to file the appropriate tax returns itemizing their grifts as actual taxable income. Shittlestix was that out loud? Sorry not at all sorry —someone needs to keep saying this…
-Filey
Gotta say, I'm loving Nunes' ever-lowering horizons, akin to "the drawing down of blinds"