Attorneys Michael van der Veen and Bruce Castor defended former President Donald Trump at his Senate impeachment trial over allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Even as van der Veen, Castor and the Trump defense team called the impeachment “political theater” and ultimately secured Trump’s acquittal, they condemned the rioters for bringing “unprecedented havoc, mayhem and death” to the Capitol. They argued in a legal brief that the rioters’ actions deserve “robust and swift investigation and prosecution.”
Now, van der Veen and Castor find themselves on the other side of those prosecutions, defending at least three people charged in connection with the Capitol breach.
Prosecutors allege that van der Veen’s client, Marine Corps veteran Jason Dolan of Florida, is affiliated with the extremist militia group the Oath Keepers, and that he helped plan, and ultimately participated in the storming of the Capitol.
Castor is representing two defendants facing much less serious charges.
Kristina Malimon, 28, and her mother, Yevgeniya Malimon, 54, were arrested on the evening of Jan. 6 outside the Capitol building. According to court documents, the two failed to follow repeated police orders to disperse in violation of a curfew order. Authorities in Washington, D.C., have charged both women with unlawful entry of public property, a misdemeanor. Neither has been accused of committing violence or breaching the Capitol building. They have both pleaded not guilty in Washington, D.C., Superior Court.
