Smith then played another one of Bertino’s interviews for the FBI for the jury.
Once it was over, he asked the former Proud Boy to affirm: after his arrest, he said he didn’t know anything about a plan. But Bertino clarified: “After Trump decided he was going to speak, that’s when all the original plans he laid out to me disintegrated, so that’s when I really didn’t know about a plan.”
In a Ministry of Self Defense chat from Jan. 5, Bertino wrote, “Everything should move forward as planned for rally.”
Relying on this exhibit, Smith and Bertino went back and forth for several tense minutes.
Smith pressed him: was it or was it not the plan was to protect people who were speakers at various rallies on Jan, 6 and until Henry Tarrio’s arrest on Jan. 4, 2021, that was the only plan Bertino was aware of?
“Until Trump decided to take the stages over, that’s what the plan was,” Bertino said.
He added: “There were multiple stages. The original plan I was told was, ‘move around from stage to stage, get people around with a small group of guys to protect who was going to speak. That was the only plan I was ever told.”
“That’s the only plan to which you acknowledge?” Smith asked.
“Correct,” Bertino replied.
In a June 2022 FBI interview, Bertino told agents he didn’t think there was a point to going inside the Capitol.
“Remember, I asked you, if the purpose of the agreement you entered to was to stop the electoral vote count from happening, if that was the purpose, why not go in there?”
Bertino told the defense attorney he was referring to the way he viewed the situation the night of Jan. 6.
Under direct, Bertino told the jury how he felt “less than patriotic” that night once realizing that despite their efforts, their aim to overturn the results of the election wasn’t met. Bertino told the jury how he felt that Ashli Babbit had “died for nothing” and agreed with fellow Proud Boys who were frustrated that those rioting only got so far inside the building. He considered it a “half-measure,” he said.
On Friday, Bertino reiterated this point.
“I believe I was referring to my headspace the night of 1/6 on my podcast. I was upset they didn't go in there. There was no point in going in there and taking selfies unless they were going to go in and stop the certification,” Bertino testified.
Smith used this as a window to advance an argument that has become a cornerstone argument of Jan. 6 defendants.
The certification of the election was never disrupted, really, because eventually, lawmakers did certify the results.
But as common sense, logic and now, several convictions against Jan. 6 defendants have enumerated: the certification was delayed and for several hours. The rioting did stop the certification, albeit temporarily.
Bertino also disagreed with Smith’s assessment through his cross and reiterated: he told FBI agents there was “no point” going inside of the Capitol unless they were there to stop the certification.
“They didn’t achieve the goal they set out to in the agreement but that doesn’t mean the agreement didn’t happen,” Bertino said.
