Representing Jan. 6 defendants such as Richard "Bigo" Barnett, Christopher Quaglin and Ryan Taylor Nichols "has taken a profound toll on my health, my safety ... and my resources, whether professional, personal or emotional," Joseph McBride of New York City wrote in a filing Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia.
"An attempt was made on my life in April of 2022, almost certainly arising from this work," wrote McBride.
McBride made the comments in a filing in Quaglin's case.
Barnett is the Gravette man who, after a two-week jury trial in January, was found guilty of eight charges in connection with the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021. He faces a maximum of 47 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced May 3.
Barnett faced enhanced charges for carrying a stun gun into the Capitol, where he posed for photos with his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office suite.
Quaglin, a Jan. 6 defendant from New Jersey, is accused of attacking police officers with a stolen riot shield and spraying them with a chemical irritant. He remains in the District of Columbia jail pending trial.
Nichols, of Longview, Texas, is accused of carrying a crowbar and canister of pepper spray into the Capitol.
McBride was the lead attorney for Barnett, but he has since withdrawn from the case.
In Monday's filing, McBride wrote that he was suffering from a failed root canal during Barnett's trial.
Two weeks after the trial, McBride went to the emergency room and soon had emergency dental surgery to remove bone tissue from his jaw, according to the filing.
McBride wrote that he sought to postpone Barnett's trial until March so he could get medical treatment earlier, but his motion was denied.
McBride's filing on Monday was in response to a show cause order from U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.
After several delays in Quaglin's case, McFadden ordered McBride and Jonathan Gross, who represents Quaglin and Barnett, to show cause as to why they shouldn't be referred to the court's Committee on Grievances for violation of professional conduct rules concerning competence, diligence and "candor to the tribunal."
The delays came to a head when McBride filed a motion to withdraw from Quaglin's case on March 6 -- a month before his scheduled trial -- saying Gross could serve as his lead attorney. McBride wrote that he needed to focus on Nichols' case.
But Gross informed McFadden afterwards that he had never practiced criminal law before September when he began working on Barnett's case, and he had no intention of serving as Quaglin's lead attorney.
In his response to McFadden's show cause order, Gross wrote that he intended to find a new lead attorney for the Quaglin case, and Gross would continue to help in a secondary role.
Gross is also working with Barnett as his sentencing approaches. Bradford L. Geyer of Cinnaminson, N.J., also remains on Barnett's legal team. McBride and Carolyn Stewart of Plant City, Fla., filed motions to withdraw as Barnett's attorneys of record. U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper, who presided over Barnett's trial, granted those motions on April 6.
In August, McBride first asked for a continuance of Quaglin's trial, which was then scheduled to begin Oct. 3.
McBride said he would be undergoing medical treatments for two or three months, which would make it difficult to prepare for the trial. McBride said he didn't have "an exact timetable regarding recovery," according to a footnote in Judge McFadden's order.
In Monday's filing, McBride wrote that he has had covid-19 twice, "both times with very severe symptoms," and tests revealed that he also had an underlying medical condition related to exposure to the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease.
In his March 23 show cause order, McFadden wrote that he "has doubts that McBride's initial continuance request was made in good faith."
The judge noted that, during the time he was to be be undergoing treatments and recovery, McBride kept filing documents in the case of another Jan. 6 defendant, did media interviews, spoke to a local committee about his fight for the "January 6 political prisoners," and continued to tweet at length about Quaglin's "troubling detention conditions ... despite not filing anything on his behalf."
"In early November 2022, McBride posted pictures of himself on the beach at Mar-a-Lago and inside former President Trump's 2024 campaign announcement party," wrote the judge, referring to Twitter posts.
In his response on Monday, McBride wrote that he has a residence in Palm Beach, Fla., which is where Mar-a-Lago is located.
McBride wrote that he often goes to Florida when it gets cold in New York City, where he also has a residence.
"In November of 2022, I was invited to the home of a former President of the United States for a political event, which I was pleased and honored to attend," wrote McBride.
"The healing warmth of South Florida notwithstanding, the effects on my compromised immune system were taking their toll, and in December of 2022, I required extensive treatment for several related acute dental conditions stemming from a failed root canal procedure on the lower right side of my mouth that I had received years earlier."
McBride wrote that he continued to do interviews to alert people to Quaglin's "plight" as a detainee in the District of Columbia jail.