- A federal judge questioned the "
QAnon Shaman " and his lawyer over a "60 Minutes+" interview. - Chansley appeared in a wild jailhouse interview this week on the Paramount+ show.
- The judge asked whether the lawyer attempted "subterfuge" in arranging the interview.
A federal judge on Friday questioned the self-described "QAnon Shaman" and his lawyer following his appearance this week on 60 Minutes+, pressing them about whether they went through the necessary channels to set up an interview.
According to reports from Politico and The Washington Post, US District Judge Royce Lamberth on Friday expressed irritation and questioned Chansley, known as the "QAnon Shaman," and his lawyer, Albert Watkins, about how his appearance this week on CBS News came to be.
"Can you tell me how that came about?" Lamberth asked the lawyer. "It seems to me that you visited as a subterfuge."
According to the reports, Lamberth reminded Chansley and his lawyer about the proper policy for interviews, which requires obtaining prior approval from the US Attorney's office, the judge, and the individuals in charge of the detention facility.
Chansley is currently detained at the Alexandria Detention Center just outside of Washington, DC.
"There's no subterfuge here, at all," Watkins said, using the term that means attempted deception. "I did not under any circumstances try to conduct subterfuge to this court, certainly, and not to the facility where my client is currently housed."
"It's just not my style," he added.
But Watkins told the judge he hadn't informed the jail prior to the interview and he had only informed the jail that the video conference would be between him and his client.
"The jail was only told this was an attorney-client interview video. I asked for a Zoom conference with him," Watkins said. "I didn't tell them it was for an interview with '60 Minutes.'"
Following the court hearing Friday, the judge publicly released an email from February that outlined the proper requirements for granting permission for a jailhouse interview with Chansley.
Chansley faces six charges related to the insurrection, Insider previously reported. Video footage, photographs, FBI testimony, and court documents say that he was one of the first people to breach the US Capitol.
While inside, he fought with Capitol police officers and left a note on Vice President Mike Pence's dais in the Senate chamber that said "it's only a matter of time, justice is coming."
During the interview that first aired Thursday, Chansley told CBS News that his actions during the January 6 siege on the US Capitol "were not an attack on this country."
"That is incorrect," he said. "That is inaccurate, entirely."