Trump supporter Annie Howell, who was convicted of breaching a “sensitive space” of the U.S. Capitol during the MAGA assault on Jan. 6, told a sentencing judge on Wednesday that she feels “betrayed” because people close to Donald Trump “promised” her a White House job. Instead, she received a jail sentence and could lose custody of her child, Law And Crime reports.
According to court documents, the 31-year-old Pennsylvania woman recorded at least five videos that day, including one of her in a ransacked conference room in what prosecutors described as a “sensitive space” inside the Capitol building. In one of the videos, she can be heard leading a chant of “Whose house? Our house!” She also recorded multiple videos of law enforcement being attacked by the violent mob of Trump supporters who stormed the building in an effort to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden‘s win in the 2020 presidential election.
At her sentencing hearing Wednesday, Howell told the judge that she had been told by GOP officials that she would be rewarded for her dedication to keeping Trump in office, according to Law And Crime.
“I feel betrayed by the former president,” she said during the hearing. “I was promised things by people that were close to him, such as a job in the White House.”
“I Helped Set Up Security for Trump,” she said.
Howell elaborated on her connections to the GOP in Pennsylvania in a letter she filed with the court ahead of the sentencing hearing. She said that as a result of her work as a volunteer, she was invited to an “exclusive, invitation-only, dinner with Eric Trump” and became more “politically connected” after that.
“I was surrounded by Congressmen, Senators, even Trump advisers. I helped set up security for Trump and his family with the secret service,” Howell claimed in her letter.
“By this point in time I had a large social media following and was enthusiastic about the 2020 election and Donald Trump, my candidate,” she continued. “I was promised future benefits, including a possible White House job for my hard work, my loyalty and my dedication to Trump and his family. Immediately following the election, I was asked directly by a Trump adviser and supposed close friend to help collect affidavits from PA. residents in eight [8] Pennsylvania counties.”
Law And Crime also reported that “Howell has met with investigators for the House committee investigating Jan. 6” and has provided information that has been “investigated, verified and found to be valuable.”
But her cooperation didn’t change the fact that she committed a crime, prosecutors said.
“It doesn’t change the fact we still believe she is still deserving of incarceration in this matter,” prosecutor Benjamin Kringer said at the hearing Wednesday. In one video, according to prosecutors, Howell kept recording as rioters dragged three police officers down the stairs and brutally assaulted them. Howell can allegedly be heard yelling “fuck you” at the officers during this attack.
“It is difficult to understand how somebody can watch officers being hit with sticks, being kicked, being attacked with their own stolen riot shields, and cheer for those attacks to continue,” Kinger said at the hearing.
Read the original report on Law And Crime.
