Judge denies Jan. 6 defendant’s request to travel to inauguration with ex-Rep. Chris Stewart

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has denied a request from a Jan. 6 defendant to travel to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, after former Utah Rep. Chris Stewart invited the man and wrote to the judge on his behalf.

Stewart called Russell Taylor a “man of integrity and faith who has served those who are less fortunate” and spoke of Taylor’s business and family life in asking the judge for permission for Taylor to attend the inaugural festivities in Washington, D.C. Taylor remains on probation after pleading guilty to obstructing an official proceeding related to his role in the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and must obtain permission to travel.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth denied Taylor’s request on Friday, noting that Taylor received “an unusually lenient sentence” in part because of his “otherwise law-abiding life.”

“However, Mr. Taylor’s good traits and adherence to his terms of probation are of only marginal importance to the motion at hand,” Lamberth wrote. “Mr. Taylor’s motion presents only the narrow question of whether a person who conspired and acted to thwart the peaceful transfer of power four years ago with incitement, threats, and weapons should now be granted special permission to attend the celebration of the peaceful transfer of power. The answer to that question is ‘no,’ whether or not he is, generally speaking, a good person.”

Taylor, of California, was charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding after prosecutors alleged he helped organize a “group of fighters” to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Court documents say he traveled to Washington with the goal of intimidating Congress “to reject the certification of the 2020 electoral college vote.”

He is alleged to have given a backpack full of weapons — a knife, stun baton, two hatchets, and carbon fiber gloves — to another codefendant to bring to Washington, and prosecutors say he had a backpack with a hatchet and stun baton at the Capitol on Jan. 6. During the riot, he “pushed past police barricades, encouraged fellow rioters to push against a police line where officers were being visibly assaulted, joined the assault himself and repeatedly threatened the police,” Lamberth wrote.

Taylor acknowledged in texts later that day that he had weapons throughout the riot, Lamberth wrote.

“When asked what would happen next, he replied, ‘Insurrection!'” Lamberth said.

In his letter to the federal judge last month, Stewart said he had invited Taylor, his wife and three children to attend Trump’s second inauguration. He also said that “three other current members of the Utah congressional delegation join with me in extending this invitation,” but did not name the other members of the delegation.

Spokespersons for Reps. Blake Moore, Burgess Owens, Celeste Maloy and then-Rep. John Curtis told KSL.com in December the lawmakers had not extended invitations. Utah Sen. Mike Lee did not respond to a request for comment.

Taylor’s attorney told NBC News last month his client had common friends with Stewart, and met the congressman after he was sentenced.

Trump has pledged to pardon Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in the Oval Office and has repeatedly tried to recast the attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election as a “day of love.”