10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE JANUARY 6TH ATTACK ON THE U.S. CAPITOL, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C INTERVIEW OF: DION CINI Thursday, May 19, 2022 Washington, D.C. The deposition in the above matter was held via Webex, commencing at 10:00 a.m.Appearances: For the SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE JANUARY 6TH ATTACK ON THE U.S. CAPITOL: HS)“ 8VESTIGATIVE COUNSEL SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE ASSISTANT10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 a: morning. It is May 19th, 2022. And this is the deposition of Mr. Dion Cini, conducted by the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol pursuant to House Resolution 563. This will bea staff led deposition. The members may choose to ask questions, and at this time, I'd ask the witness to please state your full name and spell your last name for the record. The Witness, Sure. My name is Dion Cini, C-I-N-I. All right. And I introduce myself previously, but my name is I'm the investigative counsel with the Select Committee. There is no other staff on the call right now and also there are other members on the call. Under House deposition rules, Neither committee members nor staff may discuss the substance of the testimony -- of your testimony today unless the committee approves release. And then I'11 also note that under House rules, you may have an attorney present, but counsel for other individuals or attorneys from other government agencies may not be, and therefore not present today. I'll just note for the record that you're not represented by counsel today, but you are aware that you have that option. And then also what has previously been marked as Exhibit 1 is the Select Committee's March 23, 2022 subpoena for Mr. Dion Cini and the House deposition rules were included in that10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 subpoena as an exhibit. As I mentioned just before we got on the record, there’ an official reporter that's going to be transcribing the deposition today and everything that we said So just to make our job a little bit easier, if you can try to wait until I finished my question before you start your answer. It's very difficult for the reporter to transcribe two people speaking at the same time. And then sort of along those same lines, we can only transcribe verbal responses. So just make sure that you use a verbal response instead of something Like a head shake. I know we all do that in conversation sometimes, so I'll just remind you, if I see you shake your head just to ask you to give a verbal response Does that all make sense? The Witness Yes, it does. | Okay. And then today all that I'm asking you to do is provide complete answers to the best of your recollection. So if a question is not clear or you don't know the answer, feel free to just ask for aclarification or just tell me, I don't know. That'll probably happen today, and that's absolutely fine You're obligated to answer all of my questions unless you are going to assert a privilege recognized by the committee10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 privilege such as the Fifth Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination. If you do choose to assert any sort of privilege like that, we can either pause the deposition and seek a ruling from the chairman on that privilege assertion, or we'll just note the assertion and then continue on. And then this is -- sorry. Lots of housekeeping rules to go over before I get started. And feel free to slow me down or tell me to stop it if you have any questions. But I also need to provide you a warning that we provide to every witness that we talked to, which is that it's unlawful to deliberately provide false information to Congress. So providing false information during this deposition could result in criminal penalties for perjury or providing false statements Does that make sense to you? The Witness. Yes, it does. | Okay. Now, with that being said, I do want to be clear that this is a congressional investigation and not a criminal investigation. We are not involved in any work that the DOJ or FBI is doing. We are not partners in their investigation. They're not partners of ours. And so I just want to make sure that you understand that distinction The Witness. Yes, sir.10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 | | And then let me know at any point if you need to take a break. I normally try to remember to take about a five-minute break every hour or so, and I don't expect that we'll go much over two hours So we'll probably take a break in there, And then if you need a break at any other time, feel free to say so And then, as I noted before we go on the Record, I'll be asking most of the questions. There might be a time that another staff member pops on the call or a member of the committee to ask you some questions. And I'll try to make sure to alert you that somebody else has joined the call if that happens. And then lastly, because this is a deposition, you'll be under oath. And so I'll just ask you to raise your right hand to be sworn The Reporter. Do you solemnly swear and affirm under the penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? The Witness. I do. The Reporter. Thank you.10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 EXAMINATION BY Q ALL those ground rules are out of the way, So we can start with some simple stuff. If you could just tell me or describe your kind of educational and professional background, that would be helpful A Can I start with a statement? Q Sure. Yeah. If you have a statement that you'd like to make, go for it. A Sure. It is my pleasure to be here today with the Select Committee. I have provided what I believe is the only single document and recording that I could assist with The Select Committee's investigation that I could locate, as per the vague guidelines regarding documents and communications of constitutionally protected political activity for information outside of my custody. It's very well documented with a simple Google search that I am and always have been a peaceful and lawful demonstrator. I have what many call a loner. And while some people believe that I may be part of fringe political organizations and not. The leaders and followers of said fringe political organizations have more of a fascination with me than I do of them It's always been my belief that when you walk alone, you're10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 only responsible for yourself and not of others. With that said, I respectfully invoke my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on the grounds that answering questions may incriminate me Q Mr. Cini, Just to let you know, the way that we do this is when somebody chooses to invoke the Fifth Amendment, you have to do that as to each question that I ask you? So we're still we're still going to go through the deposition. I'm still going to ask you a series of questions and then you'll need to think about the question and what your response would be and decide if the response to that question would potentially or could potentially be used against you in a criminal prosecution. Then you can invoke that Fifth Amendment right, but you should listen to the question and then think about the implications of raising the Fifth Amendment before you do that. Does that make sense to you? A Yes, sir. Q Okay. So again, I'11 just ask you if you could tell me a little bit about your educational and professional background? A I respectfully invoke my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on the grounds that answer ing questions may incriminate me Q Okay. Again, I just want to ask, is it your belief that telling me about your educational background could be used10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 against you inacriminal case. And that is that that is evidence of Having committed a crime? A No. Q Okay. So, you know, I understand that there might be some questions that I ask you that might raise those concerns for you. But I'd encourage you if your answer is no to that question that I just asked you, that you don't believe that your educational background is going to be incriminating, then we cover some of those basic questions. And then when I raise kind of more specific questions that do concern you, then you can assert your Fifth Amendment right? If you continue to want to assert your Fifth Amendment right to that question, that's your right to do so. But I will let you know that there potentially later could be a challenge to that assertion. The chairman might overrule the assertion, or we might have to call you back and read conduct a deposition once a ruling has been made on your assertion of that right. Does that all make sense? At Yeon cit Q Okay. SoI'11 just ask you one more time. Can you kind of give me a run through of your educational and professional background? A High school education. And I guess you could say I'm self-educated in technology, software and network infrastructure.10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 Q 10 Okay. And how about professionally? What do you do as your primary source of income? A Right now, I guess you could say, I'm out of work -- semi -- out of work at the moment Q What did you do when you were employed? A Sales. Q Okay. And do you have any sources of income right now? A Very little. Q Where are those Little -- where are those sources of ‘income? A Manufacturing Toys, Small toys. Q Yeah. Okay. And amIright that you run or have in the past run a business selling Trump-related paraphernalia like flags and that sort of thing? > ere reo FO FO > Yeah, on very small basis Okay. And do you still do that? Yes. And do you receive some sort of income from that? Sorry? And do you receive some sort of income from that? Yes. Do you have any prior military service? Yes. Okay. Can you tell me about that? United States Marine Corps Reserve.10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 a Q And how long did you serve in the Marines? A Sorry? Q And how long did you serve in the Marines? A Three years Q I'LL ask you and also, | | our court reporter, am I coming through Clearly? Sometimes -- A It's breaking up. It's mumbling in the beginning of the question almost every time. The Court Reporter. Yes. Hoy. oid on, 1'm going to switch my audio quickly. All right. How's that? Is that a Little better? The Witness. I think so. The Court Reporter. Yes a Q So one more time for me, How long did you serve in the Marines? A Three years And when was that? 1991. Okay. Till '94, approximately? Yeah. o> ere So you and I have talked a little bit previously, and now with your statement, you said that you, I think, are not10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 2 associated with -- you didn't name any organizations, But is it right that you are not a member of the Proud Boys? A I respectfully invoke my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on the grounds that answering questions may incriminate crime. Q Okay. And you -- feel free, Instead of saying that whole statement, you can just say the Fifth or plead the Fifth Just to make things a little bit more efficient time-wise? A Okay. Q Are you familiar with the Proud Boys organization? A I plead the Fifth. Q Could you characterize your current relationship with the Proud Boys or members of the Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth Q Was your relationship with the Proud Boys or members of the Proud Boys different in 2020 than it is today? AI plead the Fifth. Q Can you tell me when you first Learned of the Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth. Q Could you name some Proud Boys for me that you are familiar with or that you've met? A I plead the Fifth. Q Are you a member of the Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth Q We're going to talk today a little bit about January 6th10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 B and your attendance at some of the events of January 6th? One kind of preliminary questioners want to ask you is on January 6th, did you wear a pouch -- I'm sorry -- a patch on some of your clothing indicating or using the name Proud Boys A I plead the Fifth. Q Have you ever attended events with Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth Q I'd like to look at an exhibit quickly. This is a document that you provided. I'll Pull it up on the screen so that you can see it? And I just want to ask you some questions about this document that you provided. Can you see that screen and that - A Yes. Q Okay. Iwant to draw your attention to the bottom, two the messages that you sent above -- And I can zoom in if you want me to zoom in? A I'm Okay. I see it. Q Okay. This is Exhibit 4, a document that you produced to us, and it appears to be messages exchanged with Mr. Enrique Torrio. The messages, according to the document -- or sorry The messages appear to have been exchanged on Telegram; Is that correct, these messages with Mr. Torrio on Telegram? A I plead the Fifth. Q And in these messages you are discussing with him an incident that occurred at a church where some property was10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 4 destroyed. And you say to Mr. Torrio, quote, "I used to tell everybody that show me one picture, one video of a Proud Boy destroying property and I won't be in the club," end quote? Is that a message that you sent? A I plead the Fifth. Q And I just want to ask you about the specific phrase "I won't be in the club." When I read that, that implies to me that you are currently in the club and that you would no longer be if you saw property destroyed; Is that correct? A I plead the Fifth. Q Okay. I'll stop sharing this Exhibit 4. I'd like to ask about some events that you organized in the past. And I correct that you've organized some political events in support of former President Trump? A I plead the Fifth. Q At these events, Have you ever invited prop boys to attend? A I plead the Fifth. Q Have you ever given money to the Proud Boys or a member of the Proud Boys in support of their activities? A I plead the Fifth. Q Do you know Mr. Enrique Torrio? A I plead the Fifth. Q Ihave a series of questions about Mr. Torrio and your relationship with him?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 15 Would it be your intention to plead the Fifth with respect to any questions about Mr. Torrio? A Yes. Q I've got some questions about your relationship with some other individuals as well. The first one being Mr. Roger Stone. Do you know Mr. Roger Stone? A I plead the Fifth Q Have you ever worked with Mr. Roger Stone in organizing any of the events that -- events related to support for President Trump? A I plead the Fifth. Q Okay. Again, I have a series of questions about Mr Roger Stone and your relationship with him and activities with him? Is it your intention of pleading the Fifth With respect to all questions about Mr. Stone? A Yes. Q Ihave some questions about members of the Trump family and occasions on which you may have met them or participated in activities with them. The first is about a boat rally or a series of boat rallies during the 2020 election season? Did you hold a boat rally or a series of boat rallies during that time? A I plead the Fifth Q Did you have as attendees at one of your rallies Either10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 16 Eric Trump or Don Jr., as he's commonly referred to? A I plead the Fifth Q Okay. Are there any other members of the Trump family that you've had contact with other than Eric or Don Jr.? A I plead the Fifth. Q How about President Trump. Have you ever spoken to President Trump? A I plead the Fifth. Q Have you ever worked with the Trump campaign -- Well, I'll ask that question first. Have you ever worked with the Trump campaign? A I plead the Fifth Q Have you ever spoken to Mr. Trump or any members of his family About the Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth. Q How about any members of his campaign? Have you Spoken to anybody at the Trump campaign about the Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth. Q I've got a few questions about the types of communication you may have used with Mr. Torrio or other members of the Proud Boys? I think the message that we looked at previously that was exhibited before was a telegram message. Have you ever used telegram to communicate with any other Proud Boys?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 v7 A I plead the Fifth. Q And how about Signal? Have you ever used Signal to communicate with any Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth Q Do you have a Parler account? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you ever follow Mr. Enrique Torrio on Parler? A I plead the Fifth. Q And then I'm going to use the term "group chat" to refer generally to messages with groups either on the Signal or Telegram or any similar messaging app, either encrypted or unencrypted? Were you ever part of many group chats with members of the Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth. Q And how about any group chats related to January 6th or planning for January 6th or planning to attend events on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q I'm going to ask you about some different events in the post-election period -- election period in November 2020 and early 2021? So when I say that, I'm talking about November, December 2020 and the early part of January 2021 And before I do that, I just kind of want to understand your10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 18 mindset going into some of these events And your purpose for attending them, if you did. So my first question is about the 2020 presidential election and concerns over election integrity, Did you have concerns about the legitimacy or integrity of the 2020 election? A I plead the Fifth. Q And if you did have concerns, can you tell me when you first started having concerns about election integrity in 2020? A I plead the Fifth. Q Let's talk about Election Day, November 3rd, 2020. Can you tell me what you did on Election Day? A I plead the Fifth Q Allright. Now, let's talk about some specific events held in the post-election period, starting with November 14th, 2020, Did you attend a rally in Washington, D.C. on November 14th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you ever have any contact with any Proud Boys about rallies in D.C. on November 14th? A I plead the Fifth. Q I have a series of questions about events and rallies held in D.C. on November 14th. Is it your intention to plead the Fifth with respect to all those questions? A Yes. Q And then there was another large event held in D.C. on December 12th. Did you attend the rallies in D.C. on December10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 19 12th? A I plead the Fifth Q Okay. And then same thing or December 12th, Did you ever discuss those events with any Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth. Q And again, I have a series of questions about the events at D.C. on December 12th and Proud Boys activities on those days? Would it be your intention to plead the Fifth with respect to any questions about December 12th or otherwise present in D.C. on December 12th. A Yes. I plead the Fifth. Q Let's move then to talking about the events on January 5th and January 6th, 20217 And my first question for you is, when did you first become aware that there were going to be rallies in Washington, D.C. on January 6th? AI plead the Fifth. Q Are you aware of tweets from President Trump on December 19th about the events planned for January 6th? AI plead the Fifth. Q What was your understanding about the significance of the date January 6th? What have you understood is going to be happening on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q On December 19th, the Tweet that I mentioned from the10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 20 President about the events on January 6th? In summary, he calls people to attend the, quote, “wild protests" that would be in D.C. on that day. Would you have attended those -- Well, actually, first, I'm going to ask, Were you present in D.C. on January 6th? A I Plead the Fifth. Q Would you have attended the events on January 6th, Or was it the President calling people to attend events on January 6th that caused you to attend the events on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Can you just tell me In general, we can start kind of What are your plans for January 5th and 6th? Why were you attending? Who were you going with? A I plead the Fifth Q Did you communicate with any Proud Boys about your plans to attend the events in D.C. on January 6th? AI plead the Fifth. Q Did you ever speak to Mr. Torrio about his plans or the Proud Boys plans for the events of January 6th? AI plead the Fifth. Q Did you ever talk to Mr. Torrio about specific events that he planned to attend on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q So Mr. Torrio described to you how he thought the events of January 6th were going to unfold?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 21 A I plead the Fifth. Q Iwant to look at a document that you providedus. It's another screenshot of some telegram messages with Mr. Torrio? This is what's been previously marked as Exhibit 12 Are you able to see that? A Yes. Q And these are messages. It appears they were sent on February 24th. Again, these look like telegram messages with Mr. Enrique Torrio, as you had previously represented in emails to me? And I want to draw your attention to the first two messages. And I'm just going to read for the record what you stated in these messages to Mr. Torrio. You said, "I'm not your enemy. I just don't like your leadership style. You had tons of opportunities to turn the PBs around and you never taken it." And then the second message sent at 10:44 a.m. on February 24th, 2021, says, "And then when you finally speak up, you say PBs shouldn't have gone in after you say you're going to go in. Not right at all. That certainly doesn't help their case." I wanted to ask you, when did Mr. Torrio tell you that he was going to go in? A I plead the Fifth. Q When you say, "go in," Are you referring to going into the Capitol?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 2 A I plead the Fifth. Q You know, I'11 just state, my reading of this message is that at some point before this message and as I read it before January 6th, Mr. Torrio had told you that he was going to go into the Capitol? Is that an accurate reading of these messages? A I plead the Fifth Q Did any other Proud Boys tell you that they were going to go into the Capitol? A I plead the Fifth. Q Were you aware of plans by Proud Boys to enter the Capitol on January 6th? A Sorry. Can you repeat that? Q Were you aware of any plans by any members of the Proud Boys to enter the Capitol on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Okay. I'm going to bring down this exhibit and pull up another exhibit, not a document that you provided us, but this is the indictment of Mr. Enrique Torrio? And there are a couple assertions made in the indictment that I want to ask you about. And You can tell me if you have any knowledge of what's in the indictment. So I'm going to pull up Exhibit 13. Okay. And can you see what's marked as exhibit 13 on your screen? A Yep.10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 23 Q Okay. A Yes. Q That's fine. And again, this is the indictment of Mr. Enrique Torrio, member of the Proud Boys, from February 14th 2022. And I want to draw your attention to page 12, Exhibit -- paragraph 41 of the indictment Are you able to read paragraph 41? I can zoom in on it if you need me to do that. A I see it. Q Okay. Paragraph 41 discusses a document that was apparently shared by an unnamed individual, Mr. Torrio. It’ a nine-page document that was titled in "1776 Returns?” In that document, according to the indictment, detailed a plan to occupy crucial buildings in Washington, D.C., including some House and Senate office buildings around the Capitol. Have you ever heard of this document called 1776 Returns? A I plead the Fifth. Q Ihave a series of questions about further questions about Mr. Torrio's planning for January 6th and some specific questions about this document called 1776 Returns? Would it be your intention to plead the Fifth to any questions about those topics? A Yes Q Okay. Let's step back a little bit to pre-January 6th10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 24 and any planning or preparation that you engaged in before going to D.C.? And I just want to ask, did you do any fundraising in relation to January 6th or activities on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you help anybody else with their own fundraising for January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you help Proud Boys raise money for attendance at D.C. on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Are you aware of Mr. Roger Stone conduct ing a fundraiser for security and communications related to January 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q Okay. I'd like to ask you about your own preparation for January 5th or January 6th? In particular, I just want to ask about any equipment that you brought with you or anything that you purchased in advance of January 6th. And I'll focus first on things like body armor or helmets or protective equipment. Can you tell me what sort of protective equipment you brought with you to generate January 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q I'm going to pull up what has been premarked as exhibit10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 25 2. Are you able to see this photograph? A Yes. Q Okay. This is, again, exhibit 2, a photograph from Instagram that appears to be you in front of the United States Capitol on January 6th. Is that accurate? Is this you in D.C in front of the Capitol on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q And I wanted to ask you about some of the -- what appears to be protective equipment that you're wearing. It appears to be some sort of body armor, vest and also a helmet Can you tell me why you wear those protective equipment? A I plead the Fifth Q Did you bring any sort of weapons with you on January 5th or January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q How about communications devices? Did you bring a radio or anything like that to communicate with other people on the ground On January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q So again, just in the days leading up to January 6th, days and weeks leading up to that time period, I just want to ask about communications you might have had with people involved in the planning for January 6th? Did you have any communications with rally organizers that were planning events on January 5th or January 6th?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 26 A I plead the Fifth. Q So I have a series of questions about individuals that I have been involved in -- or were involved in fighting for January 5th and January 6th? Would it be your intention to invoke the Fifth Amendment for any questions on that topic? A Yes Q I'm just going to quickly ask some specific ones? Are you aware of an organization called Women for America First? A I Plead the Fifth. Q How about an individual that works for that organization named Charles Bowman. Do you know Mr. Bowman? A I plead the Fifth Q How about Mr. Ali Alexander? Are You familiar with him? A Sorry. I didn't hear that name. Q How about Mr. Ali Alexander? Are you familiar with him? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you discuss any plans for January 5th or 6th with Mr. Alexander? A I plead the Fifth. Q How about Mr. Roger Stone? I think we've already talked about -- any discussions with them about January 5th or 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q How about any discussion with any elected officials10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 7 or -- any discussions with any elected officials about January 5th or January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Any discussions with any members or employees of the White House related to January 5th or January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q We've talked about Proud Boys. There are a couple other organizations I want to ask if you're familiar with and if you communicated with them in relation to any planning for January 5th or January 6th? The first of those groups is the Oath Keepers. Are you familiar with the Oath Keepers? A I plead the Fifth. Q How about any communications with them regarding the events of January Sth and 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q And then same question for a group called the First Amendment for Tureens (ph). Are you familiar with that group? A I plead the Fifth. Q And Did you have any communications with them regarding January 5th or January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q And then the Three Percenters. Do you know what the Three Percenters -- Are you familiar with an organization called Three Percenters?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 28 A I plead the Fifth. Q And any communications with any Three Percenters about January 5th or 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q How did you travel to D.C. for those January Sth and January 6th events? A I plead the Fifth Q What day did you travel to D.C.? A I plead the Fifth. Q Can you tell me where you stayed in D.C. when you were present here for the January 6th events? A I plead the Fifth Q Can you tell me what day you arrived in D.C. In early January? A I plead the Fifth. Q If you were present in January -- in D.C. on January 5th, did you take part in any meetings related to planning for the 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Can we start -- just broadly for January 6th, Can you tell me what your what your plan was for that day? What kind of events did you expect to attend and what did you think was going to happen on that day? A I plead the Fifth Q Did you have any -- did you meet any Proud Boys on10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 29 January 6th in Washington D.C.? A I plead the Fifth Q Can you tell me why you wore a patch on your vest that says, "Proud Boys"? A I plead the Fifth. Q I'll stop sharing this screen? Did you march with any Proud Boys towards the Capitol On January 6th. A No. Q Can you tell me where you got the patch that you wore on your vest that day, the Proud Boys patch? A I plead the Fifth Q Did you talk to any Proud Boys? A I plead the Fifth Q Can you just describe to me -- in that photo you appear to be close to the Capitol. Just describe to me when you Arrived near the Capitol and where you went around the Capitol grounds? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you observe any members of any police forces while you were around the Capitol grounds? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you see any signs restricting access to the Capitol grounds? A I plead the Fifth Q How about any barriers preventing physical access to the10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 30 grounds? A I plead the Fifth Q Did you see anybody engaging violently with police on January 6th around the Capitol grounds? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you engage with any police in a violent manner on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Did you enter the Capitol on January 6th? Ke Noe Q So I am-- I recognize that you're pleading the Fifth. There is an issue that I'll just alert you to when selectively pleading the Fifth. There's concern of a waiver, and that is that if they're going to choose to answer questions on a topic, you will need to answer all the questions on that topic? And so I understand that you're willing to answer that you were not in the Capitol. Will you describe to me how close you came to the Capitol? A I don't recall. Q I'm just going to pull up exhibit 2 again, and we can use this sort of as a reference? Do you recall where you were when this picture was taken or any landmarks that were near you? A I don't recall Q Is this you in the photo?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 31 A I plead the Fifth. Q Were you chatting using any messaging systems like Signal or Telegram with any Proud Boys on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q There were some specific group chats that the Proud Boys had created for planning on January Sth and January 6th. I want to ask you if you were part of any of those? One was called Boots on the Ground. Were you a part of a chat called Boots on the Ground? A I plead the Fifth. Q And how about a chat called MOSD or Ministry of Self Defense? Have you ever heard the term Ministry of Self Defense? A I plead the Fifth. Q Can you just tell me what you did when you were around the Capitol? A I plead the Fifth. Q You told me that you did not enter the Capitol. Can you tell me why you didn’t enter the Capitol? A I plead the Fifth. Q And then I take it at some point you left the Capitol grounds or the area around the Capitol. Can you tell me what caused you to leave? A I plead the Fifth. Q And then let's talk about the evening of January 6th -- actually, First question, are you familiar with the10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 32 Phoenix Park Hotel? A I'm sorry, the what? Q The Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C A I plead the Fifth Q Okay. What did you do on the evening of January 6th after the rally was all around the Capitol? A I plead the Fifth Q On January 6th -- or after January 6th, when did you return -- Did you return to New York after January 6th? A I plead the Fifth. Q Can you tell me when you returned? A I plead the Fifth Q Okay. I have a series of questions about your activities after January 6th. Would it be your intention to plead the Fifth to Any questions on that topic? A Yes. Q Okay. After January 6th, When was the next time that you either spoke to or messaged with or had any communications with Mr. Torrio? AI plead the Fifth. Q Okay. We're getting near the end of my questions, and I appreciate you patiently listening to each of those questions and asserting your Fifth Amendment right? I wanted to finish with some questions about your ‘interactions with the FBI or DOJ. Have you met with the FBI or10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 33 DOJ related to events on January 6th? A I plead the Fifth Q Okay. Again, I just want to make sure you're thinking about what it means to assert the Fifth Amendment right -- [inaudible] A I'm sorry. I just missed after what you said there Q Iwas saying, I just wanted to remind you again and make sure you're kind of thinking about what it means to plead the Fifth and let you know that we ask all witnesses, basically, if they've spoken to FBI or DOJ, and many have? They've obviously spoken to a lot of people. So I'd encourage you to answer this set of questions just about your interactions with the FBI or DOJ. But if you still conclude that you'd like to assert your Fifth Amendment right, that's fine A Okay. Q But I'll just ask one more time. Have you ever met with the DOJ About January 6th? A Yes. Q Okay. And how many times did you meet with them? A Once. Q And when was that? A No, I don't recall. Q Was it last year Sometime in 2021? A Last year, yes Q Okay. And can you just tell me generally what they10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 24 25 34 asked you about or what your conversation was with them? A Basically, they asked me about this picture. And they -- I believe why was I carrying a Trump 2024 flag. And did Lenter the Capitol? It's a couple of a few of the same questions you asked me. It was a very short meeting. Q Okay. Did you plead the Fifth when you met with the FBI and the DOJ about those questions? A No. Q All right. Did you give them any documents or turned over any hardware, like a cell phone or a computer or anything like that? A No. Q Okay. And then after that first meeting, any other contact with the FBI or DOJ? A No. Q Did they ask you -- I had previously asked you about some group messages with the Proud Boys, one in particular related to an entity or term, the Ministry of Self Defense? Did they ask you about messages with the Proud Boys about the Ministry of Self Defense? A No, it's the first time I've ever heard that use of that term. Q Okay. Just give me one or two minutes to look over my notes and make sure there wasn't anything else I need to ask you about, But I think we're almost finished here?10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 18 19 20 21 2 23 35 Okay. Ihave no more questions for you. Is there anything you want to discuss before we go off the record? A Yeah. The only thing I did forget to tell you is when -- I only did carry a Trump 2024 flag. I forgot to mention that in my opening statement on that flagpole at the top of the flagpole. On top of my flagpole, it said "Trump 2024." Q This is about you -- A I forgot to add that to my opening statement that I was only there with a Trump 2024 flag. Q Okay. So your opening statement would have included that you were present in D.C. on January 6th carrying a 2024 for Flag? A Yes. Q Okay. Allright. Well, then Thanks very much for your time, Mr. Cini. That's all I have for you today? We are going to leave this deposition open and just put it into recess, since you did plead the Fifth. And the committee will have to make some determinations about how we're going to move forward with those privilege claims. But I appreciate your time this morning. We will go off the record at 10:57. [Whereupon, at 10:57 a.m., the deposition was recessed subject to the call of the chair.]10 a 2 B 14 15 16 v 36 Certificate of Deponent/Interviewee T have read the foregoing pages, which contain the correct transcript of the answers made by me to the questions therein recorded. Witness Name Date