The Lectern Guy

The Lectern Guy: Adam Johnson | Counterlawfare Institute Interview

Hans Mahncke: Adam Johnson, thank you so much for agreeing to talk to us here at the Counterlawfare Institute I always thought your story was, one that really needed to be told at a very visceral level because I saw you like everyone else in the world. Of course, I had no idea who you were. As this guy carrying the lectern on January 6th. And you just struck me as this kind of a normal dude. And then of course, all this terror rained down on you. Arrest, jail, years of like, just languishing in this horrible state and so on and so forth. Let's, go back to that day and how sort of how did you end up being in DC on January 6th? How did that all start?

Adam Johnson: It started, probably a couple years prior. I was not a political guy growing up. I was very, just kind of middle of the road. But you know, as you get older, you get a family, you have kids, it's almost incumbent upon you to make sure you are involved because we wanna leave the country, you know, in a better place for our kids than how we received it. At least that's how I believe good parents should choose to live. So I started watching politics back in around 2016, during Trump's first term, and we saw a couple of really good years. We saw the economy stabilizing. We saw jobs growth. We saw a lot of things that I'm for. We saw, A big thing too was also was the, was the anti-war Trump of 2016. I have five sons, and they were all approaching draft age. They're older now, and we just I didn't wanna send my kids to a forever war again. So we're watching everything that happens, and Covid hits. The lockdowns hit. The constitutional rights of being able to go to church are just stomped all over. I think we had three SCOTUS cases, two out of California, one out of New York. And when we're watching our freedoms being taken like that, we're watching kids unable to graduate from high school, or loved ones who are dying in hospitals and you can't even be with them in their dying moments. And then you couple that with the BLM Summer of Love riots that happened all over the country, and then you throw in the third thing, which is, you know, the shenanigans that happened during the election. I think, I think a lot of us felt the same thing, this is just too much, and we have to show up and we have to have our voices heard. And whether we had a plan or knew what was gonna happen, I think is, I think a lot of it just didn't matter. I think a lot of us just knew it was our responsibility as Americans to go speak out.

Hans Mahncke: But you were not part of any group or anything. No. You and your friend just said, "Hey, let's just fly up there."

Adam Johnson: This was, two weeks before January 6th actually. We were in the middle of planning a large party at the house, and I was talking to my buddy. We both jujitsu together. And he's like, "Hey, do you wanna go up to this rally?" And I'd never been to a Trump rally before. This was, supposed to be the last rally he was gonna have because, you know, Biden was gonna be put into office. And we decided to go up there and see what the magic and what all the hubbub was about.

Hans Mahncke: I think this is so important to sort of appreciate this, is you're just a random dude who just decided- this is the last Trump rally. Let- let's, let's go and there's actual, actually, like, social media posts on the way up-

Adam Johnson: Yes

Hans Mahncke: Where you sort of, say, "Hey, we're at another airport here, and we're-" Mm-hmm 'cause I think you you had to connect a few times and so on, and it seemed like an adventure, a little adventure.

Adam Johnson: That's it. That's it. It was an adventure. I was a stay-at-home dad for a handful of years when the kids were young, and I didn't really have adventures because when your kids are young, you gotta be home. So this is actually one of the first times that I think I left the house and actually traveled somewhere in a handful of years. So we were excited to get out and just, you know, just live a little bit.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah. And again, you're, you're just I mean, I've, I've gotten to know you a little bit here, ahead of this interview, and, I cannot emphasize enough that you are just the most- normal guy you could ever wish to meet. You have a wife. She- Yeah she happens to be a doctor. Mm-hmm. You have five kids. You were a stay-at-home dad, but you were also a carpenter, but you also studied medicine. Mm-hmm. And you're just as normal as they come, and yet, you know, you were dragged into this and then became this kind of symbol of something evil. So when I go to Wikipedia and look up your name- it says, "Adam Johnson, a hockey player. Adam Johnson, you know, football player," whatever. And it says, "Adam Johnson, January 6th rioter." Yes. But you did not riot. No. What happened on that day? So you went to the Ellipse with the speech.

Adam Johnson: Yes. A little caveat for the Wikipedia page. So we've actually had people go in there, 50 at a time, trying to edit the Wikipedia page. They actually have someone monitoring my page in real time. Wow. You are not allowed to edit my page.

Hans Mahncke: Wow.

Adam Johnson: So it's funny things. Wikipedia, don't give them money. I was not a rioter. We showed up to the, to the Ellipse. We saw Trump give a speech. We saw everyone give their speeches. And then at the end of the Trump speech, he said, "We're gonna march peacefully and patriotically down to the Capitol, have our voices heard." And when you see a quarter million people all marching down somewhere, you're gonna march along with them. Sure.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: And it was just, we were just walking. No one's running. No one's, you know, shoving people over. It's just, it's a, it's like a march. And about halfway down, about halfway down, halfway down the road, I think it was near- Oh, near one of the museums, we heard from the crowd, they stormed the Capitol. So it was being shouted out through the crowd. And at that point, people did start moving a little bit quicker. I grabbed my backpack, my bud and I walked towards the Capitol, and by the time we got there, people were just standing around. We were singing the national anthem. We were just hanging out. And, I had no idea that barricades had been moved 'cause I didn't see any if they had been moved. We were just walking up the steps. And we're sitting around singing the anthem, and they started pepper-balling us and gassing us for just standing around doing nothing. And a can hit probably 10 feet away from me, and when you send that type of ammunition into a crowd, it's gonna cause the centripetal force and people are going to push outwards.

Hans Mahncke: Sure.

Adam Johnson: And that's the footage that they showed you, is people rushing into the police line, but it happened because they gassed us for standing around singing the national anthem

Hans Mahncke: And this was outside, way outside the actual Capitol? Yes. It was, like, on the grass outside.

Adam Johnson: This was at the, well, you can't go there now. It's, it's right at the steps at the landing-

Hans Mahncke: Oh, yeah

Adam Johnson: Right in front of the Capitol.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: But as far as I had known, no one had gone inside. We were just standing around.

Hans Mahncke: Right. And then people were waved in or what happened then in terms of going, how, 'cause all these people suddenly went inside?

Adam Johnson: So I was on the west face of the building, and, I've seen the video now. There were people who did break windows and open the doors from the inside. I don't know who those people are. A lot of people don't as well. Arrests were never brought against them. But I didn't see any of this happen. So after they gas us, I climb the scaffolding. I get some pictures, you know, 'cause it's just, it's, it's history unfolding in real time.

Hans Mahncke: Sure, yeah.

Adam Johnson: I walk down the steps, and I see people walking through open doors. Mm-hmm. And I've never been to DC before, never been inside the Capitol. I've seen people protest in the Capitol, you know, before and after, and I thought, "Oh, we're just gonna go inside and protest. This is, like, standard DC stuff." Mm-hmm. So I walk through open doors. I made it to the Rotunda, and we were just sitting there taking pictures with police officers, taking pictures of the Capitol. It's a beautiful building if you've not been. I ended up finding, the lectern under some stairs. This was not in someone's office. This was not a door that I broke down to get to it, and I moved it about 20 to 30 feet, from where it was to the center of the room. During this time, it was, Win McNamee or something from Getty Images, took my picture, and I saw him taking my picture, so I smiled and waved and, sat it down, gave a short speech. And that was, went around a little bit more, then I went on back to the hotel.

Hans Mahncke: And throughout all of this, no violence. No. No, not antagonizing anyone, not doing anything at all. No. Just walking in, taking a look, carrying that lectern, for just fun? Or I mean, what was sort of what motivated you, like, just to

Adam Johnson: Pick this up? I thought it'd be a good prop for a picture.

Hans Mahncke: Okay.

Adam Johnson: That's, that's it. I wanted my picture inside that day with a prop.

Hans Mahncke: But your friend taking the picture, not the guy from Getty Images. It

Adam Johnson: Was actually a stranger, a complete stranger that, yeah, that took my

Hans Mahncke: Picture. But that was your initial idea.

Adam Johnson: Mm-hmm. That's

Hans Mahncke: It. That you just guy- you guys have a kind of a souvenir photo-

Adam Johnson: That's

Hans Mahncke: It of what was going on there. The issue with these photographers is one that has bugged me for a long time too. I don't know about this particular guy, but, they sort of come in three categories. I mean, there are, there were people who were accredited who were allowed to be there. Mm-hmm. Okay, fine. But then you had people walk in and take pictures and then later on claim, "No, I was just taking pictures. I'm just a reporter." But those two, those were the kind of two categories. Yep. The reporter that supported Biden and the reporter that- supported Trump. And according to whether you were in one camp or the other, you were then prosecuted or not.

Adam Johnson: Oh, you were prosecuted based on political affiliation, absolutely. It had nothing to do with whether they believed or thought you actually committed crimes. I mean, look at the 1512c they used that got overturned by SCOTUS. They were, they were digging. They were digging the whole way through just to find things that might or could stick. And as long as you know, prosecute in DC which has a, you know, a 99% conviction rate, and they vote 99% Democrat, you're gonna send people to jail.

Hans Mahncke: A lot of people when we talk about this, say non-lawyers would ask me, "Well, who took all the pictures?" I'm like, "Well, photographers." "Well, why weren't they prosecuted?" And again, it's sort of, yes, I think it's okay for the ones who were there to begin with-

Adam Johnson: Mm-hmm '

Hans Mahncke: Cause that was their job, and they had a proper, like a pass- Mm-hmm or whatever. But all the other ones, you either put them in one camp-

Adam Johnson: Yep

Hans Mahncke: And leave them all alone, or you prosecute them all, and that just did not happen. That- that's one of the unfairness, there's, there's a lot of unfairness surrounding this day, and surrounding what happened afterwards. But that's the one, that's one that really stands out because it's so, it's so stark.

Adam Johnson: Yep. And I mean, I was charged with felony theft for moving furniture. Mm. And I think one of the craziest things about this is they had the video of me not taking it. It was never shared with my attorneys, ever. There was a guy who actually stole the microphones off that lectern, and he was charged with theft, but he didn't get the jail time that I got. He actually took something from the building, and it's, you know, it's, it's, it's microphones. Like, I don't think it should've been a long jail sentence. That's not the complaint. But I didn't steal anything, and I got charged with felony theft. And if it wasn't that felony theft charge, I wouldn't have had to hire $100,000 worth of attorneys. This would've been a misdemeanor trespassing charge, and we probably would've just gone with a public defender.

Hans Mahncke: But it did end up being a misdemeanor,

Adam Johnson: Trespassing

Hans Mahncke: Charge.

Adam Johnson: At the end of it, mm-hmm. At the end of it, yes. We had to, we did, I think it was 16 hours worth of proffers with the AUSA and the FBI just asking me all these questions. "Well, what was your plan? Who did this? Did Trump tell you to go inside?" And I'm like, "Look, I'm just a regular guy who showed up one day and walked through a public building. I don't know anybody. I'm not part of any cells. I'm not part of any, you know, clubs or groups. I'm just me."

Hans Mahncke: And you're not even political, or at least you weren't. I mean, you said sort of Covid opened your eyes Mm-hmm some bad things that was, were going on, and I can say the same for myself. I wouldn't have believed all these, civil rights, infringements and so on, and all the craziness that was going on then. But, there's nothing there where you were, some big political guy. There's just, there's nothing on your record at all. No. There's nothing in your social media, nothing whatsoever. No. And again, I said this already at the outset, but I can just restate it. I, you could not meet a more normal guy than you. This is just, you know, we've spent a bit of time together, and that's, that's very obvious. So what happened then, so you walked out after what, 20 minutes or whatever it was?

Adam Johnson: About 20 minutes, something.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: I actually got lost in the building and asked a cop for directions to leave, and he was super nice. He's like, "Oh, we're exiting out the east face. Just go down this hall, take a right."

Hans Mahncke: So, and at no point did you think that you'd done anything wrong or there was any- No gonna be any problem or anything? Nope. So you walked out, what, went back to your hotel or?

Adam Johnson: Mm-hmm. My phone had died inside the Capitol- Okay 'cause I was using it all morning long, so I had it charging up in the, backpack. When I turned it on, I couldn't even use my phone 'cause so many messages were coming in. And my wife had called me about a dozen times, and called her back and she's like, "What have you done?" And I said, "Nothing. I walked in a building. I took some photos and I left." And she's like, "They're talking about putting you in prison for 20 years." So my face had been plastered all over the news. I was getting spotted on the way back to the hotel. We were staying in Georgetown, so it was about an hour walk back, and there were people who were actually pointing at me like, "That's the guy." So we knew almost immediately it was gonna be a problem. We, I went back to the hotel room, I called a bunch of my law enforcement friends, and I said, "Hey, what does this look like? What, should I, should I get attorneys? Should, do I need to leave? What do you, what do you think I should do?" And so they all advised, "You should get attorneys immediately. They're definitely gonna be bringing charges against you." So I left DC the very next morning. I had planned on staying there for a couple of days. I had a flight back on, Saturday, but I rented a car first thing in the morning and drove all the way home, like through the night. We hired attorneys by Friday. So within two days, we had hired attorneys on Friday, morning, and then I was in jail Friday night

Hans Mahncke: So they came to your front door?

Adam Johnson: No, my attorneys had worked it out where I could self-surrender.

Hans Mahncke: Okay. '

Adam Johnson: Cause I don't have this long story, you know, criminal career. Mm-hmm. You know, no violence in the past, and I can just turn myself into county. We had asked, "Can it be Monday instead of Friday?" 'Cause if you go to jail on a Friday, you don't get seen until Monday, and they said no. But, they put me in one of those, They put me in solitary confinement. I was denied access to call my attorneys or my family. No toothbrush, no shower, just locked in a cell. You're Even in solitary confinement, you're supposed to get an hour of rec time, which you can just walk around in circles, and, denied all of that. Sunday afternoon came, and there was a really nice corrections officer who came in and said, "Hey, have you got your rec time yet?" And I, "I've not been to jail." I said, "What's, what's rec time?" And he's like, "They haven't let you out yet?" I'm like, "No." He's like, "Have you called your people yet?" Said, "I'm allowed to call people?" So he was nice enough to actually allow me to call my attorneys, call my wife, let them know that I was fine. Afterwards, there was a psych evaluation, and they ended up putting me in, 24-hour supervision in one of the Jeffrey Epstein cells because they said I was a threat to myself and others. And the I, again, so my degree's in psychology like, I know how to answer the questions for someone coming in giving me questions. And I'm like, "No, I'm not suicidal. I just miss my family. I know I'm going home in a couple of days. Just gonna tough it out." And I don't know what she wrote, but they put me in full observation.

Hans Mahncke: So just made it up.

Adam Johnson: Mm-hmm.

Hans Mahncke: Wow. And your wife must have been in a total state, during that time.

Adam Johnson: She was, she was not okay. I will say that.

Hans Mahncke: No,

Adam Johnson: Of course, yeah. When I first made it back home on It was Thursday at 1:00 in the morning. We My family actually had to be, taken out of the house because we had so many death threats coming in, and there were people saying they were gonna murder and rape my family while I was in DC. So we have a lot of good friends, a lot of good law enforcement friends. They came over, and they took my family out of the house and put them up in a safe site. So we went over. I went, drove over there, 1:00 AM in the morning, and we sat up together for a couple hours just talking about what it's gonna look like. And I told her, "Look, they're talking about 20 years. If Like, I don't expect you to wait " We're, we're, we were younger at this point. The kids were young. I said, "Someone's gotta teach the kids how to drive cars. Someone's gotta be there for graduation. I don't expect you to wait for 20 years. You know, that would be an unfair thing for me to do." And she looked at me and said, "You're being stupid. I said I'd marry you forever. I made a commitment before the Lord, and I'm gonna honor that." So we knew from the very get-go, whatever happened, we were gonna find a way to make it work for our family.

Hans Mahncke: Wow, so sad.

Adam Johnson: You know, I don't really talk about the kids and what they've went through or anything, but it's, We did have a handful of teachers that were telling students at their schools that their father was a terrorist, and we had to get the attorneys involved and say, "Look, you, this can't happen. These are kids." Like, what are, what are we even doing right here? You know, as adults have opinions or whatever, but, like, these are kids you're hurting. What are you doing? And that's the one thing you're not supposed to be doing as a teacher. But we got attorneys involved, and it's it was taken care of very quickly. Taken care of very quickly. But again, we were blessed and fortunate enough to be able to afford attorneys. Yeah. And so many people got railroaded because they couldn't. Like, you talk about all these 1512c charges, the interrupting an official proceeding. You know, those people couldn't beat that felony, and when you get a felony, most states you lose your license to do things like cut hair or be a plumber. Their livelihoods were effectively destroyed. And I think the big message here is, like, I went through my stuff, but so many people also went through absolute hell over just walking through a building and leaving. And how is their life ever gonna return to normal?

Hans Mahncke: Yours looks like it's back to normal. But of course, as you said, you have a loving wife-

Adam Johnson: Mm-hmm

Hans Mahncke: Five kids,

Adam Johnson: Got a home. A lot of people lost their spouses. A lot of people divorced. Their spouses left them. There were kids who were turning in their parents. Well, we sat down with the kids. So in the morning, we woke up, and, we brought the kids, We came back to the house 'cause I said, "I'm not, I'm not fleeing my home. I'm home now. I'm not fleeing my home." So we came back, we sat the kids down, and we told them, "Hey, you know, Dad's probably not gonna be here for a little bit. But, you know, Grandma's gonna move in. She'll help take care of you guys. You are gonna have a good support system. Dad will still talk to you and write to you. It's not gonna be tomorrow, but in the future, Dad's gonna be going away for a little bit." And, you know, they were younger at this time. My youngest was five at this time, so he had no real concept of what's even going on. My oldest is 14 at the time and, you know, he understood like this is I'm probably not gonna see Dad again until I, until after I'm married and have kids myself. But we said we're doing it as a family. We're gonna go through this as a family and, you know, whatever happens, it doesn't change how I feel about you guys. But, you know, they're telling me, they're telling me that Dad made a mistake, and I have to be punished for it, so.

Hans Mahncke: Were you ever blamed? Did, Grandma or anyone like that ever say, "Adam, why did you have to do that?"

Adam Johnson: No, the family was always very supportive. Yeah. They're, they This is the thing, too. Like, we had, we had news stations parked all up and down the street for two weeks. For two weeks, they interviewed all of my neighbors. They actually they even interviewed my ex-wife, and no one had anything negative to say about me. They were trying to find some type of story where he did this bad thing, or some neighbor's like, "Oh, he did this terrible thing." Nothing. The only person who said something negative about me was a photographer, I've never met before. He said that he knew me. He said that my wife and I were having financial troubles, and we were going through a divorce, like actually lied to the FBI on a sworn affidavit. It's the only person who says something negative about me. Crazy stuff. But my neighbor's like, "No, we, he's the nicest guy in the world. He makes barbecue and shares it on the weekend. Like, this, the, everything you're saying about this guy is not true. He's the nicest man that we know."

Hans Mahncke: Eventually they let you out of the first little jail phase.

Adam Johnson: We had, so Monday morning I went, before an attorney in Tampa, federal office in Tampa. And they said my, because of how egregious my crimes were, which was, misdemeanor violent entry even though I walked through open doors, misdemeanor trespassing and felony theft, they ordered me to have, a curfew and an ankle monitor, could not leave the middle district of Florida, and random drug testing even though it wasn't a drug crime. So, we did that for a few weeks. My attorneys got on the ball real quickly, and we got the ankle monitor off within a couple of weeks because there's no reason why I should be wearing an ankle monitor whatsoever. It's not a violent crime. I'm, you have my passport. You have all my firearms. Even though, even though I'm getting all these death threats and I can't protect myself, you know, it's just, went through that

Hans Mahncke: And then they scheduled a case eventually and-

Adam Johnson: Yes, and then we went through- Did you have to go

Hans Mahncke: To DC for that?

Adam Johnson: No, it was during Covid, so the majority of the, all of the ones except for sentencing, happened over Zoom.

Hans Mahncke: Okay So this was a guy called Reggie Walton that was the judge.

Adam Johnson: Yes.

Hans Mahncke: He's a Bush appointee, but -huh.

Adam Johnson: That doesn't mean a whole lot in DC. Reggie actually, I think it I believe it was Mike Davis who brought, complaints and grievances against him because he was going on CNN basically talking politics as a sitting judge, and that's, that's a big no-no.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: But, you know, nothing ever came of that.

Hans Mahncke: Of course. Noth- nothing ever does or does Nothing ever appears to happen with these judges. I think there's been eight, judges, federal ones, who've been impeached or, don't quote me on that. Some- something like that. Yeah. Very low figure, like, in the history of the United States, so.

Adam Johnson: Article Three is a problem.

Hans Mahncke: It just doesn't happen. They can basically get away with whatever they want. And so in your case, he, sentenced you to 75 days in jail?

Adam Johnson: Yes. 75 days federal prison, a $5,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, and then he wanted, two years of supervised release, but the, DOJ had to remind him that you actually can't sentence that. It's actually outside of the confines of what you're allowed to legally sentence. So he got a little upset about that and said, "Well, fine, I'll make it a year. Amend the record."

Hans Mahncke: So after 30 years on the bench, whatever, he didn't know that.

Adam Johnson: -huh. -huh. Well, because we don't prosecute people for misdemeanor trespassing- Right, yeah and send them to prison.

Hans Mahncke: Right.

Adam Johnson: You know? I mean, but here we are.

Hans Mahncke: Now, there's always this sort of question, why did you plead guilty if you didn't do it, and all this kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. I mean, what was going on in your mind?

Adam Johnson: We had fantastic attorneys. It was, David Bigney and Dan Eckert. Dan Eckert had worked for the FBI and worked for the DOJ for a very long time, and he basically told me how the wheels turn. In DC, if you go before a jury, it's not your peers. They're all gonna be Democrats because they vote 99% Democrat in DC. You're not And you're a January 6th, so they're basically calling you the devil at this point. If you, if you take this case to court, you will see maximum sentencing because you have what's called a trial tax they add on top of this. If you go to trial, they will send you longer just because you're inconveniencing them. So we really didn't have much of a say in what happened. I mean, this is We agreed to the plea deal because what was the alternative? Go to jail for 10 years?

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: And I'm not, I'm not I'm sorry. You know? If I have to fall on my sword so I can be back with my family in a few months, then that's, that's what we're gonna do.

Hans Mahncke: This goes on with a lot of people in a lot of different situations where they're kind of under such pressure.

Adam Johnson: Mm-hmm.

Hans Mahncke: Whether it's family or anything else. Well, they'll just agree to anything just to make it end. And-

Adam Johnson: It's coercion.

Hans Mahncke: It is.

Adam Johnson: And they overcharge. They overcharge with the intent of pleading down to what they initially wanted to prosecute for.

Hans Mahncke: The reason this is lawfare, of course, is because there was a political motivation behind Yes which is to punish these Trump supporters.

Adam Johnson: It's wrong think. Wrong think. It's, it's, it's, it's wrong think, and again, this goes back to Covid as well. The lawfare that they were pushing on us happened then as well. I think, I think a lot of it actually started during Covid. When you're arresting moms for taking their kids to the park alone. Alone. Like, you shut down parks. You poured sand all over skate parks throughout California. You shut down churches, and we, for the majority of us, just followed the arrows in the grocery store, not realizing this could be the actual beginning of the end of our country. And I still call it one of the largest, you know, psyops that ever happened in our country, because it certainly was. We saw 90% of people mask up and do what they were told and not complain about it. And when we're talking about January 6th and linked to this, the people who didn't just mask up and do what they were told, those are the people who showed up to DC that day. Those are the people who had enough heart, enough spine to say, "We can't sit idly by and watch our country not just be stolen from us, but be irrevocably changed in such a way that we can never get it back."

Hans Mahncke: And as long as the DC system, in terms of not just the wider system, that too, but specifically the jury system, the fact that all these trials to do with DC and anything federal, anything, that is, has a touchpoint with DC takes place in DC. Yes. But you can never have a fair trial in DC. Yes. It's just a complete, like, it's a vicious circle we cannot get out of. I mean, there are some proposals of, for instance, you're allowed to have your trial back home. Mm-hmm. Even though it somehow touches DC or somehow happened in DC. Because it's just such an anomaly that you've got this tiny little area and it has, holds so much power and leverage and everything. And anything that happens there is then adjudicated there, but it's adjudicated by people who, as you say, I mean, even, I love to kind of go back to Richard Nixon on this because he won the biggest election landslide in US history ever- Mm-hmm in 1972, and even he lost DC by something like 85-or something like that. No one, no one on the conservative side could ever kind of go beyond that, and it's, it's only gotten worse. So that's certainly something in terms of, that helps the lawfare, industrial complex as we like to call it. Mm-hmm. Because you know you have a jury there that whatever cases you bring- Mm-hmm you're just gonna get it done. Let me come back to your friend. What happened to him, the one you went with?

Adam Johnson: We actually got separated before I went to the Capitol. So we were both standing outside, but when they gassed us, I lost sight of him. He's a great guy, still does jujitsu, just had his first kid. Firefighter, just a upstanding citizen.

Hans Mahncke: But he just went back to the hotel and he was okay?

Adam Johnson: He was at the hotel when I got back, yeah. He's like, "I saw your picture." I was like, "I think everyone's seen the picture." He made a bunch of jokes. He tried to, tried to lighten the mood a little bit that night, which was, which was nice of him. But he actually gave me, he gave me a hat so I could put my hair back and drive home, and you know, try to help me leave D.C. A little more incognito, 'cause we, I didn't wanna be there anymore. We knew if I didn't get back home almost immediately, I might not be able to see my family.

Hans Mahncke: Does this still happen? Do you still get recognized?

Adam Johnson: Yes. So I, well, since then we've done a whole bunch of podcasts. We've, we've traveled the country. We've done a bunch of speaking events. And you know, we, when everything was done and I was on supervised release, Tim Pool was the first guy. I'd watched his show a bunch, and we were, we'd been messaging for a couple of years. And I said, "I'd love for you to be the first podcast that I do." I told my probation supervisor, "Hey, I need permission to travel to go on this podcast." And they sat there and told me to my face, "That's a dangerous idea. What if the death threats start coming against your family again? Think about their safety. Don't go speak." So we, got the lawyers involved, and like, "No, he's allowed to travel for work. This is a, this is a business trip." So we went up there and talked. But getting recognized now, we When we started doing the podcasting and going and talking about January 6th, we realized it was a responsibility because there were so many people who were still in prison, still in jail, whose stories couldn't be told yet. Because I was prosecuted so expeditiously and done first, it was an opportunity to make sure that people didn't forget people are still suffering in gulags. People are still in solitary confinement 23 hours a day.

Hans Mahncke: You were not allowed to, raise money, right?

Adam Johnson: No. Part of the, part of the plea deal that we agreed to was for five years I could not profit off of my crime. They actually initially wanted a lifetime, sentence with that, where I could never make a dime off of anything, write a book, go on a podcast, even write a song was included in this little paragraph. So, I said, "I can't sign a lifetime deal with the government. Five years, how about that?" So they agreed with five years, and we actually, we wanted to help people financially. So we I'm a carpenter by trade, so I started building these little lecterns, and we started auctioning them off on eBay. And we would give the proceeds to January 6th-ers who were either non-violent, didn't break anything, didn't take anything, just normal people like we were. And we raised thousands of dollars for kids during Christmas, helped out a bunch of families, and eBay actually shut us down. EBay said that we were selling, items that were objects of hate and discrimination, so we actually had to start our own charity. But we told the, DOJ about this. We said, "Listen, I know I can't make money. But what if I give it all away?" And it was a loophole inside the contract that we signed, so they actually could not stop me from starting a charity and giving all the money away.

Hans Mahncke: Wow.

Adam Johnson: These people needed help. They lost their jobs. They lost their livelihoods. And there are people still dealing with that today because they walked into a building for five minutes and left. Yeah. Like, there are people who will never again have their lives back.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: So if I could help out just a little bit, I mean- We just, we felt it was the, we felt like it was not just the responsible thing, but the right thing to do

Hans Mahncke: I I found, you know, the time we spent together, you've been extremely calm about all of this. th- is there still any kind of seething anger about what they did to you, or you just kind of-

Adam Johnson: I don't live my life with contempt in my heart. Mm. I think it's, it's poison for the soul.

Hans Mahncke: Mm.

Adam Johnson: And, you know, when we, when we first dealt with this, I, we dealt with it in real time, we processed in real time. It's been a few years, but you have to understand there are two things. If I, if I'm an angry person, if I'm, if I'm not calm about this, if I'm not, if I've not processed this, then what am I instead? I'm, I'm angry. I'm, I'm not good for my family. I'm not good for my kids. I'm just not good to be around, and I won't put them through that. So part of being a man is, you know, just sucking it up and saying, "You know, this bad thing happened to me, but I have to be strong for my family." And the other side of it, too, why would I ever give, why would I ever give the people who arrested me and threw me in prison the satisfaction of being sad or being angry? Sorry, no, my life is fantastic. I have my family, I have my faith, I have my freedom. Every single day is a better day than what they put me through.

Hans Mahncke: They put you in jail in Central Florida.

Adam Johnson: Yes. - did you- Coleman

Hans Mahncke: You have you ever been back to DC since that day?

Adam Johnson: Several times, actually. I think I went back, well, the first time I went back was to go on Tim Pool's show. I actually went and did a tour of the Capitol, you know. Apparently, the, my biggest crime, I just went through the wrong door. If I'd gone through the other door, it's fine, but you know. I had a hoodie made up, that said, "Just here for the stock tips," and I went and visited Nancy Pelosi's, you know, office. Took a great picture there and, you know. I like to have fun. I think it's important that we continue to mock these people.

Hans Mahncke: I think unfortunately, the fact that you like to have fun is what got you in trouble in the first place.

Adam Johnson: That's, that's a very astute point. My attorneys told me from the very beginning, "You're not gonna go to prison because what you did is so terrible. It's because you made a mockery of them," like, "You made them look silly." And that one photo, it it completely unravels the entire narrative of that day. If that day was so, if everyone was so terribly violent, explain this. Explain how we're calmly walking through ropes. Explain how we're standing around just singing the national anthem. Like, there's, there's so much video evidence and so many stories out there that completely destroy the absolute narrative of January 6th, that I think that it, what you're doing is fantastic. People should hear. People should know.

Hans Mahncke: You, what people might also not know is that you, your family expected you back after, what, 60 days or so? Mm-hmm. But then you had to do the full 75?

Adam Johnson: Yes. So, Reggie Walton, while I was being sentenced, he gave me 75 days, and he actually said, it'it'it's all in the court transcript, he said, "You've already served four days in county, so you get time for that, so that's 71. And then you'll have good time, so you'll be out around 60, 61, 62 days." So I'm thinking I'm gonna get out, you know, the time the judge said I would get out. I go talk to our, my counselor a couple weeks before I'm supposed to be released, and the counselor said, "I think we just forgot to file the paperwork or something. We've not heard anything back from Texas." So I had to go call my wife and tell her I'm not coming home, it's gonna be two more weeks. You know, and after being there for a couple of months already, and I try not to soapbox too much 'cause so many people spent so much more time in prison than I did, that it I almost feel, like a survivor's guilt for, you know, not serving five years like everyone else, but any time away from your family is time away from your family.

Hans Mahncke: Of course.

Adam Johnson: But having to call her and tell her I'm not coming home, I mean, I think that was probably the worst day that she had through all of this. 'Cause then she had to tell the kids, "Dad's not coming home yet."

Hans Mahncke: Absolutely. You went through a horrific ordeal. You have a final date, at least then it's over, and then it's not over.

Adam Johnson: Yep. I had to wish my wife happy anniversary, you know, from prison, which is just terrible, you know?

Hans Mahncke: It might sound like a banal question, but what what was it actually like in prison?

Adam Johnson: Everything's a learning experience, you know? Whether you're, whether you're traveling to somewhere you wanna go to or forced to go to a prison, you know? I, you think you should go there with a, with an open mind and just try to learn what you can while you're there. I had watched a bunch of podcasts ahead of time, you know, what's it actually like at this place, you know, kinda what are the rules so you don't get in trouble. It was, it was fascinating, you know? I think there was a lot of things that happened in there that are absolutely terrible. We had a, there was a moment, it was during Covid restrictions or while Covid was still a thing, and because I was unvaccinated, they had me, in isolation for 17 days when I first got there. And then, about halfway through, they shut off all of our phones and they shut off all of our emails, so we couldn't even call our people and tell them that, you know, "Hey, I'm fine." I got to call my wife and kids every single day while I was there, and when my wife hadn't heard from me in over a week, she called the prison and the prison staff told her I just didn't wanna talk to her, that's why I haven't called her. So we, I mean, there were some terrible things that happened. I mean, they were the food, not great. They'll throw your commissary food away if you're getting commissary. I mean, it's the only way you're really eating in prison is if people are putting money into your commissary account to eat food because there's no food in prison. During lockdowns, they wouldn't let us leave the units that we're in to go get rec time in the yard. And I'd read an email, from the warden. So there's a couple of wardens 'cause there's different buildings, and the warden had said, "Covid restrictions are lifted." But the people who are running our unit, the COs in charge, they said, "No, we didn't see that email." So they just kept us locked down, and finally one day I just got, I got tired of it. So I told my, I told my bunk mate, I'm like, "Hey, I'm, I'm just gonna go outside. I'm gonna go for a walk. I can't be inside any longer." And he's like, "You- you-- They're gonna throw you in the SHU," which is isolation. And I said, "I'm already in prison. I mean, what else can they do?" So I went and took a walk, and no one ever came to get me. About 10 minutes later, a couple more guys exited. Couple of minutes later, yard was full of people who were playing basketball and getting some exercise. And you know, it's, it's, it's probably one of my favorite stories from prison because that's It just takes one person sometimes to show up and say, "We're not doing this anymore." And again, back to January 6th, that was the energy. You know? We just we're-- we can't do this. We have to stand up and we have to say something 'cause this is not right

Hans Mahncke: But at the same time, you had no expectation, coming, going back to January 6th, that, suddenly Joe Biden wasn't gonna be president or anything like that.

Adam Johnson: No.

Hans Mahncke: As you mentioned earlier- No it was like the last Trump rally.

Adam Johnson: Yes. We, I mean, we all knew that, I mean, they had told us Biden's gonna be president, and we had, we had gone through, I mean, how many court cases did Trump, you know, try? And even the ones that he had won, based on merit, they couldn't do anything about it because they said, "It's moot at this point. What can we do?" You know? And so we all knew this was the end of it. Like, well, Trump's gonna leave office. It's the last Trump rally. Might as well go watch history take place. But that was it. That was it. We had, we had never been here as a country before, so we just, we wanted to watch it, see what would unfold.

Hans Mahncke: Yeah.

Adam Johnson: We had no idea it was gonna be that.

Hans Mahncke: And then of course a lot of other people got dragged into, similar to you, without there having been a photo.

Adam Johnson: Yes.

Hans Mahncke: Just for being there.

Adam Johnson: Yep.

Hans Mahncke: And we forget the FBI put, 5,000 people on it.

Adam Johnson: Yep.

Hans Mahncke: They did the geolocation with the phones and the credit cards and just everything The banks were getting infor- Yep and you were easy to find because, you know,

Adam Johnson: The photo. I actually called them. No. So I actually called the Department of Justice before I left DC and told them, "I know you know who I am. My picture's everywhere. I'm not fleeing. Here's my cellphone number. Here's where I live. If you guys need anything, I'll be home." You know, like we were completely upfront about everything. Like, "I'm not a terrorist. I'm not a terrible guy, not a violent guy. We just, I walked through a building, and I'm sure if you I'm I'm, just a big misunderstanding. If you watch the video, I'm sure there's video, you'll, you'll see that's all that happened."

Hans Mahncke: I think this is such a powerful point about this, that until you got back to the hotel, until your friend told you, or until you- your phone recharged, you had no inkling that you'd done anything wrong.

Adam Johnson: No. No, not at all. Not at all. Not until the news told me I'd done something wrong. Yeah.

Hans Mahncke: That's just incredible. Did you ever expect, Trump to be reelected in those dark days? Which were dark for him, too. I mean, they were dark for a lot of people because everyone was sort of canceled and- Mm-hmm just ostracized. Well, Including himself

Adam Johnson: I knew he would run again.

Hans Mahncke: Mm.

Adam Johnson: I think, I think they stepped on their toes. I think the lawfare that they sent after him for years, trying to take his, trying to take his hotels and kick him out of New York, just the wild accusations from what's her name, Carroll, just thing after thing, the FBI storming Mar-a-Lago. I think that all of that was the exact wrong approach to it. I think if they had just let him rant and ramble, you know, in peace, people would've ignored him. But the lawfare they sent after him got him reelected, and then they shot him. So I, when everything first happened, I'm like, "He's probably not electable again. That's pro- Yeah that's, again, probably the end of Trump's run, was after, was after 2020. But what they did to that man, there's a reason he got reelected.

Hans Mahncke: Hey, thanks so much for doing this.

Adam Johnson: Of course. Of course. This is, I think it's, what you're doing's very important, so excited to see it go off.

Hans Mahncke: Thank you.