A Texas woman who was charged in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill filed a lawsuit in federal court asking for permission to travel so that she could attend a weekend trip to Mexico.
Jenny Cudd, a small business owner in Midland, Texas, has been charged with violent entry or disorderly conduct and entering a restricted building. It broadcast live from inside the United States Capitol building while a pro-Trump crowd stormed Congress last month, according to a criminal lawsuit filed in January. Five people died as a result of the riot.
Cudd’s lawyers filed a motion on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to allow her to travel despite the charges.
“Prior to the alleged offense in question, Ms. Cudd planned and prepaid a weekend retreat with her employees for the dates of February 18 to February 21, 2021, in Riviera Maya, Mexico,” said the motion . “This is a job-related retreat for employees and their spouses.”
Cudd is currently free on bail and conditions for his release include check-ins with pre-trial services and “staying away” from Washington, DC, unless it is for court hearings and meetings with his lawyers.
According to the FBI, Cudd described being part of a crowd that forced the building into Facebook Live. The criminal complaint against her included a quote from a statement recorded by Cudd, where she said, “I f — ing loaded Capitol today” and “Hell, yes, I’m proud of my actions.”
“We just push, push, push and shout ‘go’ and shout ‘attack’. We just push and push, and we get it, ”said Cudd. She later added: “We broke the door to Nancy Pelosi’s office.”
The complaint cited a local television interview that Cudd gave two days after the Capitol incident, where she said “we, the Patriots, invaded the United States Capitol” and that she would “absolutely” do it again, the complaint said.
It appears that the FBI is referring to an interview with Texas NBC affiliate KWES on January 8, where Cudd made the same statements.
Cudd also told KWES that, despite using the term “we” on her Facebook Live, she did not intend to include herself in her statements and was using “us” in general. Cudd told KWES that she personally did not break any laws.
“These things happened to other people, but I was not part of that,” said Cudd. “I said in reference to this that ‘we patriots have invaded the Capitol’, and some people have gone to different offices and different things like that.”
Lawyers who filed the motion on Cudd’s behalf did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News. Cudd has not yet filed an argument in the charges against her, according to court records.
