A Texas businessman accused in the January 6 Capitol riot will be allowed to visit Mexico for a “bond retreat” with officials, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
Midland’s Jenny Cudd was charged last month and is free on bail. She was seen inside the Capitol after a pro-Trump crowd invaded him, and in a Facebook video that day she said, “I was able to attack Capitol today” and “Gee, I’m proud of my actions”. according to a criminal complaint.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden granted a request that will allow Cudd to travel to a pre-planned and prepaid employee retreat in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
The judge wrote that neither the prosecutors nor a pre-trial services officer objected to the request. Cudd “has no criminal record and there is no evidence before the Court suggesting that the Defendant is a risk of escape or a danger to others,” wrote McFadden.
Cudd was released to travel to Mexico on February 18 and return to the United States on February 21, according to the judge’s order. She will have to provide the authorities with her itinerary.
Cudd was charged in January with violent entry or disorderly conduct and entry into a restricted building, both misdemeanors. Court documents filed on Wednesday appear to show that she was indicted by a grand jury on five federal charges.
A request for comment from Cudd’s lawyer was not immediately returned Friday night.
In the Facebook video posted on the day of the riot, Cudd said “we broke the door to Nancy Pelosi’s office”, according to an FBI statement on the facts of the case. She also said she “accused Capitol today of patriots” and was proud, says the court document.
Cudd in an January 8 interview with NBC affiliate KWES of Midland tried to clarify the comments she made on the Facebook video. “I personally did not demolish anything, I did not destroy anything, I went into any office,” she said. She said that she usually uses the word “we” in general and that she only enters the Rotunda.
The January 6 attack on the Capitol occurred when Congress was expected to formally count the electoral vote that confirms Joe Biden’s election as president. The riot resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer.
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives – for the second time without precedent – on January 13, when he was still president.
The impeachment article accuses him of “inciting insurrection,” in part because of Trump’s repeated and false claims that his loss was due to electoral fraud, and his comments made at a pre-riot rally.
Trump’s Senate trial is scheduled to start on Tuesday.
