The Last Letter From a Political Prisoner

By Armando Simón

[In the past, I have presented some of the correspondence I have received from one of the Democrats’ political prisoners. The following will hopefully be the last letter received from him as he goes home, and I finally feel comfortable now in mentioning his full name; I am certain the retaliation that some of the political prisoners have received in the past for communicating with the outside world is not going to happen (at least one died from being refused medical treatment). Apropos of this, he mentions that now that reform is imminent, the staff is less hostile; this is the same phenomenon that occurred in the gulag when Stalin died, and the amnesty was proclaimed. Notice also that the court-appointed attorneys have suddenly become active. I guarantee future investigations will show that these lawyers were working hand in hand with the prosecutors and judge.]

“Dear Armando,

Thanks so much for your letters and your support for me while I have been here in Bastrop prison, and specifically I want to thank you for the recent deposits. I have bought some more art supplies, ink pens (using one now), paper, and some new socks. It is looking really promising for us J6ers. Right around the election we were being given a lot of conflicting messages about pardons and who would qualify and who would not. This caused our excitement to be tempered with anxiety after the election win. To be certain, there was a lot of excitement. This cautious optimism has caused us remaining J6ers here to be more muted with staff about our great expectations. Staff here at the prison has been for sure more respectful when speaking to us J6ers now, if not worried.

Trump’s recent statements have put us much more at ease and I guess I can also thank Biden for his pardoning his son and by doing so providing Trump with plenty of cover. Senate Rinos are even stepping aside and no longer trying to block our pardons after Hunter. I just wish someone from Trump’s team would give us a little wink and nod to let us know for sure and so our families can plan. They need to know if they need to be outside the prison on January 20^th or 21^st, or later. January is MLK day, a national holiday, so if Trump pardons us on the 20^th like he has been saying, the bureaucracy may slow walk our release, citing the holiday. The prison is allowing my wife to send me civilian clothes in anticipation of the pardon, so that is a good sign.

My attorneys have been making excuses and procrastinating filing motions for my release based upon our collective Supreme Court wins this summer. They even gave themselves an all expenses paid vacation to Texas to ‘interview’ everyone in my community to prepare for the motion after Trump’s win. They were supposed to [have] filed the motions and get me released prior to Christmas . . . but now they are using Trump’s pardon promise as a reason not to have to do any more work on my case. I called them and now they say that they will do the work now. We will see. What else can you expect from federal public defenders from DC (Democrats, for sure). After coming to my hometown they did have some kind words (and possibly remorse for how they have treated me?) for my family, even shed some tears.

They just locked us all down here in Bastrop last night. There seems to be some internal strife amongst a Latin gang here, and to avoid a potential civil war from breaking out they locked us all in our cells. It’s not that bad really because now the guards have to bring our food to us, pick up and do our laundry, take out our trash, etc. they are still running family visits, which is all I care about since my family is coming tomorrow and for ‘Children’s Day’ on Monday. They might cancel Children’s Day, but we will see. My wife and the other J6ers here are renting a place to stay while they do visits over the next couple of days.

I have high hopes for the future.

Thanks as always,

Christopher Grider”

[once the political prisoners are released, they and their families will experience serious financial difficulties from not having worked in so long; I would urge the reader to send money orders to them; for Chris at: Christopher Grider #26622-509, Post Office Box 474701, Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001; in the past, liberals have stolen money sent on the political prisoners’ behalf; that has stopped]

Armando Simón is the author of A Cuban from Kansas and This That and the Other.