Left: Andrew Taake. Right: Taake is seen holding a whip during a confrontation at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (via FBI court filing).
Prosecutors in Texas sought a $1 million bond for a Jan. 6 rioter arrested for online solicitation of a minor, despite being pardoned by former President Donald Trump. The accused’s attorney managed to reduce the bond to $25,000 after challenging the initial amount.
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Stephen Driver emphasized the gravity of protecting children from exploitation, particularly sexual exploitation, in court on Monday, advocating for the high bond amount. Driver stressed the importance of safeguarding children as a challenging but crucial responsibility.
The accused, Andrew Taake, 36, is currently facing charges in Houston for a 2016 offense of online solicitation of a minor. Taake had been on pretrial release when he participated in the January 6 Capitol attack, resulting in a six-year prison sentence for assaulting police officers during the riot. Taake was apprehended this month by the Harris County District Attorney’s Fugitive Apprehension unit, assisted by various law enforcement agencies, following a warrant issued after his pardon by Trump.
According to KHOU, Taake previously missed a court date before Monday’s hearing, which Driver said was a major reason why the DA’s office was demanding an amount that was so high. Taake’s attorney, Brett Podolsky, told the station after the hearing that he felt Harris County prosecutors were going after his client for political reasons.
“The elephant in the room is that some people like what happened on Jan. 6, some people don’t,” Podolsky said. “Some people like that President Trump pardoned all of these people and some people don’t. Clearly, we know what side Mr. Driver is on.”
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Describing the $1 million bond request, Podolsky told KHOU: “To come to court and ask for $1 million bond is absurd and that’s exactly what I said to the court.” He stated that Taake only missed the previous court date because he was taken into federal custody after it was scheduled.
Taake pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon. Last month, Trump issued a “full, complete and unconditional” pardon of Taake and his roughly 1,500 fellow rioters. Prosecutors said they took up the solicitation charge now that his federal case is no longer active.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Taake was allegedly soliciting a person in 2016 who he “believed to be younger than 17 years of age.” He was 27 at the time and allegedly talked on social media with an undercover cop posing as a 15-year-old girl. Prosecutors say he sent “multiple explicit messages” to the cop and asked to meet up with her, even admitting that he “could go to jail” if anyone found out what he was doing. Taake allegedly went to an address that the undercover provided and authorities arrested him.
“Re-arresting individuals, like Taake, who were released with pending State warrants, will require significant resources,” District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement before Taake’s arrest. “Know that we are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.”
Taake made headlines at the time of his Jan. 6 arrest after he was turned in by a woman he met on the dating app Bumble. He was sentenced to 74 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, last year for the Capitol attack, in addition to paying $2,000 in restitution.
If convicted of solicitation in Texas, he will face a decade in prison.
