Stewart Rhodes trial: Oath Keepers leader’s case for seditious conspiracy on Jan 6 underway

Good morning.

Jury selection begins today in a seditious conspiracy trial involving members of the Oath Keepers – a far-right anti-government militia group with influence across the US – and their leader, Stewart Rhodes.

Stay tuned with The Independent.

The Independent’s Richard Hall spoke with Stewart Rhodes in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

Read his republished in-depth piece about the militia leader and insight from experts about the trajectory of far-right anti-government groups and threats posed by groups like the Oath Keepers.

Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people in recent months for their alleged roles in the attack on the US Capitol.

But the indictment of Stewart Rhodes and his alleged co-conspirators charges them under a rarely used provision of law that can found in the chapter of the US criminal code titled “Treason, Sedition, and Subversive Activities”.

The provision details “Seditious Conspiracy” – committed when “two or more persons” conspire to “overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States,” “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States” by force, or “seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof”.

Earlier this month, US District Court Judge Amit Mehta rejected a motion from Stewart Rhodes to push back his trial on charges of seditious conspiracy for his role in the attack on the Capitol on 6 January.

Mr Rhodes argued that he lost contact with his attorneys and needed three months to gather more evidence, including testimony from people involved with the Oath Keepers to members of Congress.

“The very first allegation is that somehow Mr Rhodes is not receiving a fair trial, and that is unequivocally false,” Judge Mehta said on 7 September.

A member of the Oath Keepers who served as the group’s lawyer had contact with two White House aides leading up to January 6, according to a new book from a former Republican congressman who is now staffed on the House select committee investigating the attack.

Attorney Kelly SoRelle reportedly exchanged text messages with Andrew Giuliani in the days between the November 2020 election and pro-Trump riot.

Ms SoRelle was also recently arrested and charged in connection with the attack.

A leaked list of Oath Keepers membership includes the names of hundreds of law enforcement officials, members of the military and elected officials.

The list, reviewed by the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, includes at least 81 people who are currently holding public office or are candidates in upcoming elections, from local leadership – including mayors and school board members – to state representatives and senators.

Membership also includes more than 370 people currently working in law enforcement agencies and more than 100 active military members, according to the report.

Jury selection began this morning in federal court in Washington DC, with Stewart Rhoes appearing in person.

US District Judge Amit Mehta is presiding. He anticipates the trial to last four to five weeks.

Following jury selection, attorneys will make opening arguments.

Judge Mehta has noted that it may be up to a week before any witnesses are called.

Two days after the 2020 election, Stewart Rhodes allegedly sent a message to members of his group: “We aren’t getting through this without a civil war.”

Days later, he said the Oath Keepers should “march en-mass [sic] on the nation’s Capitol.”

Lawyers for the far-right militia have repeatedly claimed that the members wound up in Washington DC to provide security for pro-Trump figures at rallies.

But federal prosecutors argued they coordinated a breach of the halls of Congress, with a cache of supplies and militarised “stacks” to prowl the Capitol while another would serve as a “quick reaction force” based in Virginia.

Mr Rhodes himself did not go inside the building that day.

Prosecutors said he coordinate “next steps” with the group in the aftermath of the attack.

US District Judge Amit Mehta reports that 12 of the 150 potential jurors considered for the Oath Keepers trial underway have heard of the defendants.

As jury selection begins today in his seditious conspiracy trial, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes has filed a motion to prevent prosecutors and witnesses from describing him and the group as “anti-government,” a “militia,” an “organized militia,” “extremists,” “racist,” “white supremacist” or “white nationalist.”

A motion from his attorney argues that Mr Rhodes defines the group – which has advocated civil war against the US – as a “non-partisan association” or current and former military and police officers “who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to defend the Constitution.”