The lives of five Americans remain on the line as the Department of Justice continues its uniquely exhaustive investigation into their alleged roles in attempting to overthrow the U.S. government during the “insurrection” on January 6, 2021.
Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, a so-called militia, stands trial in Federal District Court with codefendants Thomas Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Kelly Meggs. All pled not guilty to major felony charges, including seditious conspiracy and plotting an “armed rebellion” with the intent to halt the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden.
In opening remarks on October 3, U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeffrey Nestler claimed the defendants “concocted a plan” to “shatter a bedrock of democracy.” Defense lawyer Phillip Linder countered that his clients were not in Washington, D.C., to “attack” Congress but to provide arms support should then-President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act.
Day two of the trial saw the release of “secret” recordings and text messages obtained by the Justice Department in which the prosecution argues that the Oath Keepers were willing to invoke violence to stop the certification of electoral votes for Biden.
Yet the fact remains that none of the defendants were armed in D.C., and both Rhodes and Caldwell never entered the Capitol, with Meggs, Watkins, and Harrelson walking in through open doors. The defense stated the taped messages were not about January 6 but instead about an upcoming rally in the D.C. area.
In the audio shared in court, in which Rhodes was allegedly planning the attack with members of the Oath Keepers in the days following the election, Rhodes says:
“If the fight comes, let the fight come. Let Antifa go, if they go kinetic on us, then we’ll go kinetic back on them. I’m willing to sacrifice myself for that.” He continues, “If they go kinetic good. If they blow bombs up and shoot us, great. Because that brings the president his reason and rationale to drop the Insurrection Act.”
He goes on to say, “If you’re going to have a fight guys, you want to start now while he’s commander in chief. You do not want to waste this opportunity and let him feel like he has no support. So our mission is going to be to go into D.C., but I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in armed if they have to. So if the shit kicks off, then you rock and roll.”
FBI Special Agent Michael Palian read to the court messages that he said Rhodes sent to supporters on November 7, 2020, following the mainstream media calling the November 3 presidential election for Biden.
According to Palian, Rhodes warned that “the coup isn’t over” and that Biden’s fellow Democrats would also “steal” a majority in the Senate. “Trump has one last chance, right now, to stand. But he will need us and our rifles,” Rhodes said in a message presented to the court.
However, Palian’s testimony must be a source of contention for the defense. As American Greatness journalist Julie Kelly reported on September 26, during jury selection, prosecutors called for defense lawyers to be barred from asking any FBI witness about their participation in the investigations. Kelly cited the mysterious red-hatted Ray Epps, who is recorded on multiple videos outside the Capitol yelling at people to “go into the Capitol,” yet remains a free man. She pointed out that if he’s not an informant, how has Epps eluded arrest and interrogation? Kelly further compares Epps with the FBI informants embedded in the FBI-hatched kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and those agents infiltrated in the Oath Keepers, a truth admitted by the Justice Department.
In a tweet posted days before the trial was set to begin, Kelly wrote, “Today jury selection begins in first trial of Oath Keepers, the alleged militia group who brought no weapons [to the] Capitol on Jan. 6 and walked thru open doors. (One defendant never even went inside). DOJ just admitted the use of several FBI informants…”
Kelly informs that prosecutors in the Oath Keepers trial demanded that the defense attorneys representing defendants be “prohibited from asking any FBI informant for personal identifying information or about their participation in past or pending investigations.” Moreover, “cross examination of any FBI informant called as a government witness should exclude seeking details about his cooperation with other ‘undercover operations’ managed by the bureau.”
According to Kelly’s research, defense attorneys previously informed the court that at least “20 FBI and ATF assets were embedded around the Capitol” on January 6 without explanation. Discovery evidence also showed “the Oath Keepers were being monitored and recorded prior to J6 (sic),” defense lawyers wrote in an April 2022 motion.
Indeed, as Kelly writes, “let’s hope the Oath Keepers trial, as it did in the trial of the Whitmer fednapping victims, gets the public closer to the actual truth about January 6.”
In observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, the trial went into recess and is set to resume on October 6. The New American will continue to provide updates.
