Prosecution nears end in sedition trial
WASHINGTON – A jury saw videos of Oath Keepers training with firearms, hotel records and messages showcasing the violent rhetoric of leader Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the right-wing militia group as prosecutors built their seditious conspiracy case in the second week of the Oath Keepers’ highprofile trial, which will pick up again Monday.
FBI witnesses helped prosecutors lay the foundation of their case against members of the Oath Keepers, while encrypted Signal messages sent by Rhodes and defendants Kelly Meggs and Thomas Caldwell alluded to ties to other right-wing groups.
The five Oath Keepers on trial face numerous criminal charges in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, including the allegation that they conspired against the government to halt the peaceful transfer of power.
As the trial heads into Week 3, prosecutors are nearing the end of their turn, and the defense could begin its presentations.
Oath Keepers trial and Jan. 6 hearing
Just steps from the courthouse where the Oath Keepers will face trial for several more weeks, the House committee investigating the Capitol attack reconvened Thursday for the first time since the summer, prompting Judge Amit Mehta to direct the jury to be “particularly vigilant” about avoiding news media.
Defense attorneys requested Friday that Mehta individually ask jurors to affirm they did not watch or learn about the hearing. All 16 jurors, including four alternates, said they steered clear of the committee’s presentation.
As the government enters Week 3 of its presentation, the defense’s turn to challenge the picture painted by prosecutors nears, during which Rhodes himself is expected to testify.
Here’s some things we learned during the second week of the Oath Keepers trial.
The evidence
Though Oath Keepers leader Rhodes has held the spotlight, prosecutors focused on evidence against the other four defendants in the trial’s second week, from firearms and Oath Keepers paraphernalia to encrypted messages and social media posts.
Messages between defendant Jessica Watkins and an Oath Keepers recruit gave insight into the stakes of the 2020 election for Watkins. “If Biden get the steal, none of us have a chance in my mind,” she wrote in November 2020 messages. “We already have our neck in the noose. They just haven’t kicked the chair yet.” The recruit wrote back, “So I should get comfortable with the idea of death?” Watkins’ response: “That’s why I do what I do.” The recruit replied that they hoped a training Watkins planned to hold would help them “be ok with dying for country.”
In addition to displaying messages sent by defendant Meggs employing violent rhetoric, the government presented a meme he shared on Facebook depicting a fake Home Depot ad for a guillotine, alongside the text “Something you can do with your $600 stimulus check.”
Defendant Caldwell sent messages to Oath Keepers and members of other far-right groups in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 that the government says show his efforts to plan for that day. In several messages, Caldwell asked if anyone had access to a boat, so that if violence broke out on Jan. 6, the Oath Keepers’ weapons stockpiled in a Virginia hotel could be transported across the Potomac River into D.C.
The witnesses
Six FBI agents and one former Oath Keeper laid the foundation of the government’s case and bolstered prosecutors’ conspiracy charge by pointing to ties to other right-wing groups.
After testifying last week on Rhodes’ public pleas for former President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, FBI Special Agent Byron Cody faced cross-examination Tuesday. The defense showed messages filling in the blanks of the government’s presentation as part of their broader argument that prosecutors aren’t giving the full picture. Cody also testified that the FBI identified a ballpark estimate of 15 to 20 Oath Keepers in proximity to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
FBI Special Agent Justin Eller, who works for the bureau’s Cincinnati division, investigated Watkins and other Ohio Oath Keepers. Eller took the jury through Watkins’ texts and physical evidence seized from her home, including firearms, a bulletproof vest, rubber steel balls that could be shot through an air gun or paintball gun and a shortened pool cue. In Watkins attorney Jonathan Crisp’s cross-examination, Eller confirmed Watkins’ firearms were not brought into D.C.
FBI Special Agent Joanna Abrams’ testimony centered on the southeast branch of the Oath Keepers, showing messages between Rhodes and members from Georgia, Alabama and Florida encouraging the local teams to join the national group in D.C. Rhodes told the southeastern group that he was coordinating with other right-wing groups. Abrams testified during Rhodes attorney Phillip Linder’s crossexamination that no specific plan to go to the Capitol, nor any explicit plan for violence at the Capitol, was discussed in the messages she went through. The prosecution pushed back on that assertion.
What’s next?
As the third week of the Oath Keepers trial gets underway, here’s what to expect
Special Agent Sylvia Hilgeman will retake the stand to finish her testimony and face cross-examination by the defense.
The government could be nearing an end in its case, meaning the defense would have its turn to present evidence and rebut the government’s argument. Prosecutors originally said they expected their presentation to last three weeks, though Mehta, the judge, has made comments suggesting the trial could go on longer than planned.
When the defense does have its turn to present its argument, Rhodes is expected to take the stand.