Oath Keepers Can't Come To Capitol Without Permission: Judge
Members of the Oath Keepers — including their leader, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, whose 18-year prison sentence was recently commuted by President Donald Trump after Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy charges, must receive permission from a federal court before they enter Washington, D.C., or visit the U.S. Capitol.
The amended order dictating the terms of their release came from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday, mere days after Rhodes was in the Capitol taking interviews and accusing police for inspiring the violence that exploded on Jan. 6, 2021.
The order will go into effect Friday at noon.
The order applies not only to Rhodes but also onetime Oath Keeper chapter leader Kelly Meggs and Oath Keepers Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel and Joseph Hackett.
Rhodes appeared in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, fresh off of Trump’s inauguration. With the interior of the Capitol rotunda gleaming behind him, Rhodes suggested it was police who were responsible for the violence that day.
Judge Mehta issued an order on Jan. 22 stating that defense lawyers for the Oath Keepers whose sentences were commuted should be reminded that before they request any modifications to the conditions of their supervised release, they must meet with federal prosecutors first.
“The court may deny a motion without prejudice if a meet-and-confer does not occur,” Mehta wrote Wednesday.
Rhodes was at the Capitol that same day.
In his interviews from the building, he refused to accept any responsibility for his seditious conspiracy conviction.
“I didn’t lead anything. So why should I feel responsible for that?” Rhodes said while donning a pro-Trump hat.
According to NBC, Rhodes also said he was hoping to return to the Capitol regularly and that he hoped to meet with President Trump.
“Right now, I like to come here as much as I can,” he said.
At his criminal trial in 2022, jurors convicted both Rhodes and Meggs of seditious conspiracy, but acquitted Watkins, Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell of that specific charge though they were found guilty of others.
The weapons were meant to be used at a moment’s notice and could be hauled from Virginia into D.C.
When Rhodes testified at trial, he downplayed the events of Jan. 6 and insisted that because he was not physically inside the Capitol during the attack, he was not responsible for any violence that ensued. Rhodes was on the grounds, however, and was in contact with Oath Keepers there as well. From the witness stand in 2022 and again at the Capitol this week, he said the storming wasn’t something he directed but rather, was the byproduct of his fellow Oath Keepers’ blundering.
On Wednesday at the Capitol, Rhodes defended his conduct and told reporters he wanted Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act on Jan. 6, 2021, so that he and members of the Oath Keepers could come to his aid.
Rhodes believes Trump would have exposed records proving voter fraud in the 2020 election and other so-called deep state secrets that the “establishment” wants hidden.
Rhodes has long purveyed theories like this and espoused them openly in two public letters to Trump before Jan. 6. Evidence at trial, including witness testimony, showed he tried to contact Trump after the insurrection failed too.
There was no widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and the conspiracy theory is one Trump has continued to cling to as recently as this week.
Attorneys for the Oath Keepers mentioned in Friday’s order did not immediately return a request for comment.
CORRECTION: This story has been amended to clarify that Rhodes’ sentence was commuted and that he has not received a pardon.