DOJ wants 25-year jail term for Oath Keepers founder.

The DOJ Seeks 25-Year Sentence for Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes

The Justice Department has requested a federal judge to sentence Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes to 25 years in prison for his conviction on seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The DOJ also sought 21 years for Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the attack that unfolded as electors gathered inside the Capitol to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The Verdict

Rhodes and Meggs are among 10 members of far-right groups found guilty of seditious conspiracy — a plot to oppose the government with force – for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which was an attempt to overturn Democratic President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. If fully imposed, the recommended sentences would be the longest so far for anyone convicted in connection with the Capitol riot. Prosecutors said the defendants “played a central and damning role” in the attack and should be sentenced more severely than other rioters because their conduct was comparable to domestic terrorism.

The Proud Boys Trial

My colleague Brittany Sheehan has reported extensively on the Jan. 6 trial of the far-right group Proud Boys, including in late April about a jailhouse interview with former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio as he awaited the verdict. In comments about why Proud Boy defendants refused to take the stand, Tarrio explained:

• We wanted to talk about January 6; that’s what we wanted to talk about. But what was happening is on these cross-examinations, they were bringing things from years past. Anything that I said, you know, ranging from 2015, 2016, 2017, is fair game and it has nothing to do with January 6.
• So, we were afraid that they were just going to use statements, old statements, and just try to muddy up the waters when at the end of the day, what we are trying to do is get to the bottom of what happened on January 6.
• We can talk about things in general, me, myself, in general, some of the guys in general, I guess the Proud Boys in general. You know, actually, you know what? It’s not just Proud Boys, it’s Americans in general. We said a lot of things, especially in our club, we said a lot of things. …
• And what they were trying to do, what people were trying to … again I’m speaking in general… is manipulate how we talk to each other in the locker room and it’s not fair, it really isn’t. We’re proud of it, we aren’t shying away from it but the problem is, it’s being used … but it’s being used against other people and it’s just not right. It’s not the justice system that we grew up in civics class learning about.

Tarrio went on to say that the House’s majority-Democrat January 6 Committee was “weaponized” and suggested that henceforth, (non-leftist) people will be afraid to protest.

The Oath Keepers Trial

As my colleague Bob Hoge reported in November, the aforementioned Oath Keepers members Rhodes and Meggs were convicted on the rarely used, Civil War-era charge of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol “festivities.” Rhodes was determined to have been the “mastermind of the plot” to block the Electoral College certification, an admitted attempt to interfere with the transfer of the presidency from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. And as I reported in January, four more Oath Keepers members —  Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel, and Edward Vallejo — were convicted of the same crime, in addition to obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiring to obstruct.

Scott Weinberg, David Moerschel’s attorney, rejected the conspiracy conviction, telling reporters his client and the others were simply “swept up” by the goings-on:

• [They] were swept up by the ‘Stop the Steal‘ nonsense that was pushed by the president. While people are responsible for their own actions, I think it’s important that all people take stock [and] take everything with a grain of salt, because when you follow somebody blindly, you end up in a terrible situation.

The Bottom Line

Irrespective of TDS-riddled Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats, and their ridiculous Jan 6. Committee, I’m confident that the U.S. Judicial  System intended to send a clear