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Stewart Rhodes, laminitis of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally extracurricular the White House successful 2017. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption
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Susan Walsh/AP
Stewart Rhodes, laminitis of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally extracurricular the White House successful 2017.
Susan Walsh/AP
Oath Keepers laminitis Stewart Rhodes testified Monday that his far-right radical had nary program to tempest the U.S. Capitol connected Jan. 6, and that the members of his enactment who did tube into the gathering that time made a "stupid" decision.
Rhodes, who was testifying successful his ain defense, is connected proceedings on with 4 co-defendants connected seditious conspiracy and different charges successful transportation with the Capitol breach.
The lawsuit is the astir consequential yet to spell to proceedings related to the deadly events of Jan. 6. Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of conspiring to forestall — by force, if indispensable — the transportation of statesmanlike powerfulness to Joe Biden.
On the basal Monday, Rhodes was asked by his ain attorney, Phillip Linder, whether helium talked about, planned oregon implied breaching the Capitol.
"No, never," Rhodes replied. "Absolutely not. All my effort was connected what Trump could do."
The authorities spent astir a period presenting its case, including hundreds of substance messages and dozens of witnesses who tied the defendants to sometimes convulsive rhetoric astir keeping erstwhile President Donald Trump successful power.
Rhodes utilized his clip connected the basal to propulsion cardinal aspects of his defence truthful far. He testified that the Oath Keepers came to Washington, D.C., to supply information to salient Trump supporters; that his rhetoric successful the run-up to Jan. 6 was aimed astatine getting then-President Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to telephone up militias and enactment successful power; and that determination was nary program to tempest the Capitol.
He besides sought to region himself from important aspects of the government's case.
Prosecutors, for example, accidental the Oath Keepers stashed firearms astatine a edifice successful Virginia and had a speedy absorption unit acceptable to ferry them into downtown Washington, D.C., connected Jan. 6, if needed.
Rhodes testified that helium didn't power oregon person thing to bash with the speedy absorption force. He said helium had delegated astir of the oversight of the Oath Keepers cognition that time and warned members of the radical to beryllium cautious astir what they brought into D.C., fixed the city's strict weapon laws.
He besides said that 1 of his co-defendants, Kelly Meggs, went "off-mission" erstwhile helium entered the Capitol. "I said that was stupid," Rhodes testified.
Storming the gathering "opened the doorway for our governmental enemies to persecute us," Rhodes said, and helium said that's precisely what happened.
Rhodes said helium was successful a edifice country erstwhile helium got a telephone telling him that the Capitol had been breached, and that helium asked, "Who?" He said the caller, different Oath Keeper, replied, "Trump supporters." Rhodes said helium aboriginal went to the Capitol grounds.
He said helium called Oath Keepers to conscionable astatine a cardinal constituent but it was to support them retired of trouble, not to battle the Capitol. He said helium didn't get immoderate cellphone messages related to the events of Jan. 6 until the adjacent day.
After the attack, Rhodes said, a pistillate helium describes arsenic his lawyer but that prosecutors telephone his woman instructed Oath Keepers to support quiescent astir their activities. Rhodes said the woman, Kellye SoRelle, acted connected her ain erstwhile she told Oath Keepers to delete substance messages and different materials that mightiness incriminate them.
Rhodes said helium brushed disconnected her informing that instrumentality enforcement would soon look astatine his doorstep, and helium described himself arsenic a "dissident" authorities cognize wherever to find if they privation him.
Government's cross-examination
On transverse examination, adjunct U.S. lawyer Kathryn Rakoczy sought to poke holes successful Rhodes' testimony.
She raised doubts that SoRelle would person freelanced and added proposal connected her ain nether Rhodes' sanction instructing Oath Keepers to delete texts astir Jan. 6.
She showed Rhodes and the assemblage substance messages successful which Rhodes says days earlier Jan. 6 that helium has wide bid for the cognition to antagonistic his grounds that helium wasn't moving the amusement oregon was retired of interaction with what the Oath Keepers were doing.
The assemblage had heard a period of grounds from much than 2 twelve witnesses, including FBI peculiar agents, U.S. Capitol Police officers, erstwhile Oath Keepers, and 2 members of the radical who stormed the Capitol and aboriginal pleaded blameworthy to conspiracy.
Rhodes and his alleged co-conspirators — Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell — are charged with seditious conspiracy, obstruction and different offenses successful transportation with Jan. 6.
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