In court this week, federal Judge Amit Mehta rejected a push from Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right group known as the Oath Keepers, for the delay of his upcoming trial on seditious conspiracy allegations connected to the Capitol riot.
Mehta also rejected an effort by Rhodes at replacing his legal team. The trial is scheduled to begin later this month, on September 27, at which point four of the co-defendants, who are also affiliated with Rhodes’s group, will also face trial for Capitol riot-tied seditious conspiracy allegations. (Three people tied to the organization already pleaded guilty to the charge.) In the lead-up to January 6, individuals involved with the Oath Keepers purchased and stockpiled weapons amid preparations for the possibility of lethal violence in service of keeping Trump in power. A plea agreement from one of those who admitted to seditious conspiracy, which carries up to 20 years in prison, says Rhodes “instructed [him] and others to be prepared and called upon to… use lethal force if necessary” amid their efforts.
Ahead of Mehta’s recent rejections, Rhodes claimed “a complete, or near-complete breakdown of communication” with his current legal representation. Among other issues, the judge noted the lack of previously stated concerns along these lines from the militia leader. “Mr. Rhodes at no point… since he’s been arrested has remained silent,” the judge remarked. “Never, not once… have I heard a peep from Mr. Rhodes about his lack of contact with his lawyers or his disenchantment with his lawyers’ performance.” In the absence of a complete replacement, Rhodes will have the opportunity to add a member to his legal team. Mehta, meanwhile, also noted the impacts that delaying Rhodes’s trial would leave on an apparently strained court schedule, and the judge additionally questioned whether a new lawyer could actually prepare to the needed extent in the extension of at least 90 days that the far-right leader sought.
Mehta also more directly undercut the notion Rhodes’s current attorneys weren’t providing competent legal representation — he called the idea “complete and utter nonsense” — and he noted Rhodes’s substantial level of access to evidence as preparations for trial remain underway. Rhodes is “getting dispensation that no other defendant, to my knowledge — that no other defendant in any case, not just January 6 cases, but any case in this district, is getting.” U.S. Marshals are escorting Rhodes to court for six-hour evidence review sessions twice a week, according to The Washington Post‘s reporting. In the course of the court hearing this week where those involved dealt with some of these issues, Rhodes and James Lee Bright (one of Rhodes’s current attorneys) both apologized for lobbing accusations of deception at the other.
Image: Tyler Merbler/ Creative Commons
