Seditious conspiracy trial of Oath Keepers tied to Jan. 6 begins Tuesday

Jury selection is slated to begin Tuesday for the trial of Oath Keepers’ leader Stewart Rhodes and other members of the group charged with seditious conspiracy.

Jury selection is scheduled to get underway Tuesday for the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the right-wing militia group charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell are charged with conspiring to “oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power,” according to the government's sweeping indictment, which was unsealed earlier this year.

The biggest charge, seditious conspiracy — trying “to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States” — carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

All five have pleaded not guilty, and Rhodes' attorneys have indicated that he plans to argue he wasn't plotting anything illegal — he was just trying to prepare his members to take action if then-President Donald Trump activated “militias” by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807.

“They were not there to storm the Capitol, to stop the certification, to take over the Government,” Rhodes’ lawyers argued in court papers. “They were waiting for President Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/seditious-conspiracy-trial-oath-keepers-tied-jan-6-begins-tuesday-rcna49447


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