Politics
LIVE: Follow along for Day Two of the Oath Keepers sedition trial
[ad_1]
The alleged plot by members of the far-right Oath Keepers network to stop the transfer of power was laid out broadly by prosecutors in a historic first day of trial. Now it’s day two, and it’s time to get more granular.
Daily Kos is back in the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday with live coverage. On Monday, both the Justice Department and attorneys for defendants Elmer Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Thomas Caldwell offered their opening statements.
For their part, prosecutors highlighted snippets from disturbing communications found on Oath Keeper devices that stretched all the way back to Election Day 2020 and then beyond Jan. 6, 2021. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said the Justice Department’s findings proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Rhodes and his crew went to great lengths to assemble recruits, stockpile weapons, and establish “quick reaction force” teams to fulfill their seditious plans.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys pushed back on the allegations and worked to convince jurors that the Justice Department’s indictment was wildly overblown and its evidence mostly out of context. The defendants were part of a “peacekeeping force” that was merely preparing to assist former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 if he called on them.
On Tuesday, FBI Special Agent Michael Palian is expected to return to the stand and testify about the agency’s investigation of the Oath Keepers after Jan. 6. There are hundreds of exhibits to get through today.
Catch what you may have missed on Monday in the related links. Updates will be posted here as well as on Twitter.
RELATED STORIES:
Prosecution sets high bar for Oath Keepers to overcome as sedition trial wraps first day
[ad_2]
Brandi Buchman
Source link
