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Tag: Stewart Rhodes

  • The Only Oath Trump Respects Is to Himself

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    Convicted insurrectionist and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, with a tattoo of Trump surviving an assassination attempt.
    Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    In recent days Donald Trump has gone completely medieval on six Democratic members of Congress, all of them military or intelligence-agency veterans, who ran an ad reminding their former comrades in arms that they aren’t obliged to obey illegal orders. In a blizzard of Truth Social posts, Trump called the lawmakers “traitors,” accused them of “seditious behavior, punishable by death,” and suggested they be locked up immediately. Soon thereafter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Senator Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain, might be called back to active duty in order to be court-martialed over “serious allegations of misconduct.”

    Subsequently the FBI contacted the six Democrats to arrange interviews and investigations about their involvement in the ad. One of them, Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, said, “The President directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place.” And the four House members who participated in the ad (Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire) released a joint statement defiantly responding to the FBI move: “No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution.”

    Team Trump is obviously going far beyond anything it needed to do to address the ad. As Jonathan Chait noted, “The Trump administration could have deployed an obvious defense: What are you talking about? We’re not issuing or planning any illegal orders.” The ad did not accuse the administration of having already issued illegal orders. It simply observed that “this administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.” That’s a rather incontrovertible statement, given Trump’s deployments of National Guard units in various cities, and of Marines in California, to deal with entirely legal protests. Yes, the White House seems to believe a vast number of Americans are traitors and insurrectionary conspirators. But the fact remains that Trump fully expects members of the military to engage in rare domestic law-enforcement activities that at least skirt the laws and the Constitution. It’s a legitimate problem.

    Even if you believe all orders by this president are by definition lawful, or that they must be obeyed even if they aren’t, there’s a pretty serious inconsistency problem for the administration. You know who else takes the position — and takes it to an extreme — that oaths taken to defend the Constitution outrank any orders that might violate it, even from a president, and even after uniformed service has ended? Trump’s allies in the Oath Keepers organization. This right-wing group recruits active and retired military and law-enforcement personnel who are asked to put into practice their elevation of oaths over orders and over laws they deem unconstitutional. They don’t just appeal to the patriotic conscience: They have defined views on the many laws and public policies they feel no compunction to obey, beginning with absolutely any regulation of firearms and extending to private-property rights, which they consider sacrosanct. And indeed, when the Oath Keepers believe politicians are plotting to violate their rights, they are committed to do something about it preemptively, which is why the group is deeply invested in an array of far-right conspiracy theories.

    The Oath Keepers (along with the similarly militant Proud Boys) have been on the radical fringe of the MAGA movement and were very involved in planning and executing the January 6 insurrection. A significant number of the Capitol rioters arrested, investigated, prosecuted, and imprisoned for involvement in that assault on the 2020 election results were Oath Keeper and Proud Boys rank and file. They were among the 1,500 “J6 patriots” pardoned by Trump on the first day of his second term. Five Oath Keepers who were convicted of playing a particularly large role in organizing the insurrection received commuted sentences and were set free the same day as the pardons. They included Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes, a sort of Johnny Appleseed of sedition in the name of constitutional rights.

    So if people like Rhodes and his confederates are viewed as MAGA heroes for acting violently on their constitutional convictions while breaking laws and defying the legitimacy of a duly elected president of the United States, why should six Democratic members of Congress get treated as “traitors” for the mere suggestion that illegal orders might be issued and should be disobeyed? Aren’t they “oath keepers” too, without all the conspiracy theories and weapons caches?

    The inescapable conclusion is that Trump respects oaths taken to him and his causes, not to the presidency or to the Constitution. He has repeatedly placed himself above all laws, and his understanding of the Constitution is defined by his famous comment that “I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do anything I want as president.” His position atop an inviolable chain of command governing the military is personal, not institutional. In his mind, he is in the process of saving America from destruction every day and thus is the sole legitimate object of patriotic duty. No wonder he so often identifies opposition to his will with “insurrection” and is enraged by reminders of the limits of his power. That’s the real crime committed by the six Democrats he wants to jail or hang.


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    Ed Kilgore

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  • Prosecutors use Oath Keepers leader’s own words against him in heated cross-examination | CNN Politics

    Prosecutors use Oath Keepers leader’s own words against him in heated cross-examination | CNN Politics

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    CNN
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    In a tense, head-to-head exchange with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, prosecutors used Rhodes’ own words from texts, speeches and interviews to suggest to the jury that the militia leader misled them when he testified he was unaware of other members’ activities on January 6, 2021, and was appalled by the violence that day.

    Rhodes is the first of the five defendants charged with seditious conspiracy in federal court in Washington, DC, to testify.

    In his two-day testimony, Rhodes told the jury that he wasn’t involved in the specifics of planning for January 6, and that he had no knowledge of plans for the so-called quick reaction force that the group set up in Virginia to quickly move weapons into Washington, as prosecutors have alleged.

    Prosecutor Kathryn Rakoczy, however, showed the jury Signal messages in which Rhodes told other members that “We WILL have a QRF” on January 6 because “this situation calls for it” and was part of group messages where members shared photographs of routes the QRF could use to enter the city.

    “The buck stopped with you in this operation,” Rakoczy said to Rhodes, reading the leader’s messages aloud.

    “I’m responsible for everything everyone else did?” Rhodes responded.

    “You’re in charge, right?” Rakoczy said.

    “Not if they do something off mission,” he shot back.

    “That’s convenient,” Rakoczy said, smiling.

    The militia leader also told prosecutors that he “hoped to avoid” conflict and was only concerned about a civil war breaking out after Joe Biden became president – leading to a chiding question from Rakoczy about how “the civil war will be on [January] 21st and not on the sixth?”

    “I don’t condone the violence that happened” on January 6, Rhodes testified. “Anyone who did assault a police officer that day should be prosecuted for it.”

    Rakoczy pointed to statements Rhodes made in a secretly recorded conversation in the days after January 6 where he said he wished the Oath Keepers had brought rifles to the Capitol that day.

    “If he’s not going to do the right thing, and he’s just going to let himself be removed illegally, then we should have brought rifles,” Rhodes said in the recording prosecutors again played for the jury.

    “We could have fixed it right then and there,” Rhodes said of the Capitol attack, according to the recording. “I’d hang f**king Pelosi from the lamppost.”

    After playing the recording, Rakoczy asked Rhodes, “That’s what you said four days after the assault at the Capitol, right?”

    “Yeah, after a couple drinks and I was pissed off,” Rhodes testified.

    Rhodes and the other four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the seditious conspiracy charges.

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  • Oath Keepers leader testifies 2020 election was ‘unconstitutional,’ paints himself as anti-violence | CNN Politics

    Oath Keepers leader testifies 2020 election was ‘unconstitutional,’ paints himself as anti-violence | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the right-wing Oath Keepers who prosecutors say called for a “bloody revolution” to keep then-President Donald Trump in power, painted himself as an anti-racist Libertarian who believed the 2020 election was unconstitutional as he testified in his own defense on Friday.

    Rhodes is the first of the five defendants charged with seditious conspiracy in federal court in Washington, DC, to testify.

    The courtroom was packed during his testimony, and Rhodes choked up several times discussing his family, suicide rates among veterans and other subjects highlighted by his lawyer, Phillip Linder. He spoke directly to the jury and appeared very comfortable on the stand.

    Rhodes explained to the jury that he didn’t believe either Trump or Joe Biden won in 2020 because the election itself was “unconstitutional.”

    “I believe the election was unconstitutional, and that made it invalid,” Rhodes testified. “You really can’t have a winner of an unconstitutional election.”

    Rhodes told the jury that, as he saw it, election laws in several states were changed by “executive fiat” and not through the state legislature.

    “In multiple states especially in the swing states … you had them putting in new rules in direct violation” of state laws, Rhodes said.

    “Everyone kept focusing on the computers” and other theories of voter fraud, Rhodes said, instead of the constitutional issues, which they needed to discuss before figuring out “whether there’s fraud on the ground.”

    Rhodes did not detail any specific laws that were changed. CNN has found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

    Prosecutors have alleged that Rhodes wanted Trump to remain in power and that the militia leader supported a “bloody revolution” to secure the presidency.

    Rhodes told the jury Friday how he was honorably discharged from the military and went on to study law at Yale, focusing his attention on the Bill of Rights – which Rhodes called “the crown jewel of our Constitution” – and protecting civilian rights in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

    Rhodes, a self-described Libertarian, testified that he founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 to “reach, change and inspire” people about what rights the Constitution afforded them.

    Pushing back on what he saw as narratives that the Oath Keepers were racist or white nationalists, Rhodes said the organization traveled to various cities for racial justice protests, claiming the group protected “minority business owners” in Ferguson, Missouri.

    “Frankly we kind of embarrassed the police, Rhodes testified, “because we showed them how to do it right, protecting the business owners while still respecting the rights of the protesters.”

    Oath Keepers rules, Rhodes claimed, specifically bar any member who “advocates for the overthrow of the United States.”

    During the first several weeks of the seditious conspiracy trial against the far-right organization, prosecutors presented evidence that the Oath Keepers stockpiled weapons at a hotel in Virginia on January 6 as part of a so-called quick reaction force. Prosecutors alleged that the five defendants intended to use those weapons in case called upon by Trump to stop the transfer of power to Biden.

    Rhodes told the jury that wasn’t the case and claimed that the QRF’s were set up at an event the Oath Keepers attended to “respond in case there is an emergency,” including if his men were ever injured.

    The Oath Keepers also used QRFs every time they provided security, Rhodes said, including several events in Washington, DC. After the election, Rhodes testified he was concerned Antifa would “attack the White House,” and claimed the leftist organization was threatening to “drag Trump out” if the president refused to concede.

    In November, “I was concerned that this might actually happen,” Rhodes told the jury, citing his rhetoric on a recorded meeting prosecutors showed the jury in which Rhodes allegedly said that “there’s going to be a fight.”

    If Antifa did try to attack the White House, Rhodes said that “President Trump could use the Insurrection Act, declare this an insurrection, and use myself and other veterans to protect the White House.”

    No such attack at the White House occurred.

    Rhodes is expected to continue his testimony on Monday.

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  • Secret Service reached out to Oath Keepers ahead of January 6 riot | CNN Politics

    Secret Service reached out to Oath Keepers ahead of January 6 riot | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Secret Service agents were in contact with members of the Oath Keepers prior to January 6 an official with the agency tells CNN, as part of standard intelligence and response duties.

    The official said members of the Oath Keepers occasionally reached out to the Secret Service with questions about permissible items for rallies. Further, when agents learned the group planned to attend events, agents reached out and met with members. The official noted that is common when groups plan to demonstrate.

    The Washington Post first reported the agency’s outreach to the Oath Keepers ahead of January 6, 2021.

    “We are aware that individuals from the Oath Keepers have contacted us in the past to make inquiries,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told CNN last week.

    It’s not uncommon for law enforcement agents to maintain contacts with groups that are of investigative interest. The Oath Keepers and other extremist groups that traveled to Washington for rallies after the 2020 election had numerous contacts with local and federal law enforcement agencies, testimony gathered in congressional and federal investigations has shown.

    The relationship between the Oath Keepers has come under increased scrutiny after testimony last week revealed the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, purported to be in touch with agents.

    John Zimmerman, a former North Carolina leader of the Oath Keepers, testified that he believed Rhodes was in touch with a Secret Service agent in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.

    Zimmerman, who has not been charged with a crime, said members of the Oath Keepers – who are currently on trial for charges relating to the January 6 US Capitol attack, including seditious conspiracy – gathered in September in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump

    Members of the Oath Keepers were recruiting at the rally and working as personal security details, he said.

    To prepare for the rally, Zimmerman testified, Rhodes said he was in contact with a member of the Secret Service who advised the leader on what weapons were allowed near the rally. Zimmerman said he did not hear the entire conversation, but that Rhodes repeatedly represented he was in touch with an agent.

    Rhodes allegedly told other members of the Oath Keepers in a group chat that if Trump called upon them as a militia, he believed the US Secret Service would be “happy” to have their help, according to evidence presented in court Thursday.

    The text was presented during the seditious conspiracy trial of Rhodes and four other defendants. All five have pleaded not guilty.

    “If he calls us up as a militia I think the secret service would be happy to have us out there,” Rhodes wrote, according to prosecutors. Rhodes went on to say this conclusion was based upon numerous positive contacts between Oath Keepers and the Secret Service before several Trump rallies before January 6.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • Secret recording played at trial shows Oath Keepers allegedly planning for violence in DC | CNN Politics

    Secret recording played at trial shows Oath Keepers allegedly planning for violence in DC | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Federal prosecutors played audio recording in court on Tuesday of an alleged November 2020 Oath Keepers planning meeting that discussed plans to bring weapons to Washington, DC, and prepare to “fight” on behalf of former President Donald Trump.

    The meeting lasted about two hours and was secretly recorded by an attendee, FBI agent Michael Palian told jurors during the second day of the trial of far-right militia Oath Keepers leaders on seditious conspiracy charges.

    The attendee, Palian said, sent a tip to the FBI later that month but was not contacted by agents. They then resubmitted the tip in March 2021, was interviewed with agents and gave them the recording.

    The recording, which is primarily of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, is the first major piece of evidence that prosecutors have used to establish a plan by the far-right group to allegedly descend on Washington and oppose the transfer of power.

    “We’re not getting out of this without a fight. There’s going to be a fight,” Rhodes said in the recording played in court. “But let’s just do it smart and let’s do it while President Trump is still commander in chief,” Rhodes said.

    Rhodes repeatedly said that people should put pressure on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, and that the Oath Keepers would be “awaiting the president’s orders.”

    “If the fight comes, let the fight come. Let Antifa go – if they go kinetic on us then we’ll go kinetic back on them. I’m willing to sacrifice myself for that,” Rhodes said in the recording. “If things go kinetic, good. If they blow bombs up and shoot us, great. Because that brings the President reason and rationale” to invoke the Insurrection Act.

    He continued, “so our mission going to be to go into DC, but I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in if they have to. So, if the s**t kicks off, then you rock and roll.”

    Two other defendants, Jessica Watkins and Kelly Meggs, are also on the recording discussing what weapons are legal to bring into the district, prosecutors said.

    “Pepper spray is legal. Tasers are legal. And stun guns are legal. And it doesn’t hurt to have a lead pipe with a flag on it,” Meggs said on the recording.

    After the meeting, Meggs and Watkins both told their state Oath Keeper delegations that they were going to go to Washington. Watkins wrote to Ohio members, “Anybody not on the call tonight. We have been issued a call to action for DC. This is the moment we signed up for.”

    All five defendants have pleaded not guilty to the seditious conspiracy charge they face, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.

    Prosecutors submit secret recording of Oath Keepers founder during trial

    CNN national security analyst Carrie Cordero said Congress should look at how the FBI handled the initial tip about the Oath Keepers tape.

    That the Oath Keepers recording went uninvestigated by the FBI until after January 6 is an “additional piece of information that congressional investigators in particular on the January 6th committee and the other Homeland Security committees should be looking at to determine whether or not the FBI and other law enforcement organizations were doing enough on the prevention side,” Cordero told CNN’s Ana Cabrera on Tuesday.

    Cordero said that “lots of information that has come to light over the course of the last year that indicates there were all sorts of other indications that there would be violence on January 6th raises the question of why there wasn’t better warning in advance to those who were responsible for protecting the physical security of the Capitol.”

    During cross examination, attorneys for the defendants questioned Palian on the context of the recording.

    “Isn’t it true that all of the talk that Mr. Rhodes and others are doing … is related to going to DC on November 14th?” Rhodes’ attorney Phillip Linder asked Palian, referencing the so-called Million MAGA March that took place in Washington in November 2020.

    “I’d agree with that,” Palian responded. Prosecutors have previously said that some of the defendants, including Rhodes, Watkins and Thomas Caldwell attended the November march without incident.

    Palian also testified that the recording did not mention the date January 6.

    David Fischer, an attorney for Caldwell, asked Palian whether Caldwell explicitly stated that he was planning to attack the Capitol. Palian testified that “We have not come across a person that has told us that.”

    Fischer pushed Palian on whether Caldwell was actually a member of the Oath Keepers, but Palian testified that he was “part of the group” even if he didn’t formally pay dues.

    “It costs zero dollars to join a gang,” Palian testified.

    This headline and story have been updated with additional developments from Tuesday’s court proceedings.

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  • What To Know About The Oath Keepers, On Trial For Role In January 6 Riots

    What To Know About The Oath Keepers, On Trial For Role In January 6 Riots

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    Five members of the Oath Keepers, including founder Stewart Rhodes, are being tried in federal court for their role in the riots of Jan. 6, 2021. The Onion tells you everything you need to know about the Oath Keepers and their trial.

    Q: Who are the Oath Keepers? 
    A: A group of patriotic citizens dedicated to defending the racist parts of the Constitution.

    Q: What are the five members on trial for? 
    A: Seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States and littering.

    Q: What were they doing at the Jan. 6 riot?
    A: Peacefully attempting to hang Mike Pence.

    Q: What do the Oath Keepers look for in a member?
    A: Previous experience as a law enforcement officer who served lots of time on administrative leave.

    Q: Who is their founder?
    A: Stewart Rhodes, who believes citizens must stop government tyranny with citizen tyranny.

    Q: Wait, that guy really went to Yale?
    A: Point to Harvard.

    Q: What are membership dues? 
    A: Five to 10 years in federal prison.

    Q: Why are so many members former law enforcement?
    A: Once you get used to carrying guns and scaring people, it’s hard to stop.

    Q: How are they connected to the 2014 Bundy ranch standoff?
    A: Many of Bundy’s cattle were early members of the Oath Keepers.

    Q: What are the expected consequences for the group?
    A: Winning a dozen or so seats in Congress in 2024.

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  • ‘Peril to our democracy’: Chilling lines from the judge who sentenced the Oath Keepers’ leader | CNN Politics

    ‘Peril to our democracy’: Chilling lines from the judge who sentenced the Oath Keepers’ leader | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Judge Amit Mehta on Thursday handed down an 18-year prison sentence for the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that ended with the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

    Before announcing the sentence, however, Mehta, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, delivered a chilling address to Rhodes about the impact of his seditious conspiracy crimes on American democracy.

    The federal judges in Washington, DC, who work just blocks from the US Capitol, have served as a conscience of democracy since January 6. They have rejected defenses that downplay the seriousness of the Capitol attack, spoken out about future dangers to the peaceful transfer of power and – while they have criticized former President Donald Trump – reminded defendants they are responsible for their actions.

    Here are some of the powerful lines from the judge on Thursday:

    “I dare say, Mr. Rhodes – and I never have said this to anyone I have sentenced – you pose an ongoing threat and peril to our democracy and the fabric of this country,” Mehta said.

    “I dare say we all now hold our collective breaths when an election is approaching. Will we have another January 6 again? That remains to be seen.”

    The judge, refuting claims Rhodes made during a 20-minute rant earlier in the day, added: “You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes. That is not why you are here. It is not because of your beliefs. It is not because Joe Biden is the president right now.”

    The sentence is the first handed down in over a decade for seditious conspiracy and Mehta said he wanted to explain the offense to the public. He did not mince words.

    “A seditious conspiracy, when you take those two concepts and put it together, is among the most serious crimes an American can commit. It is an offense against the government to use force. It is an offense against the people of our country,” the judge said.

    “It is a series of acts in which you and others committed to use force, including potentially with weapons, against the government of the United States as it transitioned from one president to another. And what was the motive? You didn’t like the new guy.”

    “Let me be clear about one thing to you, Mr. Rhodes, and anybody who else that is listening. In this country we don’t paint with a broad brush, and shame on you if you do. Just because somebody supports the former president, it doesn’t mean they are a White supremacist, a White nationalist. It just means they voted for the other guy.”

    “What we absolutely cannot have is a group of citizens who – because they did not like the outcome of an election, who did not believe the law was followed as it should be – foment revolution.”

    Mehta echoed these warnings later Thursday, when addressing a second Oath Keepers defendant, Kelly Meggs.

    “You don’t take to the streets with rifles,” he said. “You don’t hope that the president invokes the insurrection act so you can start a war in the streets… You don’t rush into the US Capitol with the hope to stop the electoral vote count.”

    “It is astonishing to me how average Americans somehow transformed into criminals in the weeks before and on January 6,” the judge said.

    Mehta said Rhodes, 58, has expressed no remorse and continues to be a threat.

    “It would be one thing, Mr. Rhodes, if after January 6 you had looked at what happened that day and said … that was not a good day for our democracy. But you celebrated it, you thought it was a good thing,” the judge said.

    “Even as you have been incarcerated you have continued to allude to violence as an acceptable means to address grievances.”

    “Nothing has changed, Mr. Rhodes, nothing has changed. And the reality is as you sit here today and as we heard you speak, the moment you are released you will be prepared to take up arms against our government. And not because you are a political prisoner, not because of the 2020 election, because you think this is a valid way to address grievances.”

    “American democracy doesn’t work, Mr. Rhodes, if when you think the Constitution has not been complied with it puts you in a bad place, because from what I’m hearing, when you think you are in a bad place, the rest of us are too. We are all the objects of your plans to – and your willingness to – engage in violence.”

    Mehta granted a Justice Department request to enhance the potential sentence against Rhodes, ruling that his actions amounted to domestic terrorism.

    “He was the one giving the orders,” Mehta said. “He was the one organizing the teams that day. He was the reason they were in fact in Washington, DC. Oath Keepers wouldn’t have been there but for Stewart Rhodes, I don’t think anyone contends otherwise. He was the one who gave the order to go, and they went.”

    During the sentencing hearing of Meggs, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, the judge again pegged Rhodes as the ringleader.

    “It is in part because of Mr. Rhodes, frankly, that Mr. Meggs is sitting here today.”

    On Wednesday, several police officers and congressional staffers who were at the Capitol on January 6 testified about their experiences, injuries and the aftermath. Mehta said their bravery and actions are also an important legacy of the attack, as officers put their bodies on the line.

    “The other enduring legacy is what we saw yesterday,” the judge said. “It is the heroism of police officers and those working in Congress … to protect democracy as we know it. That is what they are doing.”

    Before he was sentenced, Rhodes addressed the court for 20 minutes about the charges against him, repeating falsehoods about 2020 election fraud, claiming he was a political prisoner and expressing his desire to continue fighting.

    “It’s not simply a conspiracy theory or a false narrative about fraud. It’s about the Constitution,” Rhodes said, later shouting: “I am not able to drop that under my oath. I am not able to ignore the Constitution.”

    The judge had none of that, and compared Rhodes’ comments to the heroism of police officers and others protecting the Capitol: “We want to talk about keeping oaths? There is nobody more emblematic of keeping their oaths, Mr. Rhodes.”

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