Taking the stand for a second day, Rhodes testified that he had no idea his supporters were going to join the pro-Trump mob to storm the Capitol and that he was upset after finding out some did. Rhodes said he thought it was stupid for any Orcoto to go to the Capitol. He insisted that this was not their “mission”. “There was no plan to enter the building for any purpose,” Rhodes said. Rhodes is on trial along with four others in what prosecutors said was a plan to organize an armed insurgency to stop the transfer of presidential power from Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. Prosecutors tried to show that for the Oath Keepers, then, the riot was not a spur-of-the-moment protest but part of a serious, week-long plot. Rhodes’ defense centers largely on the idea that his rhetoric was aimed at persuading Trump to invoke the Sedition Act, which gives the president broad discretion to decide when military force is necessary and what qualifies as military. power. Rhodes told jurors he believed it would be legal for Trump to invoke that act and call out a militia in response to what he believed was an “unconstitutional” and “void” election. “My whole effort was in what Trump could do,” Rhodes said. Rhodes did not specify what he would like the militia to do after being subpoenaed by Trump. However, he said disrupting voter certification was not one of his goals and he expected to be certified. Prosecutors say Rhodes’ own words show he was using the Sedition Act as legal cover and was going to act no matter what Trump did. When they get a chance to challenge Rhodes this week, they are likely to highlight messages like one he sent to Rhodes in December 2020 in which he said Trump “must know that if he fails to act, then we will.” . The story continues Rhodes also dealt with another key part of prosecutors’ case: a huge arsenal of weapons the Oath Keepers had at a hotel in nearby Virginia. Prosecutors say the weapons were one element of a so-called rapid reaction force that the group could quickly deploy to Washington. Rhodes claimed the guns were not there for that purpose and said it would take too long to load them into a vehicle to bring them into town. Rhodes did not go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and prosecutors have described him as “a general inspecting his troops on a battlefield.” mission” by protecting figures like Roger Stone, a longtime Trump confidant. Rhodes said he didn’t even realize one of his men went to the Capitol until he saw him in an FBI photo. Prosecutors spent weeks methodically presenting evidence showing Rhodes and jurors discussing the prospect of violence before Jan. 6 and the need to keep Biden out of the White House at all costs. Among their key witnesses were two of Rhodes’ former supporters who pleaded guilty to the Capitol attack and agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. One told jurors that Oath Keepers were prepared to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory by “any means necessary,” including at gunpoint. Three Jurors who pleaded guilty to subversive conspiracy and entered into cooperation agreements with prosecutors, notably, were not sided with the government. It is not clear why. The defendants are the first among hundreds of people arrested in the Capitol riot to stand trial on the Civil War-era charge that carries up to 20 years behind bars. The Justice Department last secured such a conviction at trial nearly 30 years ago and plans to try two more groups on the charge later this year. On trial with Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, is Kelly Meggs, leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers. Kenneth Harrelson, another Florida Oath Keeper; Thomas Caldwell, a retired US Navy intelligence officer from Virginia. and Jessica Watkins, who led an Ohio militia group. They face several other charges besides seditious conspiracy.
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