SIMPLE OUTPUT (Author and post)
by ti-amie
CritterLife
🐿
@critter_life·1hI wonder how many people have the password to the account? 
CritterLife
🐿
@critter_life·1hI wonder how many people have the password to the account? 
by ti-amie
Jazz and I talked about how bad the threading has become on Twitter, what you call nesting. It's really hard to find the beginning of a thread now.
by ponchi101 I need to combine the freaking out and the vomit emojis...
by ti-amie New details emerge of Oval Office confrontation three days before Jan. 6
Jeffrey Clark, a mid-level Justice Department official, wanted Trump to name him attorney general in a plan aimed at potentially overturning the election
By Michael Kranish
June 14, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Jeffrey Clark, assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division, speaks during a news conference, flanked by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, left, and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, right, in September 2020. (Susan Walsh/Pool/AP)
Three days before Congress was slated to certify the 2020 presidential election, a little-known Justice Department official named Jeffrey Clark rushed to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss a last-ditch attempt to reverse the results.
Clark, an environmental lawyer by trade, had outlined a plan in a letter he wanted to send to the leaders of key states Joe Biden won. It said that the Justice Department had “identified significant concerns” about the vote and that the states should consider sending “a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump” for Congress to approve.
In fact, Clark’s bosses had warned there was not evidence to overturn the election and had rejected his letter days earlier. Now they learned Clark was about to meet with Trump. Acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen tracked down his deputy, Richard Donoghue, who had been walking on the Mall in muddy jeans and an Army T-shirt. There was no time to change. They raced to the Oval Office.
As Rosen and Donoghue listened, Clark told Trump that he would send the letter if the president named him attorney general.
As Rosen and Donoghue listened, Clark told Trump that he would send the letter if the president named him attorney general.
“History is calling,” Clark told the president, according to a deposition from Donoghue excerpted in a recent court filing. “This is our opportunity. We can get this done.”
Donoghue urged Trump not to put Clark in charge, calling him “not competent” and warning of “mass resignations” by Justice Department officials if he became the nation’s top law enforcement official, according to Donoghue’s account.
“What happens if, within 48 hours, we have hundreds of resignations from your Justice Department because of your actions?” Donoghue said he asked Trump. “What does that say about your leadership?”
Clark’s letter and his Oval Office meeting set off one of the tensest chapters during Trump’s effort to overturn the election, which culminated three days later with rioters storming the U.S. Capitol. His plan could have decapitated the Justice Department leadership and could have overturned the election.
Clark’s actions have been the focus of a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation and an ongoing probe by the Justice Department’s inspector general, and now are expected to be closely examined during June hearings by the House committee investigating the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
(...)
A reconstruction of the events by The Washington Post, based on the court filings, depositions, Senate and House reports, previously undisclosed emails, and interviews with knowledgeable government officials, shows how close the country came to crisis three days before the insurrection.
(...)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who participated in the Judiciary Committee’s investigation, said investigators should key in on whether Clark was working on behalf of others not yet identified.
“It certainly could be a symptom of a much larger and more coherent plan than has currently been disclosed,” Whitehouse said. Clark “does not appear to have elections expertise or experience, which raises the question, did he really sit down at his computer and type it out or does somebody produce it for him?”
Clark, who attended Harvard and got his law degree from Georgetown, built a career focused on environmental law at the Washington law firm of Kirkland & Ellis and served in the George W. Bush administration’s Justice Department.
Clark arrived at Trump’s Justice Department in 2018 to head an office that enforces environmental laws and regulations, and then in September 2020 became acting head of the department’s civil division.
(...)
Clark would soon emerge as someone interested in pursuing Trump’s claims. He found a key ally in Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), one of the earliest proponents of Trump’s voter fraud claims. Perry later told radio station WITF that he had worked with Clark on “various legislative matters” over the previous four years. When Perry called Donoghue in late December to complain that the Justice Department hadn’t sufficiently investigated the election, he mentioned Clark as someone “who could really get in there and do something about this,” according to the Senate Judiciary Committee majority report.
Shortly before Christmas, Clark and Perry met, according to the Senate report. Perry told WITF that “when President Trump asked if I would make an introduction, I obliged.” A Perry spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Clark then met with Trump in the Oval Office, according to the Senate report. When Rosen found out Clark had talked privately with Trump, he was livid, telling Clark in a Dec. 26 phone call that, “You didn’t tell me about it in advance. You didn’t get authorization. You didn’t tell me about it after the fact. This can’t happen,” according to Rosen’s interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Clark was “somewhat apologetic” and promised he wouldn’t do it again without permission, according to Rosen. But Clark had already made an impression on the president. The next day, Trump told Rosen in a phone call that “people are very mad with the Justice Department” not investigating voter fraud and referred to having met with Clark.
Rosen told Trump that the Justice Department could not “flip a switch and change the election,” according to notes of the conversation cited by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I don’t expect you to do that,” Trump responded, according to the notes. “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.” The president urged Rosen to “just have a press conference.”
Rosen refused. “We don’t see that,” he told Trump. “We’re not going to have a press conference.”
A top Clark associate, meanwhile, prepared to send him a draft of the letter to state legislatures.
(...)
Kenneth Klukowski had arrived at the Justice Department just two weeks before the Oval Office meeting to become legal counsel to the civil division overseen by Clark.
At 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2020, he sent an email that has been a central mystery in the Clark episode. The email to Clark, obtained by The Post, has the subject line, “email to you,” and an attachment titled “Draft Letter JBC 12 28 20.docx.” The email text simply said “Attached.” The attached letter, which has been previously released, was titled “Pre-Decisional & Deliberative/Attorney-Client or Legal Work Product – Georgia Proof of Concept.”
The House committee has sought to determine if Klukowski wrote the letter and whether he did so alone. Klukowski is cooperating with the committee, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a closed-door session.
(...)
Twenty minutes after Klukowski sent the document, Clark sent Rosen and Donoghue an email with the subject line “Two Urgent Action Items.” One was an attachment of the letter that Klukowski had just sent to him. At the bottom of the letter was a place for it to be signed by Rosen, Donoghue and Clark.
“I set it up for signature by the three of us,” Clark wrote. “I think we should get it out as soon as possible.”
The second item was Clark’s request for an intelligence briefing about an allegation that the Chinese were controlling U.S.-based voting machines via internet-connected smart thermostats, a theory that the Justice Department had dismissed as not credible.
Donoghue said in his deposition that he found Clark’s proposed letter to state leaders and request for the intelligence briefing to be “very strange” and “completely inconsistent with the department’s role ...[and] with what our investigations to date, had revealed.”
“There’s no chance I would sign this letter or anything remotely like this,” Donoghue emailed Clark on the afternoon of Dec. 28, 2020. He stressed that the Justice Department investigations into possible fraud were so small that they “would simply not impact the outcome of the election.” Donoghue told Clark that asking the states to reconsider their certified election results “would be a grave step for the Department to take and could have tremendous constitutional, political, and social ramifications for the country.”
Rosen was stunned. He had known Clark for years and once had worked with him at Kirkland & Ellis. Rosen told the Senate committee that he wondered “what’s going on with Jeff Clark. That this is inconsistent with how I perceived him in the past.” At several points, Clark asked that the word “acting” be removed from his title as head of the civil division, which Rosen said he declined.
(...)
With the meeting concluded, Rosen and Donoghue thought Clark’s effort was over. Clark told them, “I think they are good ideas. You don’t like them. Okay. Then, I guess we won’t do it,” according to Rosen’s Senate committee interview.
But Clark’s effort to woo Trump with his ideas was just beginning.
(...)
Several days later, Rosen learned that Clark had once again met with Trump — and once again without informing him in advance, Rosen told the Senate committee. Clark told Rosen that Trump wanted him to consider becoming attorney general. Rosen was livid. “He says he won’t do it again. He did it again,” Rosen recalled. But Rosen said he did not have the authority to fire Clark, as he would have liked to do, because Clark was a presidential appointee.
Shortly after the clash between Clark and the senior Justice Department officials, Clark told Rosen that if he reversed his position and signed the letter to the Georgia legislature, then Rosen could remain attorney general, Rosen told the Senate committee. Rosen refused. Donoghue told Clark that “you went behind your boss’s back, and you’re proposing things that are outside your domain and you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rosen told the Senate committee.
The following day, Jan. 3, 2021, Clark told Rosen that he had just talked with Trump and that “the president had decided to offer him the position, and he had decided to take it. So that I would be replaced that Sunday, and the department would chart a different path,” Rosen told the Senate committee.
“I don’t get to be fired by someone who works for me,” Rosen said he told Clark. Rosen then called and asked to meet with Trump.
(...)
A meeting in the Oval Office was quickly arranged with Clark, Rosen, and other Justice Department and White House lawyers. Rosen found Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk, while other White House and Justice Department officials took their seats. Donoghue, still in his muddy jeans and T-shirt, remained outside. The Post had just broken the news that Trump had a day earlier pressured Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to find enough votes to win the state. Raffensperger had told Trump his allegations of fraud that could overturn the election were baseless.
While Donoghue was watching television coverage about The Post’s report, a White House official emerged and said, “The president wants you in this meeting.”
Around the time Donoghue entered, Clark was telling Trump that if he became attorney general he would “conduct real investigations that would, in his view, uncover widespread fraud,” Donoghue said in his House deposition. Clark vowed to send the letter he drafted to Georgia and other states and said that “this was a last opportunity to sort of set things straight with this defective election, and that he could do it, and he had the intelligence and the will and the desire to pursue these matters in the way that the president thought most appropriate.”
Everyone else in the room told Trump they opposed Clark, Donoghue said.
(...)
Donoghue then told Trump that Clark had no qualification to be attorney general: “He’s never been a criminal attorney. He’s never conducted a criminal investigation in his life. He’s never been in front of a grand jury, much less a trial jury.”
Clark objected.
“Well, I’ve done a lot of very complicated appeals and civil litigation, environmental litigation, and things like that,” Clark said, according to Donoghue’s deposition.
“That’s right,” Donoghue said he responded. “You’re an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and we’ll call you when there’s an oil spill.”
Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, told Trump that Clark’s proposed letter was “a murder-suicide pact,” according to Donoghue’s deposition. “It’s going to damage everyone who touches it. And we should have nothing to do with that letter. I don’t ever want to see that letter again.” Cipollone declined to comment.
Trump made his decision and turned to Clark.
(...)
Clark had yet another idea. He asked whether Engel could provide a formal opinion about what authority Vice President Mike Pence had “when it comes to opening the votes” of the electoral college result on Jan. 6, according to an excerpt of Engel’s deposition in a recent court filing.
“That’s an absurd idea,” Engel said he responded, asserting it wasn’t the job of the Justice Department and noting only three days remained before Pence would perform his role. Trump interjected that he didn’t want anyone attending the meeting to talk to Pence about what to do on Jan. 6.
“Nobody should be talking to the vice president here,” Trump said, according to Engel. Instead, Trump would soon do that himself in an attempt to convince the vice president not to certify Biden’s election.
As the Justice Department officials filed out of the White House that night, one grave threat to American democracy had passed.
Three days later, after the president falsely said at a rally that “we won this election, and we won it by a landslide,” a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol.
Alice Crites contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... ore-jan-6/
Jeffrey Clark, a mid-level Justice Department official, wanted Trump to name him attorney general in a plan aimed at potentially overturning the election
By Michael Kranish
June 14, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Jeffrey Clark, assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division, speaks during a news conference, flanked by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, left, and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, right, in September 2020. (Susan Walsh/Pool/AP)
Three days before Congress was slated to certify the 2020 presidential election, a little-known Justice Department official named Jeffrey Clark rushed to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss a last-ditch attempt to reverse the results.
Clark, an environmental lawyer by trade, had outlined a plan in a letter he wanted to send to the leaders of key states Joe Biden won. It said that the Justice Department had “identified significant concerns” about the vote and that the states should consider sending “a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump” for Congress to approve.
In fact, Clark’s bosses had warned there was not evidence to overturn the election and had rejected his letter days earlier. Now they learned Clark was about to meet with Trump. Acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen tracked down his deputy, Richard Donoghue, who had been walking on the Mall in muddy jeans and an Army T-shirt. There was no time to change. They raced to the Oval Office.
As Rosen and Donoghue listened, Clark told Trump that he would send the letter if the president named him attorney general.
As Rosen and Donoghue listened, Clark told Trump that he would send the letter if the president named him attorney general.
“History is calling,” Clark told the president, according to a deposition from Donoghue excerpted in a recent court filing. “This is our opportunity. We can get this done.”
Donoghue urged Trump not to put Clark in charge, calling him “not competent” and warning of “mass resignations” by Justice Department officials if he became the nation’s top law enforcement official, according to Donoghue’s account.
“What happens if, within 48 hours, we have hundreds of resignations from your Justice Department because of your actions?” Donoghue said he asked Trump. “What does that say about your leadership?”
Clark’s letter and his Oval Office meeting set off one of the tensest chapters during Trump’s effort to overturn the election, which culminated three days later with rioters storming the U.S. Capitol. His plan could have decapitated the Justice Department leadership and could have overturned the election.
Clark’s actions have been the focus of a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation and an ongoing probe by the Justice Department’s inspector general, and now are expected to be closely examined during June hearings by the House committee investigating the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
(...)
A reconstruction of the events by The Washington Post, based on the court filings, depositions, Senate and House reports, previously undisclosed emails, and interviews with knowledgeable government officials, shows how close the country came to crisis three days before the insurrection.
(...)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who participated in the Judiciary Committee’s investigation, said investigators should key in on whether Clark was working on behalf of others not yet identified.
“It certainly could be a symptom of a much larger and more coherent plan than has currently been disclosed,” Whitehouse said. Clark “does not appear to have elections expertise or experience, which raises the question, did he really sit down at his computer and type it out or does somebody produce it for him?”
Clark, who attended Harvard and got his law degree from Georgetown, built a career focused on environmental law at the Washington law firm of Kirkland & Ellis and served in the George W. Bush administration’s Justice Department.
Clark arrived at Trump’s Justice Department in 2018 to head an office that enforces environmental laws and regulations, and then in September 2020 became acting head of the department’s civil division.
(...)
Clark would soon emerge as someone interested in pursuing Trump’s claims. He found a key ally in Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), one of the earliest proponents of Trump’s voter fraud claims. Perry later told radio station WITF that he had worked with Clark on “various legislative matters” over the previous four years. When Perry called Donoghue in late December to complain that the Justice Department hadn’t sufficiently investigated the election, he mentioned Clark as someone “who could really get in there and do something about this,” according to the Senate Judiciary Committee majority report.
Shortly before Christmas, Clark and Perry met, according to the Senate report. Perry told WITF that “when President Trump asked if I would make an introduction, I obliged.” A Perry spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Clark then met with Trump in the Oval Office, according to the Senate report. When Rosen found out Clark had talked privately with Trump, he was livid, telling Clark in a Dec. 26 phone call that, “You didn’t tell me about it in advance. You didn’t get authorization. You didn’t tell me about it after the fact. This can’t happen,” according to Rosen’s interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Clark was “somewhat apologetic” and promised he wouldn’t do it again without permission, according to Rosen. But Clark had already made an impression on the president. The next day, Trump told Rosen in a phone call that “people are very mad with the Justice Department” not investigating voter fraud and referred to having met with Clark.
Rosen told Trump that the Justice Department could not “flip a switch and change the election,” according to notes of the conversation cited by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I don’t expect you to do that,” Trump responded, according to the notes. “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.” The president urged Rosen to “just have a press conference.”
Rosen refused. “We don’t see that,” he told Trump. “We’re not going to have a press conference.”
A top Clark associate, meanwhile, prepared to send him a draft of the letter to state legislatures.
(...)
Kenneth Klukowski had arrived at the Justice Department just two weeks before the Oval Office meeting to become legal counsel to the civil division overseen by Clark.
At 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2020, he sent an email that has been a central mystery in the Clark episode. The email to Clark, obtained by The Post, has the subject line, “email to you,” and an attachment titled “Draft Letter JBC 12 28 20.docx.” The email text simply said “Attached.” The attached letter, which has been previously released, was titled “Pre-Decisional & Deliberative/Attorney-Client or Legal Work Product – Georgia Proof of Concept.”
The House committee has sought to determine if Klukowski wrote the letter and whether he did so alone. Klukowski is cooperating with the committee, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a closed-door session.
(...)
Twenty minutes after Klukowski sent the document, Clark sent Rosen and Donoghue an email with the subject line “Two Urgent Action Items.” One was an attachment of the letter that Klukowski had just sent to him. At the bottom of the letter was a place for it to be signed by Rosen, Donoghue and Clark.
“I set it up for signature by the three of us,” Clark wrote. “I think we should get it out as soon as possible.”
The second item was Clark’s request for an intelligence briefing about an allegation that the Chinese were controlling U.S.-based voting machines via internet-connected smart thermostats, a theory that the Justice Department had dismissed as not credible.
Donoghue said in his deposition that he found Clark’s proposed letter to state leaders and request for the intelligence briefing to be “very strange” and “completely inconsistent with the department’s role ...[and] with what our investigations to date, had revealed.”
“There’s no chance I would sign this letter or anything remotely like this,” Donoghue emailed Clark on the afternoon of Dec. 28, 2020. He stressed that the Justice Department investigations into possible fraud were so small that they “would simply not impact the outcome of the election.” Donoghue told Clark that asking the states to reconsider their certified election results “would be a grave step for the Department to take and could have tremendous constitutional, political, and social ramifications for the country.”
Rosen was stunned. He had known Clark for years and once had worked with him at Kirkland & Ellis. Rosen told the Senate committee that he wondered “what’s going on with Jeff Clark. That this is inconsistent with how I perceived him in the past.” At several points, Clark asked that the word “acting” be removed from his title as head of the civil division, which Rosen said he declined.
(...)
With the meeting concluded, Rosen and Donoghue thought Clark’s effort was over. Clark told them, “I think they are good ideas. You don’t like them. Okay. Then, I guess we won’t do it,” according to Rosen’s Senate committee interview.
But Clark’s effort to woo Trump with his ideas was just beginning.
(...)
Several days later, Rosen learned that Clark had once again met with Trump — and once again without informing him in advance, Rosen told the Senate committee. Clark told Rosen that Trump wanted him to consider becoming attorney general. Rosen was livid. “He says he won’t do it again. He did it again,” Rosen recalled. But Rosen said he did not have the authority to fire Clark, as he would have liked to do, because Clark was a presidential appointee.
Shortly after the clash between Clark and the senior Justice Department officials, Clark told Rosen that if he reversed his position and signed the letter to the Georgia legislature, then Rosen could remain attorney general, Rosen told the Senate committee. Rosen refused. Donoghue told Clark that “you went behind your boss’s back, and you’re proposing things that are outside your domain and you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rosen told the Senate committee.
The following day, Jan. 3, 2021, Clark told Rosen that he had just talked with Trump and that “the president had decided to offer him the position, and he had decided to take it. So that I would be replaced that Sunday, and the department would chart a different path,” Rosen told the Senate committee.
“I don’t get to be fired by someone who works for me,” Rosen said he told Clark. Rosen then called and asked to meet with Trump.
(...)
A meeting in the Oval Office was quickly arranged with Clark, Rosen, and other Justice Department and White House lawyers. Rosen found Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk, while other White House and Justice Department officials took their seats. Donoghue, still in his muddy jeans and T-shirt, remained outside. The Post had just broken the news that Trump had a day earlier pressured Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to find enough votes to win the state. Raffensperger had told Trump his allegations of fraud that could overturn the election were baseless.
While Donoghue was watching television coverage about The Post’s report, a White House official emerged and said, “The president wants you in this meeting.”
Around the time Donoghue entered, Clark was telling Trump that if he became attorney general he would “conduct real investigations that would, in his view, uncover widespread fraud,” Donoghue said in his House deposition. Clark vowed to send the letter he drafted to Georgia and other states and said that “this was a last opportunity to sort of set things straight with this defective election, and that he could do it, and he had the intelligence and the will and the desire to pursue these matters in the way that the president thought most appropriate.”
Everyone else in the room told Trump they opposed Clark, Donoghue said.
(...)
Donoghue then told Trump that Clark had no qualification to be attorney general: “He’s never been a criminal attorney. He’s never conducted a criminal investigation in his life. He’s never been in front of a grand jury, much less a trial jury.”
Clark objected.
“Well, I’ve done a lot of very complicated appeals and civil litigation, environmental litigation, and things like that,” Clark said, according to Donoghue’s deposition.
“That’s right,” Donoghue said he responded. “You’re an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and we’ll call you when there’s an oil spill.”
Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, told Trump that Clark’s proposed letter was “a murder-suicide pact,” according to Donoghue’s deposition. “It’s going to damage everyone who touches it. And we should have nothing to do with that letter. I don’t ever want to see that letter again.” Cipollone declined to comment.
Trump made his decision and turned to Clark.
(...)
Clark had yet another idea. He asked whether Engel could provide a formal opinion about what authority Vice President Mike Pence had “when it comes to opening the votes” of the electoral college result on Jan. 6, according to an excerpt of Engel’s deposition in a recent court filing.
“That’s an absurd idea,” Engel said he responded, asserting it wasn’t the job of the Justice Department and noting only three days remained before Pence would perform his role. Trump interjected that he didn’t want anyone attending the meeting to talk to Pence about what to do on Jan. 6.
“Nobody should be talking to the vice president here,” Trump said, according to Engel. Instead, Trump would soon do that himself in an attempt to convince the vice president not to certify Biden’s election.
As the Justice Department officials filed out of the White House that night, one grave threat to American democracy had passed.
Three days later, after the president falsely said at a rally that “we won this election, and we won it by a landslide,” a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol.
Alice Crites contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... ore-jan-6/
by ti-amie Proud Boy Accused of Seditious Conspiracy Reveals ‘1776 Returns’ Plan to ‘Fill’ Buildings with ‘Patriots’—But Denies It Was a Jan. 6 Blueprint
MARISA SARNOFFJun 15th, 2022, 5:27 pm
A document known as “1776 Returns” purported to lay out a plan for breaching legislative buildings surrounding the U.S. Capitol, as well as the Supreme Court and CNN.
Long discussed in court filings but never before made public, the document came to light on Wednesday in support of a motion from Zachary Rehl, a member of the Proud Boys extremist group. Rehl now shares an indictment with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. Both stand accused of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Prosecutors say that Tarrio received the “1776 Returns” file with a message from an unidentified individual: “The revolution is important than anything.”
However, Rehl’s attorney, Carmen Hernandez, claims that the document does not reflect plans to attack the Capitol.
“The 9-page document that was allegedly sent to Mr. Tarrio was not a plan to attack the Capitol and in any event, Tarrio did not share or discuss the document with Mr. Rehl or the other defendants,” Hernandez wrote, adding that her client “had no knowledge” of the document.
“1776 Returns,” Hernandez wrote, “is not a plan to attack the Capitol and does not even mention the Capitol. It refers to occupying Congressional office buildings.”
Hernandez doesn’t reveal the identity of the person who allegedly sent the document, although she does acknowledge that the sender is a “female acquaintance” of Tarrio.
“The document was never shared or otherwise discussed with Mr. Rehl,” Hernandez writes in the filing. “1776 Returns was sent to Mr. Tarrio by a female acquaintance. Mr. Rehl does not know the woman who sent the document and has not had any conversations with her.”
According to Hernandez, prosecutors have said that Tarrio did not forward “1776 Returns” to Rehl or the other defendants, nor did he discuss the document or its contents with them.”
“We Need As Many People As Possible Inside These Buildings.”
The first item in the document’s brief table of contents: “Storm the Winter Palace.”
Included in the “Overall Goal” section of the document:
This map is included in the “1776 Returns” document at the bottom of the story.
Also on the targeted buildings list: “CNN – at least egg doorway,” the document said.
The third page of the document laid out “Manpower Needs,” with five distinct roles for each of the targeted buildings.
A “Covert Sleeper,” was tasked with setting up a “fake appointment” and was “expected to spend the day as our insider and let people inside the building.” This person had a backup, who “will also need to make a fake appointment.”
Each building would have a dedicated “Hypeman” to lead chants and “maintain energy/presence,” while a “Recruiter” was supposed to lead “gathering patriots” to the “starting point” for each building and “spread the word” about the plan.
As for “patriots” themselves, the plan called for at least 50 in each building, “or it’s a no go for that building.”
A note under the “preparation” to take place from Jan. 1 through Jan. 5 included the suggested to “se Covid to your advantage. Pack huge facemasks and face shields, protect your identity.”
“Do Not Look Tactical At All.”
The document instructed people to prepare for Jan. 6 as the “execution day.” They were told to “drive around buildings and areas before daylight to check on any roadblocks and update plans accordingly.”
The rest of the day was to follow five steps.
The first step, “Infiltrate,” as to have “leads and seconds” stay inside the building “until called upon execution time.” They were told to “e dressed in suits and unsuspecting, do not look tactical at all.”
During the next step, “Execution,” the people planted inside the buildings were to open the doors to the gathering crowd.
“This might include causing trouble near the front doors to distract guards who may be holding the doors off,” the document says. It also suggested pulling fire alarms, presumably allowing the exits to open.
Part three of the plan was to cause distractions “if necessary.”
“Distract law enforcement in the area by pulling other fire alarms around the city,” the document instructed. “This is ONLY to be done at the right time and if _______ makes the call.”
The name of the person who was expected to make the call was not included in the document.
Part four, “Occupy,” instructed rioters to “present our list of demands,” including such slogans as “Liberty or Death,” No Trump, No America,” and “We are watching.”
The final step, “Sit In,” appears unfinished. After instructing people to target offices of specific senators (none of whom are named at this point), a note in all caps reads: “WHATS [sic] THE ENDING POINT FOR THIS? Does everyone just leave at a certain time? WHO DOES GOV RESPOND TO?”
The second-to-last page was a form with blank spaces for each of the “Man Power” assignments.
The final page of instructions—and the only one intended to be publicly distributed—detailed the plan’s logistics for the day.
“You are the revolution,” the document said. “Be a part of history & fight for this country so our children don’t have to. It’s all or nothing Patriots, boldness and bravery is necessary.”
It appears that the “1776 Returns” plan included a handout detailing a demand for a “new election” to be held on Jan. 20. That “election” would be held using only paper ballots, would require each voter to present identification, and would be “[m]onitored by National Guard.”
Notably, a “Special Mention” at the bottom of the demands page issued a warning to some top-level GOP officials—Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and then-Vice President Mike Pence—as well as Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, received no such warnings.
“We the people love you,” the document said.
“1776 Returns” was initially referenced in court filings when Tarrio was first indicted in March. He has since been charged in a superseding indictment with seditious conspiracy.
https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-bre ... blueprint/
MARISA SARNOFFJun 15th, 2022, 5:27 pm
A document known as “1776 Returns” purported to lay out a plan for breaching legislative buildings surrounding the U.S. Capitol, as well as the Supreme Court and CNN.
Long discussed in court filings but never before made public, the document came to light on Wednesday in support of a motion from Zachary Rehl, a member of the Proud Boys extremist group. Rehl now shares an indictment with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. Both stand accused of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Prosecutors say that Tarrio received the “1776 Returns” file with a message from an unidentified individual: “The revolution is important than anything.”
However, Rehl’s attorney, Carmen Hernandez, claims that the document does not reflect plans to attack the Capitol.
“The 9-page document that was allegedly sent to Mr. Tarrio was not a plan to attack the Capitol and in any event, Tarrio did not share or discuss the document with Mr. Rehl or the other defendants,” Hernandez wrote, adding that her client “had no knowledge” of the document.
“1776 Returns,” Hernandez wrote, “is not a plan to attack the Capitol and does not even mention the Capitol. It refers to occupying Congressional office buildings.”
Hernandez doesn’t reveal the identity of the person who allegedly sent the document, although she does acknowledge that the sender is a “female acquaintance” of Tarrio.
“The document was never shared or otherwise discussed with Mr. Rehl,” Hernandez writes in the filing. “1776 Returns was sent to Mr. Tarrio by a female acquaintance. Mr. Rehl does not know the woman who sent the document and has not had any conversations with her.”
According to Hernandez, prosecutors have said that Tarrio did not forward “1776 Returns” to Rehl or the other defendants, nor did he discuss the document or its contents with them.”
“We Need As Many People As Possible Inside These Buildings.”
The first item in the document’s brief table of contents: “Storm the Winter Palace.”
Included in the “Overall Goal” section of the document:
A list of “Targeted Buildings” included office buildings dedicated to members of both the Senate and House of Representatives, along with the Supreme Court. Three of those Capitol complex office buildings—Raymond, Longworth and Cannon—were the site of a tour by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) on Jan. 5, 2021, the day before the siege, according to the Jan. 6th Committee.Fill the buildings with patriots and communicate our demands.
To maintain control over a select few, but crucial buildings in the DC area for a set period of time, presenting our demands in unity. (see attached list of demands in “Patriot Plan” section).
We need many people as possible inside these buildings. These are OUR buildings, they are just renting space. We must show our politicians We the People are in charge.
This map is included in the “1776 Returns” document at the bottom of the story.
Also on the targeted buildings list: “CNN – at least egg doorway,” the document said.
The third page of the document laid out “Manpower Needs,” with five distinct roles for each of the targeted buildings.
A “Covert Sleeper,” was tasked with setting up a “fake appointment” and was “expected to spend the day as our insider and let people inside the building.” This person had a backup, who “will also need to make a fake appointment.”
Each building would have a dedicated “Hypeman” to lead chants and “maintain energy/presence,” while a “Recruiter” was supposed to lead “gathering patriots” to the “starting point” for each building and “spread the word” about the plan.
As for “patriots” themselves, the plan called for at least 50 in each building, “or it’s a no go for that building.”
A note under the “preparation” to take place from Jan. 1 through Jan. 5 included the suggested to “se Covid to your advantage. Pack huge facemasks and face shields, protect your identity.”
“Do Not Look Tactical At All.”
The document instructed people to prepare for Jan. 6 as the “execution day.” They were told to “drive around buildings and areas before daylight to check on any roadblocks and update plans accordingly.”
The rest of the day was to follow five steps.
The first step, “Infiltrate,” as to have “leads and seconds” stay inside the building “until called upon execution time.” They were told to “e dressed in suits and unsuspecting, do not look tactical at all.”
During the next step, “Execution,” the people planted inside the buildings were to open the doors to the gathering crowd.
“This might include causing trouble near the front doors to distract guards who may be holding the doors off,” the document says. It also suggested pulling fire alarms, presumably allowing the exits to open.
Part three of the plan was to cause distractions “if necessary.”
“Distract law enforcement in the area by pulling other fire alarms around the city,” the document instructed. “This is ONLY to be done at the right time and if _______ makes the call.”
The name of the person who was expected to make the call was not included in the document.
Part four, “Occupy,” instructed rioters to “present our list of demands,” including such slogans as “Liberty or Death,” No Trump, No America,” and “We are watching.”
The final step, “Sit In,” appears unfinished. After instructing people to target offices of specific senators (none of whom are named at this point), a note in all caps reads: “WHATS [sic] THE ENDING POINT FOR THIS? Does everyone just leave at a certain time? WHO DOES GOV RESPOND TO?”
The second-to-last page was a form with blank spaces for each of the “Man Power” assignments.
The final page of instructions—and the only one intended to be publicly distributed—detailed the plan’s logistics for the day.
“You are the revolution,” the document said. “Be a part of history & fight for this country so our children don’t have to. It’s all or nothing Patriots, boldness and bravery is necessary.”
It appears that the “1776 Returns” plan included a handout detailing a demand for a “new election” to be held on Jan. 20. That “election” would be held using only paper ballots, would require each voter to present identification, and would be “[m]onitored by National Guard.”
Notably, a “Special Mention” at the bottom of the demands page issued a warning to some top-level GOP officials—Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and then-Vice President Mike Pence—as well as Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, received no such warnings.
“We the people love you,” the document said.
“1776 Returns” was initially referenced in court filings when Tarrio was first indicted in March. He has since been charged in a superseding indictment with seditious conspiracy.
https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-bre ... blueprint/
by ponchi101 
by ponchi101
by ponchi101 November 14th. Congress and the Senate will be in the hands of the GOP. Tiny will be 
about that subpoena.
This is typical of so many organizations. They want to do everything so perfectly, they end up doing nothing.
about that subpoena.This is typical of so many organizations. They want to do everything so perfectly, they end up doing nothing.
by ti-amie Ohio Man Who Blamed Trump for Storming of Capitol Gets 3 Years in Prison
Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, an unemployed exterminator from Columbus, based his defense on the argument that he had been following orders from the president on Jan. 6, 2021.
Dustin Byron Thompson, right, turned himself in on Jan. 25, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio, to face federal charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington.Credit...Joshua A. Bickel/The Columbus Dispatch, via Associated Press
An Ohio man who said that Donald J. Trump was responsible for his decision to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and steal a bottle of bourbon and a coat rack was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison, the authorities said.
In sentencing the man, Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, Judge Reggie Walton of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia told Mr. Thompson, who apologized and said that he was ashamed of his actions, that he could not understand how someone with a college degree could “go down the rabbit hole” and believe so strongly in a lie, according to The Associated Press. Judge Walton had previously said that he found Mr. Thompson’s explanation that Mr. Trump was responsible for Mr. Thompson’s behavior “disingenuous.”
Mr. Thompson was convicted by a jury in April of a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding and five misdemeanors, including theft of government property.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/us/d ... enced.html
Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, an unemployed exterminator from Columbus, based his defense on the argument that he had been following orders from the president on Jan. 6, 2021.
Dustin Byron Thompson, right, turned himself in on Jan. 25, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio, to face federal charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington.Credit...Joshua A. Bickel/The Columbus Dispatch, via Associated Press
An Ohio man who said that Donald J. Trump was responsible for his decision to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and steal a bottle of bourbon and a coat rack was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison, the authorities said.
In sentencing the man, Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, Judge Reggie Walton of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia told Mr. Thompson, who apologized and said that he was ashamed of his actions, that he could not understand how someone with a college degree could “go down the rabbit hole” and believe so strongly in a lie, according to The Associated Press. Judge Walton had previously said that he found Mr. Thompson’s explanation that Mr. Trump was responsible for Mr. Thompson’s behavior “disingenuous.”
Mr. Thompson was convicted by a jury in April of a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding and five misdemeanors, including theft of government property.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/us/d ... enced.html
by ti-amie
skatingfan wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 2:42 am Here's a cheery read about the attendees at the New York Young Republican Club Gala.
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/202 ... -total-war
by ti-amie
This is this guy...
Richard Barnett has been arrested in his home state of Arkansas and faces charges related to his part in the forced entry into the Capitol. During the riot, Barnett sat in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
This is this guy...
Richard Barnett has been arrested in his home state of Arkansas and faces charges related to his part in the forced entry into the Capitol. During the riot, Barnett sat in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
by ti-amie
I
Panthers
@Kingwoman
Replying to
@JordanOnRecord
What are the odds he’s qualified to own a gun, though.
I
Panthers@Kingwoman
Replying to
@JordanOnRecord
What are the odds he’s qualified to own a gun, though.
by ti-amie Kyle Cheney
@kyledcheney@bird.makeup
Among the exhibits in yesterday's Proud Boys trial: A photo ofthe speaker's lobby before the mob reached the doors.
Look at the furniture piled up as a barricade (right).
And note the black escape hood box on the table (left)
(Here the left is the first picture. The right is the second.
@kyledcheney@bird.makeup
Among the exhibits in yesterday's Proud Boys trial: A photo ofthe speaker's lobby before the mob reached the doors.
Look at the furniture piled up as a barricade (right).
And note the black escape hood box on the table (left)
(Here the left is the first picture. The right is the second.
by ti-amie Kyle Cheney
@kyledcheney@bird.makeup
The FBI has arrested Kenneth SCHULZ, who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 moments before Jacob Chansley and joined confrontation with Capitol Police outside Senate chamber. https://storage.courtlistener.com/reca
@kyledcheney@bird.makeup
The FBI has arrested Kenneth SCHULZ, who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 moments before Jacob Chansley and joined confrontation with Capitol Police outside Senate chamber. https://storage.courtlistener.com/reca
by Owendonovan 
I'll always have a problem with men calling themselves boys. Bunch of losers. I hope they end up in a section of prison where some POC, who have an ax to grind against white racists, run the show.
I'll always have a problem with men calling themselves boys. Bunch of losers. I hope they end up in a section of prison where some POC, who have an ax to grind against white racists, run the show.by ponchi101 Thanks for teaching me FAFO today. 
by ti-amie It's FAFO day!
This is the tl;dr
Longer
Roger Parloff
@rparloff
·
6h
Ofc Owens apologized at some point for crying & Judge Mehta quickly told him that no apology was needed. He thanked each of the five witnesses for their statements & added words that were hard to hear from the gallery. (Victim impact statements are delivered from ...
/7
Roger Parloff
@rparloff
·
5h
... Judge is discussing how he to determine whether OKs "caused" what happened on J6.
"I think this is a circumstances were a strict but-for test is not required in order to carry out purposes of sentencing commission. ... Causation cause met in this case ...
/19
and therefore the 3-level enhancement will be applicable in this and the other matters."
Now discussing enhancements for defendants who exercised some control over other defendants or co-conspirators. ...
/20
[The probation department writes the presentence report. it's not public.]
Judge: 1st category: defense claim that evidence showed no conspiracy to oppose transfer of power after election. that's contrary to what the jury found.
[Judge now reviewing evidence to that effect.]
/25
Judge: there's also a defense claim that QRFs [quick reaction forces--the arsenals in VA hotels] were to be defensive forces. ... Abundant evidence form which jury concluded otherwise.
[Judge now reviewing a sampling of that evidence.]
/26
*from* not "form"
/27
Judge: Contention by defense that Rhodes's statements about using force on J6 were bombast ... abundant evidence from which jury could conclude otherwise.
[now reviewing some of that evidence.]
/28
Judge: defense makes contention that Rhodes did not instruct OK Kelly Meggs or other OKs to enter Capitol. ... Judge says there's abundant evidence to contrary.
[reviews some of that evidence.]
Judge: defense points out that gun purchases were legal. True but beside the point.
purpose of buying the guns was to oppose authority of the US and to create an arsenal for that purpose. ...
[judge reciting evidence to that effect, including things cooperating OK Joshua James said in his guilty plea statement.]
/30
Judge now says that contention that Rhodes ordered others to delete evidence based on instructions from girlfriend/general counsel Kelly SoRelle "doesn't pass the laugh test." Judge mentions Rhodes' own Yale Law School education and improbability of his taking orders from ...
/31
SoRelle.
Judge: Ok. That's out of the way. now let's talk about scope of conduct and application of guidelines.
AUSA Kathryn Rakoczy: scope of related conduct question. in definition of "relevant conduct" encompasses defendant's acts & those of others in
/32
within the scope of the jointly taken criminal activity and reasonably foreseeable conduct. ... all harm that resulted from defendants' acts or those of others who engaged in that joint activity.
for these 9 defendants, govt says each engaged in jointly undertaken
/33
criminal activity. Encompasses all the acts of these co-conspirators.
Rhodes presents much easier question. he's leader of this conspiracy. how he exercised control, instigated this conspiracy--court has already made findings of fact that he implicitly and explicitly directed/34
line 1 (14 people) and line 2 (5 people in stack formations) to enter the Capitol that day. ... and also [creating] the QRFs ...
Rakoczy continues: "substantial interference in administration of justice": Chief Judge Howell found in Rubenacker that it was ludicrous to think
/35
that participants in riot did not participate in interference in administration of justice. we think facts support that [Rhodes led] at least 30 individuals to Capitol. ... substantial expenditures on part of govt to prosecute ... involvement of various LE agencies ...
/36
Rakoczy continuing: moving on, next issue: leadership enhancement. court looking for some evidence of "control" here. hierarchy does play a role. it's our position that all 9 of these defs did play a hierarchical role here. ...
/39
Rhodes was at top. founder of OKs and president, leader for life. ... you heard from cooperators that they believed there was a specific hierarchy. Dolan spoke about a team that reported up thru harrelson to Meggs to Rhodes. ... Bennie Parker said he was recruited by Watkins
/40
and then listened to her about bringing guns. ... Ways Roberto Minuta led 2d group. Ed Vallejo led his QRF team at hotel. ...
from our perspective this is a leadership structure. some level of enhancement appropriate across this case [for all 9 defs]. Rhodes the actual leader/41
Rhodes own words explicitly state his view that he was leader.
He was at top , there were state and regional leaders, rank and file after that.
Siekerman and Greene in overall charge of operations on J6 ... everyone bringing a team ... but with himself at top.
/42
Rhodes approved aspects of operation. Meggs discussed with him the QRF ... Rhodes: "we will have a QRF, the situation calls for it." Rhodes is approving Meggs operational proposal.
Judge: Must enhancement be either 4, 3 or zero?
Rakoczy: that's our reading.
/43
[Leaders/organizers get 4 point enhancement; supervisors/managers get 3-point enhancement.]
/44
Rakoczy now turning to terrorism enhancement.
R: where defs convicted of seditious conspiracy to stop transfer or presidential power -- hard to not see that as terrorism ... "calculated or intended to result in coercion or intimidation of the govt."
/45
Rakoczy: we disagree with Mr. Woodward (for Meggs) that there's got to be either a 12-point enhancement or nothing. we think you can apply less than 12 levels. The 6-level enhancement is half of the 12 that couldve been imposed. this group did not cause loss of life.
/47
... but organizing force across the river comes pretty close. hard to forget chilling words of Rhodes on J10 about ~I should have called in the qrf on J6.~ this is terrorism. it's not blowing up a bldg, but in light of threat of harm & historic nature of attempting to stop
/48
certification of an election for the 1st time in american history, 6-point terrorism enhancement is appropriate.
I have thoughts about why a sentence of 25 yrs is appropriate that i can address at the end.
/49
[All this discussion about the phone call is a 3-way call between Rhodes, Meggs, and Michael Greene that took place just moments before Meggs led 14 OKs up Capitol steps and into Capitol.]
/63
Judge: 2 important issues. 1. mr. rhodes stands convicted of seditious conspiracy. 2. the facts i recited yesterday -- not going to recite again today -- all those facts and inferences i drew yesterday (with one exception) i'm incorporating into the record.
/71
some broad strokes of my findings by preponderance of evidence. Mr. R was convicted of leading conspiracy to oppose by force lawful transfer of power after 2020 election. ... because Mr. R position at top of hierarchy of Oks and conduct and actions & words i ascribe actions
/72
of all his coconspirators to him as well. ... in furtherance of conspiracy and reasonably foreseeable. he used violent imagery and language, drew comparisons to american revolution & civil war to inspire use of force ... signal messages & actions of coconspirators showed
/73
mutual understanding that force might be required. ...common understanding that force might be used to oppose transfer of power including on J6 itself. he and coconspirators brought weapons to area. fact never brought into city does not defeat reason he brought them
/74
ample evidence of consciousness of guilt. sought to cover his own actions and those of coconspirators. within 48 hrs told everyone on Old Leadership Chat to delete signal chats and "shut the (expletive) up." why else? ...
/785 (sic)
it was reasonably foreseeable to rhodes that people were going in. he wouldve known objective that day was to resist transfer of power. when things went to hell at capitol he didn't tell people to stay at bay. he told them come to me, i'm on south side of capitol.
/77
why do that if he didn't know they'd join the melee? it defies explanation. why would he order & bring another 30 people to capitol if he didn't want them to go in. just not plausible.
it was reasonably foreseeable to him that people wouldve entered the bldg, use force
/78
once within the bldg. clearly foreseeable. no doubt in my mind.
closer question: whether i can conclude by preponderance of evidence that he in fact approved their entry into capitol. Mr. Bright, you're right, there's evidence could cause a reasonable jury to question that.
/79
but here's what other evidence showed. this was extremely hierarchical organization. rhodes was one giving orders. organizing teams. he was the reason they were in DC on J6. ... given that i find it hard to believe Meggs wouldve led those people in there without green
/80
light from Rhodes. why? 1., hierarchical relationship. 2. testimony at trial: Meggs was trying to get ahold of somebody and thought it was Rhodes. a 2d witness said Meggs was contemplating whether to go in. then Caleb Berry said Meggs said: we're going in to stop the vote.
/81
i don't ascribe Meggs ability to do that without clearing it with Rhodes. ... Rhodes not only knew but in some sense authorized it.
after J6, true testimony from dolan that he heard rhodes say "that was pretty stupid." exact testimony was a little equivocal.
/82
... Dolan-- 'i believe he was talking to kelly at the time but i'm not 100% sure.' Greene's testimony: somebody mentioned somebody by name and said they went in and stewart said that was (expletive) stupid. so some evidence.
but compare that to what he said afterward. ...
/83
not once did Rhodes say on signal chats that he regretted people going in. not once. then there's consciousness of guilt. ... not just protecting others; protecting self. he's Yale Law grad, pretty smart guy.
i find he knew and approved entry into capitoil.
/84
as to "due administration of justice" ... essence of seditious agreement represented threat to threat to others and members of congress. arsenal on other side of potomac ... conspiracy contemplated use of force ... threatened physical harm to staff members of speaker ...
/85
Rhodes responsible for actual injuries to certain officers & threatened injuries ... to officers Salke and Carrion near the east rotunda door. officer christopher owens and others in senate hallway who faced def watkins. officers jackson and martha lazzo who
/86
were object of Joshua James's assault. ... threats to Pelosi staffers cowering in fear in conference room when [meggs & others were outside]
proceedings were adjourned for some period of time. that's substantial interference with administration of justice. it was obstructed
/87
additional costs in terms of cleanup and additional Secret Service personnel that had to come to capitol.
substantial planning for events of J6. even if just take timing from 12/19 forward. ... hotels, bringing weapons, creating groups. ...
/88
they way people entered in a line -- whether you call it stack or not -- that shows organization and planning.
Rhodes was top of chain. not just founder & leader. OKs don't come to DC on J6 but for Mr. Rhodes. ... he directed coconspirators to capitol & they abided.
/89
He told them to come to capitol. ... There was testimony that he would have been the one to say whether to bring the arms in [to DC]. he referred to Minuta as "one of my most trusted men" suggesting control. he designated siekerman & greene & meggs as operational leaders.
/90
so 4-level enhancement for leadership applies. not a close call.
the 6-level enhancement for terrorism--definition of seditious conspiracy meets that. ... their objective was to affect conduct of govt thru intimidation & coercion by means of force.
/91
In terms of levels. i disagree that it's an all or nothing proposition. [i.e., 12 levels or nothing]. it only establishes a cap, not a floor. I think the 6 levels is appropriate. how do i get there? this is separate and more serious conduct than what's captured by guideline.
/92
this is an additional level of planning and targeting of institutions of american democracy at its most important point--its transfer of power. that's what jury found and i agree with them.
a 6-level enhancement is appropriate.
what all of that means-- 3 other things
/93
defense has requested 2 level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. I [reject] that. Mr. R's comments since J6 ... clearly demonstrate no acceptance of responsibility.
defense has requested downward departure for military service. ...
/94
doesn't apply here. R served country but not to an unusual degree. i'm not going to say there weren't charitable purposes that OKs [sometimes] undertook. but not extraordinary and doesn't eclipse what happened on J6.
...
/95
guidelines calculation is for seditious conspiracy: treason is analog but conduct not "tantamount to waging war" so all in agreement that guideline [begins with obstruction of justice] ...
/96
base offense is 14. 8-level enhancement for causing or threatening injuyr. 3 -levels for interference ... etc etc ... total offense level of 39
guideline range: 262-327 months
Rakoczy: govt asking 25 yrs incarceration. in middle of applicable guidelines court just found
/97
From AUSA
J6 neither 1st nor last time he will seek to organize political violence. ... he's been calling for violent [resistance] to govt for well over a decade. ... he continues to advocate for political violence. ... from jail. just 4 days ago he addressed by phone
/103
a 'freedom corner rally' ... warned those in attendance "they're going to keep coming after those on political right. it's a terror campaign against political opposition. it's not going to stop till it's stopped we're going to have to stop it. it's going to take regime change."
Most of us want to believe J6 was an outlier. Not defendant Rhodes ... the court should and must impose sentence of 25 years.
/105
Defense
Atty Phil Linder (Rhodes): ... govt wants you to sentence rhodes out of fear. fear he'll do it again. they want to make Rhodes the face of J6. ... want 25 yr sentence. nothing has come close to that. go back to election in november. rhodes is upset as are millions of americans.
/107
he didn't start million MAGA march (11/14), Jericho March (12/12) , or J6. ... if he'd been called away, J6 would still have happened. ... want to put a face on J6, put it on Trump, right-wing media, politicians ... Rhodes just participant. didn't create it.
/109
...Bright now letting Rhodes speak on his own behalf
/113
Rhodes: start by saying i'm a political prisoner. like pres. trump and my only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country. ... using protected speech because of systemic violence of left to shut down speech of trump supporters. ... started at the trump inauguration
we started protecting vulnerable trump supporters from attack by antifa ... none of them was ever prosecuted to my mind ... obviously seditious conspiracy trying to stop transfer of power (to trump). we've protected people outside trump rallies from antifa ...
/115
antifa like to have unarmed victims. ... [now giving alleged examples] we stepped up across country to protect unarmed or elderly back to their vehicles. shouldn't have to do that in this country. repeated systemic examples ... one in Berkeley ... transgender trump supporter
/116
attacked. we stepped in. did so peacefully. we deterred antifa. ... that's been our focal point. unlike characterization of southern poverty law center. our people are nonviolent. ... zero record of actual use of force. we deter like other groups--unlike Proud Boys--who
/117
seek out street violence.
in DC we did [many] security operations without incidents, without a hitch. give our people option to wear helmets and body armor because antifa stabs people, throw bottles, [other things].
on J6 i did not go inside. nor did i expect anyone else
/118
(I hope Tarrio saw that bus coming and got out of the way)
to. i'd just spoke at Latinos for Trump rally about block north. when i was standing at NE corner of capitol, that's where next event was going to be for ali alexander.
kelly meggs team was escorting people from ellipse to ali alexander's event.
/119
my concern was they would get caught up in turmoil outside capitol. ... wanted to make sure they didn't get caught up. that's why i said 'if anyone is not still on duty come to us.' when they did come to me, they said they'd gone inside and i said that was stupid.
/120
mr greene was actually in charge of assigning the teams that day. i never take personal leadership unless i have no choice. greene is retired police officer. i put good men in charge, trust them to do right thiing. on J6 saw a problem. saw a riot happening. ...
/121
(I hope Greene got out of the way of that bus too)
didn't want our guys to be part of it. so i said, 'come to me.' wanted them to be with mr. greene and me. to keep our guys from being caught up with that.
josh james was with team protecting roger stone ... didn't want them caught up with this. no OK took part in any
/122
of the fighting. no OK punched anyone, kicked anyone, pepper sprayed them, struck them with stun gun. worst thing an OK did that day--jessica watkins pushed in senate hallway. she was leading her own little militia. other one was josh james. he lost his military bearing ...
/123
[feel for the police who testified yesterday]. none of us caused that. bizarre to hear all that. find it offensive frankly. this has been. a surreal experience. feel i'm the lead character is Kafka's The Trial. ...
[now objecting to characterization of OKs as ...
/124
white supremacists] ... find that very offensive. ... all meant to smear the Trump supporters. and link them to the KKK--which was a Democrat organization. ...
the OKs--the NYT blames the OKs and PBs. they hate us because we stopped the violence in the street and they don't
/125
ike that.
Judge: I'm going to ask you to wrap up ...
Rhodes: ... after i said we need "regime change" [in interview 4 days ago] I said I hoped Trump won in 2024. Rakoczy took that out of context. ...
Every J6-er is political prisoner. all being grossly overcharged.
/126
it's not going to deter people. it's going to make people even more [angry with the govt].
[Rhodes now talking about the TX v. PA original suit in Supreme Court ... claiming constitutional problems.]
i cannot ignore text of constitution under my oath. ...
/127
characterizing trump supporters as racists or fools is not going to help. ... Rhodes says he is the "american solzhenitsyn to expose the criminality of this administration."
Rhodes done.
Judge: Short break.
/128
For those without a calculator, the guidelines that Judge Mehta has found to apply to Rhodes—262 to 327 months—come to 21 yrs 10mos to 27 yrs 3 months. Those were the guidelines the govt sought. Thus, its recommended sentence, 25 yrs, was toward middle of his guidelines.
/129
Judge Mehta back on bench.
(Note that max for seditious conspiracy is 20 yrs, so to achieve 25 he would have to impose some consecutive sentences.)
/130
the danger a conspiracy creates not confined to [facts that occur]
seditious conspiracy ... at start of civil war ... treason was primary tool available but constitution defined that narrowly. congress enacted statutes ... seditious conspiracy is among most serious crimes
/135
an american can commit. offense against the people of the country. it's not confined to one day. actions of one day. it's a series of acts in which you and others committed to use force including potentially with weapons against govt of US as it transitioned from
/136
from one president to another. what was motive? you didn't like the new guy. i get it. let me be clear. ... we don't paint with a broad brush. shame on you if you do. just because you support former president doesn't mean your white supremacist. you voted for other guy ...
/137
but what we cannot have, absolutely cannot have is group of citizens who because they didn't like outcome of eleciton or because they didn't think law was carried out way they think it should be were prepared to take up arms to foment a revolution. that's waht you did..
/138
those are your words not mine. you're not a political prisoner. you're here because 12 jurors in DC who acquitted you of multiple counts found you guilty of sedition. jury of your peers. make no mistake.
2 enduring impacts of J6 ... now all hold our breaths every time
/139
an election approaches.
otehr enduring legacy is what we saw yesterday: heroism, of police officers and people working on capitol hill that day to protect this democracy as we know it. they laid their bodies on the line.
/140
you talk about keeping oaths? nobody more emblematic than those police officers, Mr. Rhodes. their heroism, stamina, courage--but for their acts couldn't have been far blacker day than one already one of blackest of this country.
/141
you recently said in an interview that 2020 election not only stolen but taken by unc'l means ... you said you had to find a way to fix that ... l
nothing has changed. moment you are released you'll be prepared to take up arms against your govt. because you think that's
/148
appropriate way to find redress ... i'm not making this up ... you said under oath ...
Q. you and OKs were prepared to take steps to alter or abolish this govt ?
A. prepared to take steps, walk founders' path, yes. i hope that conflict can be avoided. i really do. ...
/149
but when govt steps outside constitution, puts you in a bad place. ...
Judge continuing: when you find yourself in a bad place, rest of us are too. we're all objects of your wilingness to engage in violence. we just cannot have that in this country.
/150
you are committed to custody of [Bureau of Prisons] for *216 months -- 18 years* ... on counts 1, 3, and 7
/151
Judge Mehta discussing other conditions after he reaches after supervised release.
But SENTENCE IS 18 YEARS.
/152
Judge Mehta's final words: Mr. Rhodes, good luck to you.
Adjourned.
[I think we're resuming at 1:30pm for Kelly Meggs' sentencing hearing.]
/154
This is the tl;dr
Longer
Roger Parloff
@rparloff
·
6h
Ofc Owens apologized at some point for crying & Judge Mehta quickly told him that no apology was needed. He thanked each of the five witnesses for their statements & added words that were hard to hear from the gallery. (Victim impact statements are delivered from ...
/7
Roger Parloff
@rparloff
·
5h
... Judge is discussing how he to determine whether OKs "caused" what happened on J6.
"I think this is a circumstances were a strict but-for test is not required in order to carry out purposes of sentencing commission. ... Causation cause met in this case ...
/19
and therefore the 3-level enhancement will be applicable in this and the other matters."
Now discussing enhancements for defendants who exercised some control over other defendants or co-conspirators. ...
/20
[The probation department writes the presentence report. it's not public.]
Judge: 1st category: defense claim that evidence showed no conspiracy to oppose transfer of power after election. that's contrary to what the jury found.
[Judge now reviewing evidence to that effect.]
/25
Judge: there's also a defense claim that QRFs [quick reaction forces--the arsenals in VA hotels] were to be defensive forces. ... Abundant evidence form which jury concluded otherwise.
[Judge now reviewing a sampling of that evidence.]
/26
*from* not "form"
/27
Judge: Contention by defense that Rhodes's statements about using force on J6 were bombast ... abundant evidence from which jury could conclude otherwise.
[now reviewing some of that evidence.]
/28
Judge: defense makes contention that Rhodes did not instruct OK Kelly Meggs or other OKs to enter Capitol. ... Judge says there's abundant evidence to contrary.
[reviews some of that evidence.]
Judge: defense points out that gun purchases were legal. True but beside the point.
purpose of buying the guns was to oppose authority of the US and to create an arsenal for that purpose. ...
[judge reciting evidence to that effect, including things cooperating OK Joshua James said in his guilty plea statement.]
/30
Judge now says that contention that Rhodes ordered others to delete evidence based on instructions from girlfriend/general counsel Kelly SoRelle "doesn't pass the laugh test." Judge mentions Rhodes' own Yale Law School education and improbability of his taking orders from ...
/31
SoRelle.
Judge: Ok. That's out of the way. now let's talk about scope of conduct and application of guidelines.
AUSA Kathryn Rakoczy: scope of related conduct question. in definition of "relevant conduct" encompasses defendant's acts & those of others in
/32
within the scope of the jointly taken criminal activity and reasonably foreseeable conduct. ... all harm that resulted from defendants' acts or those of others who engaged in that joint activity.
for these 9 defendants, govt says each engaged in jointly undertaken
/33
criminal activity. Encompasses all the acts of these co-conspirators.
Rhodes presents much easier question. he's leader of this conspiracy. how he exercised control, instigated this conspiracy--court has already made findings of fact that he implicitly and explicitly directed/34
line 1 (14 people) and line 2 (5 people in stack formations) to enter the Capitol that day. ... and also [creating] the QRFs ...
Rakoczy continues: "substantial interference in administration of justice": Chief Judge Howell found in Rubenacker that it was ludicrous to think
/35
that participants in riot did not participate in interference in administration of justice. we think facts support that [Rhodes led] at least 30 individuals to Capitol. ... substantial expenditures on part of govt to prosecute ... involvement of various LE agencies ...
/36
Rakoczy continuing: moving on, next issue: leadership enhancement. court looking for some evidence of "control" here. hierarchy does play a role. it's our position that all 9 of these defs did play a hierarchical role here. ...
/39
Rhodes was at top. founder of OKs and president, leader for life. ... you heard from cooperators that they believed there was a specific hierarchy. Dolan spoke about a team that reported up thru harrelson to Meggs to Rhodes. ... Bennie Parker said he was recruited by Watkins
/40
and then listened to her about bringing guns. ... Ways Roberto Minuta led 2d group. Ed Vallejo led his QRF team at hotel. ...
from our perspective this is a leadership structure. some level of enhancement appropriate across this case [for all 9 defs]. Rhodes the actual leader/41
Rhodes own words explicitly state his view that he was leader.
He was at top , there were state and regional leaders, rank and file after that.
Siekerman and Greene in overall charge of operations on J6 ... everyone bringing a team ... but with himself at top.
/42
Rhodes approved aspects of operation. Meggs discussed with him the QRF ... Rhodes: "we will have a QRF, the situation calls for it." Rhodes is approving Meggs operational proposal.
Judge: Must enhancement be either 4, 3 or zero?
Rakoczy: that's our reading.
/43
[Leaders/organizers get 4 point enhancement; supervisors/managers get 3-point enhancement.]
/44
Rakoczy now turning to terrorism enhancement.
R: where defs convicted of seditious conspiracy to stop transfer or presidential power -- hard to not see that as terrorism ... "calculated or intended to result in coercion or intimidation of the govt."
/45
Rakoczy: we disagree with Mr. Woodward (for Meggs) that there's got to be either a 12-point enhancement or nothing. we think you can apply less than 12 levels. The 6-level enhancement is half of the 12 that couldve been imposed. this group did not cause loss of life.
/47
... but organizing force across the river comes pretty close. hard to forget chilling words of Rhodes on J10 about ~I should have called in the qrf on J6.~ this is terrorism. it's not blowing up a bldg, but in light of threat of harm & historic nature of attempting to stop
/48
certification of an election for the 1st time in american history, 6-point terrorism enhancement is appropriate.
I have thoughts about why a sentence of 25 yrs is appropriate that i can address at the end.
/49
[All this discussion about the phone call is a 3-way call between Rhodes, Meggs, and Michael Greene that took place just moments before Meggs led 14 OKs up Capitol steps and into Capitol.]
/63
Judge: 2 important issues. 1. mr. rhodes stands convicted of seditious conspiracy. 2. the facts i recited yesterday -- not going to recite again today -- all those facts and inferences i drew yesterday (with one exception) i'm incorporating into the record.
/71
some broad strokes of my findings by preponderance of evidence. Mr. R was convicted of leading conspiracy to oppose by force lawful transfer of power after 2020 election. ... because Mr. R position at top of hierarchy of Oks and conduct and actions & words i ascribe actions
/72
of all his coconspirators to him as well. ... in furtherance of conspiracy and reasonably foreseeable. he used violent imagery and language, drew comparisons to american revolution & civil war to inspire use of force ... signal messages & actions of coconspirators showed
/73
mutual understanding that force might be required. ...common understanding that force might be used to oppose transfer of power including on J6 itself. he and coconspirators brought weapons to area. fact never brought into city does not defeat reason he brought them
/74
ample evidence of consciousness of guilt. sought to cover his own actions and those of coconspirators. within 48 hrs told everyone on Old Leadership Chat to delete signal chats and "shut the (expletive) up." why else? ...
/785 (sic)
it was reasonably foreseeable to rhodes that people were going in. he wouldve known objective that day was to resist transfer of power. when things went to hell at capitol he didn't tell people to stay at bay. he told them come to me, i'm on south side of capitol.
/77
why do that if he didn't know they'd join the melee? it defies explanation. why would he order & bring another 30 people to capitol if he didn't want them to go in. just not plausible.
it was reasonably foreseeable to him that people wouldve entered the bldg, use force
/78
once within the bldg. clearly foreseeable. no doubt in my mind.
closer question: whether i can conclude by preponderance of evidence that he in fact approved their entry into capitol. Mr. Bright, you're right, there's evidence could cause a reasonable jury to question that.
/79
but here's what other evidence showed. this was extremely hierarchical organization. rhodes was one giving orders. organizing teams. he was the reason they were in DC on J6. ... given that i find it hard to believe Meggs wouldve led those people in there without green
/80
light from Rhodes. why? 1., hierarchical relationship. 2. testimony at trial: Meggs was trying to get ahold of somebody and thought it was Rhodes. a 2d witness said Meggs was contemplating whether to go in. then Caleb Berry said Meggs said: we're going in to stop the vote.
/81
i don't ascribe Meggs ability to do that without clearing it with Rhodes. ... Rhodes not only knew but in some sense authorized it.
after J6, true testimony from dolan that he heard rhodes say "that was pretty stupid." exact testimony was a little equivocal.
/82
... Dolan-- 'i believe he was talking to kelly at the time but i'm not 100% sure.' Greene's testimony: somebody mentioned somebody by name and said they went in and stewart said that was (expletive) stupid. so some evidence.
but compare that to what he said afterward. ...
/83
not once did Rhodes say on signal chats that he regretted people going in. not once. then there's consciousness of guilt. ... not just protecting others; protecting self. he's Yale Law grad, pretty smart guy.
i find he knew and approved entry into capitoil.
/84
as to "due administration of justice" ... essence of seditious agreement represented threat to threat to others and members of congress. arsenal on other side of potomac ... conspiracy contemplated use of force ... threatened physical harm to staff members of speaker ...
/85
Rhodes responsible for actual injuries to certain officers & threatened injuries ... to officers Salke and Carrion near the east rotunda door. officer christopher owens and others in senate hallway who faced def watkins. officers jackson and martha lazzo who
/86
were object of Joshua James's assault. ... threats to Pelosi staffers cowering in fear in conference room when [meggs & others were outside]
proceedings were adjourned for some period of time. that's substantial interference with administration of justice. it was obstructed
/87
additional costs in terms of cleanup and additional Secret Service personnel that had to come to capitol.
substantial planning for events of J6. even if just take timing from 12/19 forward. ... hotels, bringing weapons, creating groups. ...
/88
they way people entered in a line -- whether you call it stack or not -- that shows organization and planning.
Rhodes was top of chain. not just founder & leader. OKs don't come to DC on J6 but for Mr. Rhodes. ... he directed coconspirators to capitol & they abided.
/89
He told them to come to capitol. ... There was testimony that he would have been the one to say whether to bring the arms in [to DC]. he referred to Minuta as "one of my most trusted men" suggesting control. he designated siekerman & greene & meggs as operational leaders.
/90
so 4-level enhancement for leadership applies. not a close call.
the 6-level enhancement for terrorism--definition of seditious conspiracy meets that. ... their objective was to affect conduct of govt thru intimidation & coercion by means of force.
/91
In terms of levels. i disagree that it's an all or nothing proposition. [i.e., 12 levels or nothing]. it only establishes a cap, not a floor. I think the 6 levels is appropriate. how do i get there? this is separate and more serious conduct than what's captured by guideline.
/92
this is an additional level of planning and targeting of institutions of american democracy at its most important point--its transfer of power. that's what jury found and i agree with them.
a 6-level enhancement is appropriate.
what all of that means-- 3 other things
/93
defense has requested 2 level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. I [reject] that. Mr. R's comments since J6 ... clearly demonstrate no acceptance of responsibility.
defense has requested downward departure for military service. ...
/94
doesn't apply here. R served country but not to an unusual degree. i'm not going to say there weren't charitable purposes that OKs [sometimes] undertook. but not extraordinary and doesn't eclipse what happened on J6.
...
/95
guidelines calculation is for seditious conspiracy: treason is analog but conduct not "tantamount to waging war" so all in agreement that guideline [begins with obstruction of justice] ...
/96
base offense is 14. 8-level enhancement for causing or threatening injuyr. 3 -levels for interference ... etc etc ... total offense level of 39
guideline range: 262-327 months
Rakoczy: govt asking 25 yrs incarceration. in middle of applicable guidelines court just found
/97
From AUSA
J6 neither 1st nor last time he will seek to organize political violence. ... he's been calling for violent [resistance] to govt for well over a decade. ... he continues to advocate for political violence. ... from jail. just 4 days ago he addressed by phone
/103
a 'freedom corner rally' ... warned those in attendance "they're going to keep coming after those on political right. it's a terror campaign against political opposition. it's not going to stop till it's stopped we're going to have to stop it. it's going to take regime change."
Most of us want to believe J6 was an outlier. Not defendant Rhodes ... the court should and must impose sentence of 25 years.
/105
Defense
Atty Phil Linder (Rhodes): ... govt wants you to sentence rhodes out of fear. fear he'll do it again. they want to make Rhodes the face of J6. ... want 25 yr sentence. nothing has come close to that. go back to election in november. rhodes is upset as are millions of americans.
/107
he didn't start million MAGA march (11/14), Jericho March (12/12) , or J6. ... if he'd been called away, J6 would still have happened. ... want to put a face on J6, put it on Trump, right-wing media, politicians ... Rhodes just participant. didn't create it.
/109
...Bright now letting Rhodes speak on his own behalf
/113
Rhodes: start by saying i'm a political prisoner. like pres. trump and my only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country. ... using protected speech because of systemic violence of left to shut down speech of trump supporters. ... started at the trump inauguration
we started protecting vulnerable trump supporters from attack by antifa ... none of them was ever prosecuted to my mind ... obviously seditious conspiracy trying to stop transfer of power (to trump). we've protected people outside trump rallies from antifa ...
/115
antifa like to have unarmed victims. ... [now giving alleged examples] we stepped up across country to protect unarmed or elderly back to their vehicles. shouldn't have to do that in this country. repeated systemic examples ... one in Berkeley ... transgender trump supporter
/116
attacked. we stepped in. did so peacefully. we deterred antifa. ... that's been our focal point. unlike characterization of southern poverty law center. our people are nonviolent. ... zero record of actual use of force. we deter like other groups--unlike Proud Boys--who
/117
seek out street violence.
in DC we did [many] security operations without incidents, without a hitch. give our people option to wear helmets and body armor because antifa stabs people, throw bottles, [other things].
on J6 i did not go inside. nor did i expect anyone else
/118
(I hope Tarrio saw that bus coming and got out of the way)
to. i'd just spoke at Latinos for Trump rally about block north. when i was standing at NE corner of capitol, that's where next event was going to be for ali alexander.
kelly meggs team was escorting people from ellipse to ali alexander's event.
/119
my concern was they would get caught up in turmoil outside capitol. ... wanted to make sure they didn't get caught up. that's why i said 'if anyone is not still on duty come to us.' when they did come to me, they said they'd gone inside and i said that was stupid.
/120
mr greene was actually in charge of assigning the teams that day. i never take personal leadership unless i have no choice. greene is retired police officer. i put good men in charge, trust them to do right thiing. on J6 saw a problem. saw a riot happening. ...
/121
(I hope Greene got out of the way of that bus too)
didn't want our guys to be part of it. so i said, 'come to me.' wanted them to be with mr. greene and me. to keep our guys from being caught up with that.
josh james was with team protecting roger stone ... didn't want them caught up with this. no OK took part in any
/122
of the fighting. no OK punched anyone, kicked anyone, pepper sprayed them, struck them with stun gun. worst thing an OK did that day--jessica watkins pushed in senate hallway. she was leading her own little militia. other one was josh james. he lost his military bearing ...
/123
[feel for the police who testified yesterday]. none of us caused that. bizarre to hear all that. find it offensive frankly. this has been. a surreal experience. feel i'm the lead character is Kafka's The Trial. ...
[now objecting to characterization of OKs as ...
/124
white supremacists] ... find that very offensive. ... all meant to smear the Trump supporters. and link them to the KKK--which was a Democrat organization. ...
the OKs--the NYT blames the OKs and PBs. they hate us because we stopped the violence in the street and they don't
/125
ike that.
Judge: I'm going to ask you to wrap up ...
Rhodes: ... after i said we need "regime change" [in interview 4 days ago] I said I hoped Trump won in 2024. Rakoczy took that out of context. ...
Every J6-er is political prisoner. all being grossly overcharged.
/126
it's not going to deter people. it's going to make people even more [angry with the govt].
[Rhodes now talking about the TX v. PA original suit in Supreme Court ... claiming constitutional problems.]
i cannot ignore text of constitution under my oath. ...
/127
characterizing trump supporters as racists or fools is not going to help. ... Rhodes says he is the "american solzhenitsyn to expose the criminality of this administration."
Rhodes done.
Judge: Short break.
/128
For those without a calculator, the guidelines that Judge Mehta has found to apply to Rhodes—262 to 327 months—come to 21 yrs 10mos to 27 yrs 3 months. Those were the guidelines the govt sought. Thus, its recommended sentence, 25 yrs, was toward middle of his guidelines.
/129
Judge Mehta back on bench.
(Note that max for seditious conspiracy is 20 yrs, so to achieve 25 he would have to impose some consecutive sentences.)
/130
the danger a conspiracy creates not confined to [facts that occur]
seditious conspiracy ... at start of civil war ... treason was primary tool available but constitution defined that narrowly. congress enacted statutes ... seditious conspiracy is among most serious crimes
/135
an american can commit. offense against the people of the country. it's not confined to one day. actions of one day. it's a series of acts in which you and others committed to use force including potentially with weapons against govt of US as it transitioned from
/136
from one president to another. what was motive? you didn't like the new guy. i get it. let me be clear. ... we don't paint with a broad brush. shame on you if you do. just because you support former president doesn't mean your white supremacist. you voted for other guy ...
/137
but what we cannot have, absolutely cannot have is group of citizens who because they didn't like outcome of eleciton or because they didn't think law was carried out way they think it should be were prepared to take up arms to foment a revolution. that's waht you did..
/138
those are your words not mine. you're not a political prisoner. you're here because 12 jurors in DC who acquitted you of multiple counts found you guilty of sedition. jury of your peers. make no mistake.
2 enduring impacts of J6 ... now all hold our breaths every time
/139
an election approaches.
otehr enduring legacy is what we saw yesterday: heroism, of police officers and people working on capitol hill that day to protect this democracy as we know it. they laid their bodies on the line.
/140
you talk about keeping oaths? nobody more emblematic than those police officers, Mr. Rhodes. their heroism, stamina, courage--but for their acts couldn't have been far blacker day than one already one of blackest of this country.
/141
you recently said in an interview that 2020 election not only stolen but taken by unc'l means ... you said you had to find a way to fix that ... l
nothing has changed. moment you are released you'll be prepared to take up arms against your govt. because you think that's
/148
appropriate way to find redress ... i'm not making this up ... you said under oath ...
Q. you and OKs were prepared to take steps to alter or abolish this govt ?
A. prepared to take steps, walk founders' path, yes. i hope that conflict can be avoided. i really do. ...
/149
but when govt steps outside constitution, puts you in a bad place. ...
Judge continuing: when you find yourself in a bad place, rest of us are too. we're all objects of your wilingness to engage in violence. we just cannot have that in this country.
/150
you are committed to custody of [Bureau of Prisons] for *216 months -- 18 years* ... on counts 1, 3, and 7
/151
Judge Mehta discussing other conditions after he reaches after supervised release.
But SENTENCE IS 18 YEARS.
/152
Judge Mehta's final words: Mr. Rhodes, good luck to you.
Adjourned.
[I think we're resuming at 1:30pm for Kelly Meggs' sentencing hearing.]
/154
by ti-amie Stewart Rhodes' son: ‘How I escaped my father’s militia’
Published
29 November 2022
By Mike Wendling
Kalispell, Montana
The son of militia leader Stewart Rhodes spent years plotting to help his family escape from his father's control. Now that the elder Rhodes has been jailed for 18 years, the rest of the family is rebuilding their lives.
The time had come. It was a dreary February day in 2018. Dakota had it all planned out.
His mother and five younger siblings were in the truck - some of them crouched out of sight on the floor.
They'd bundled into it as much as they could and made up an excuse - ostensibly they were heading to the trash dump just off the main highway, slick with black ice and crusted snow.
But just as they started to pull away, Dakota's father burst out the door of their remote cabin in the mountains of northwest Montana.
Dakota and his mother Tasha stiffened. The leader of the Oath Keepers militia had dominated their lives until that moment. Tasha and Stewart had been married for nearly 25 years, and she was familiar with his manic periods. He'd been up all night on a tear - working out, listening to music, practising Filipino stick fighting, pacing the floor.
It was a pattern of manic activity, Dakota said, that was familiar throughout years of emotional abuse and heightened paranoia.
"Hey," Rhodes growled. "Pick up some steak on your way back."
Dakota and Tasha murmured assent, and drove off towards the highway without a backwards glance.
Militiaman's son
With his beard and eye patch, Stewart Rhodes is one of the most recognisable faces of America's anti-government militia movement.
Since September, Rhodes and four members of the Oath Keepers, a militia group he founded in 2009, have been on trial in Washington for their roles in the 6 January Capitol riot. They were charged with seditious conspiracy - in this case, attempting to stop the certification of the 2020 election and the inauguration of Joe Biden - a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On the other side of the country, Dakota and Tasha, were closely watching the trial.
Dakota grew up "absolutely believing" in his father's view of the world - what he described as a "vision of a shadowy, malicious communist conspiracy seeking to institute a New World Order… aiming to seize total power and institute a one world government that would intentionally sow chaos".
It took until his teenage years for his faith in the coming government-backed apocalypse to be shaken, and until his early adulthood to finally escape.
Early memories
Things were not always that bleak.
Dakota Adams - he and his mother now use her maiden name - spent much of his earliest years not in the backwoods of Montana, but in the middle of America's east coast power centres.
His parents had met and married in the 1990s, and he was their eldest child.
Dakota lived his first years in the suburbs of Washington, DC where Rhodes was once an aide for libertarian congressman Ron Paul. When Dakota was about four or five years old, the family moved to Connecticut after Rhodes was accepted to Yale Law School.
Dakota recalled living on Chapel Street in New Haven and "having a set of neighbours that was so diverse that my street looked like the set of Sesame Street".
"I thought that that was just how the entire world was," he said.
He remembers the local pizza place and bagel shop, and playing with the children of graduate students from all around the country and the world, speaking the common language of Star Wars fandom.
"That was the one time I had a fairly normal childhood," he said. "It was the one time I had real friends and real social interaction."
Yet even then, according to Tasha, Rhodes displayed strange bouts of paranoia - the seeds of doubt that would later fuel his anti-government mission.
When they met, Rhodes was not particularly political, Tasha said, but was always devising strategies to avoid imagined enemies.
For example, for something as mundane as when he was checking the oil in his car, he would make Tasha stand guard "to make sure that no-one slammed the hood on his head," she said.
Dakota also recalled some dark memories. He remembered when he was around four years old waking his father up from a nap, only to have Rhodes jump up and pull out a folding knife.
"He would jokingly play it off as some kind of ultra manly animalistic caveman brain being activated before he was fully awake," Dakota said. "I've never heard of anything like that before or since."
Birth of the Oath Keepers
After graduating from Yale in 2004, Rhodes moved his family to various states in the American West while he worked as a lawyer. Over the course of these moves, his paranoia and anti-government sensibilities hardened.
The couple had five more children as the family ping-ponged across Arizona, Nevada and Montana. None attended a formal school. Some did not even have birth certificates.
In April 2009, the family was living in Nevada when Rhodes founded the Oath Keepers.
According to Tasha, the group was born of an all-night writing session during one of Rhodes's manic spells.
Tasha remembered trying to soothe one of her children as her husband blasted heavy metal music, and kept her from leaving the room.
He bashed out a foundational manifesto: "Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey."
"I'm trying to get this poor baby to sleep, and he kept saying, 'Wait, wait till you see what I wrote,'" Tasha recalled.
Would he now stop them from fleeing? Had he noticed his favourite gun was missing? Would he question why John-Boy, the family dog, was along for the ride to the dump? Dakota gripped the wheel while Tasha looked down at her daughters, hidden under the windows, their eyes opened wide.
The militia movement has long been a feature on the fringes of American life.
Militia members have a range of views but are generally concerned with the power of the US federal government, clampdowns on individual freedom and gun ownership - concerns that sometimes tip over into outright paranoia. In 2021, there were 92 militia groups active across 30 different states according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit that tracks extremist groups.
Rhodes - who once served as an Army paratrooper - founded Oath Keepers with the goal of recruiting military veterans, police officers and other first responders, as he imagined calling up legions of trained people who could fight against government tyranny.
His founding document began with a quote from George Washington and included some of the greatest hits of the militia world.
"We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people," Rhodes wrote.
There were warnings against blockades of American cities, detention camps and "the absurdly totalitarian claimed powers" of the president.
The document went viral in militia circles and would eventually push Rhodes into a series of conflicts with law enforcement.
But his wife didn't stand in his way.
"He kept saying the reason why he loses his temper, the reason why he's violent is because he hadn't found his path in life," Tasha said. "So part of me thought, well, maybe this will help fix whatever it is that's wrong with him."
At first, Rhodes did appear to find his calling.
In April 2009, Oath Keepers launched with an event in Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Rhodes began travelling around the country to drum up support. He appeared on conservative YouTube channels, the Alex Jones radio show, and even popped up on mainstream TV networks.
His family became an integral part of the militia project.
Family life became Oath Keepers life. Tasha would welcome members into their home; Dakota would answer militia emails and, when he was older, drive his father to and from Oath Keepers events.
But during long stretches when Rhodes was on the road, the rest of his family felt like life was closing in on them.
"We were so insular and isolated that the date and time and what day of the week it was, or what year it was, had very little bearing on our internal lives," Dakota said.
Today, Dakota lives in a one-room apartment down a country road outside a small Montana town, not far from the family home he escaped.
Now 25, he wears his dark blond hair to his shoulders - a contrast to the mostly close-cropped haircuts of his childhood photos. He has a considered, precise way of speaking that occasionally tips over with emotion when talking intensely about his family.
He wants to tell his story accurately, so much so that he apologises when he struggles to recall exact dates amid the clear threads of his otherwise sharp memory.
Reflecting on his childhood now, he said he realised that the family had become "accessories to the Stewart Rhodes brand".
His father had "made his family the centre point of this cult of personality that he wanted to build for himself," Dakota said. "And this reality that he wanted to spin into existence, in which he would be a major saviour figure in American history."
As Rhodes's eldest son, he said he felt a tremendous pressure to maintain the family facade. He was expected to take up stereotypically manly pursuits that could serve militia purposes. They included a grab bag of survivalist skills, shooting practice, martial arts training and home-school history lessons that focused mostly on the American Revolution and the battle of Thermopylae.
Like many sons, Dakota longed for his father's approval, which was slow in coming.
"From early childhood on, there was a sort of a layer of adoration towards my father that slowly eroded away over the years," he said. "I saw myself as nothing but an enormous failure to my family that could never live up to Stewart's standards."
Uncomfortable memories
Kalispell, Montana, is a small but growing city that serves as a gateway to nearby Glacier National Park.
Standing outside one of the family's previous homes, a modest dun-coloured house opposite a row of trailers, it's clear the place brought up uncomfortable memories for Dakota, who had spent his early teenage years there.
He recounted one incident in particular, sometime around 2012. A beloved pet dog named Yeti was in ill health and eventually died inside the house.
"Stewart was busy with [Oath Keepers] conference calls and emailing people and he put off taking my dog to be cremated," he said.
It took three days for Rhodes to finally take the dog away. He joked about the smell of the carcass and teased his teenage son about his emotional attachment to the animal.
Dakota was furious.
"I was struggling with the impulse to jump out and circle around to the driver's side door and yank my father out of the car to beat him in traffic," he said.
Throughout hours of interviews, in tweets and in posts on their blogs, Dakota and Tasha recounted numerous similar incidents of verbal abuse and neglect. A few stood out - like the time Dakota described Stewart choking one of his sisters on the family's front porch.
"Until I was an adult man," he said, "I lived absolutely under the thumb of an emotional terrorist."
Through his legal team, Rhodes declined to comment for this story.
Heading to the mountains
The small city of Kalispell was not remote enough for Rhodes.
In the early 2010s, the family moved to a cabin hours to the north, in a small community in the mountains populated by like-minded militia members, preppers, and other people who usually prefer to be left alone.
As a young man, Dakota spent one summer digging escape tunnels on the property, preparing for what his father believed was an inevitable government assault on the family compound.
Out in the countryside, miles from the connections he'd made in town, Dakota's favoured hobbies - martial arts and the Boy Scouts - fell by the wayside.
Isolated and struggling, he slunk into a depressive state. He spent more and more time online, on extreme websites and forums such as 4chan, and described himself at the time as a "neckbeard" - a slang term meaning, to put it politely, a basement-dwelling computer nerd who neglects personal grooming.
Throughout that time, spurred on by Rhodes, Oath Keepers were expanding their reach.
Armed members patrolled Ferguson, Missouri, in 2015, on the one-year anniversary of protests after teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a police officer. In the mid-2010s they were at the scene of standoffs between anti-government activists and law enforcement at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
But even as the militia grew, Rhodes's family struggled for money. The militia charged annual membership fees of $30, which later increased to $50, according to evidence in the criminal trial. Funds were supplemented by donations.
While a membership list leaked last year included 38,000 names, including some elected politicians and law enforcement officials, how many paid dues or for what length is unclear. Several people on the list who the BBC spoke to never paid anything. Rhodes has not filed tax returns since he founded Oath Keepers, according to evidence presented at his trial.
The money that did come in was poorly managed by Rhodes, his family said. Expenses - survival gear, ammunition and travel costs - racked up. While Rhodes would regale the family with stories of fancy meals on the road and militia training sessions, his wife and children frequently subsisted on bags of oatmeal and slices of dried fruit.
Amid all this, in Dakota's mind, his nagging doubts about the movement led by his father crystallised further.
"I started to see Stewart for who he really was, and I didn't believe in the end anymore. I didn't believe in the apocalypse," he said.
Time and again, his father's predictions of imminent social collapse and sweeping government crackdowns had failed to come true. That told him something. The end was not nigh.
"That meant that there was potentially something of my own future that I could still salvage," he said. "And it meant that I had to get my family away from Stewart."
Fighting fires
But how?
Dakota had no money, no formal education and a very small social circle. He took some steps in the right direction - he learned how to drive, and worked to pass his GED - the equivalent of a high school diploma. But the real transformation came after a random encounter at a petrol station while driving his father back from an Oath Keepers meeting.
A clerk there told him about the local volunteer fire department.
Dakota agreed to come along to the next meeting. It turned into the break that he needed.
Joining the fire department exposed Dakota to a new set of values that initially seemed to mirror what he heard at home: lessons about civic responsibility and preparedness. But at the fire station, people weren't talking about ancient battles, stockpiling guns and food, and raging against the government. They were getting out and helping people.
The experience expanded his social connections and led to paid jobs miles away from home, fighting wildfires as far away as California. His controlling father allowed him to leave home to fight fires, he said, because it fit the macho ideals he had for his eldest son.
Over all that time, he felt increasingly ready to leave, and as he moved into his 20s, Dakota realised that his siblings had been longing to escape even longer than he had.
"I was the last child to maintain any kind of loyalty or belief in Stewart's narrative," he said.
An initial plan developed. One after the other, the older children would move out of the family home, and help the remaining siblings escape.
"We were effectively going to daisy chain each other away," Dakota said.
A few late night conversations with his mother made him realise Tasha also wanted to leave.
Then came a lightning bolt.
The escape
The Gibralter Ridge Fire devastated thousands of acres in the nearby Kootenai National Forest. It began with a lightning strike in August 2017, and Dakota was one of the firefighters enlisted to fight the blaze.
He spent the summer and early fall battling the flames. It earned him enough money to buy his own truck, the first vehicle the family had that wasn't in his father's name.
"We were able to leave the house independently, instead of Stewart maintaining his strict control over our transportation," he said.
They had strategised for two years but their hand was forced, Dakota said, by the family's perilous financial situation. Being evicted from their woodland home was becoming an increasingly likely prospect.
"We were going to have to go through the worst case scenario of not having enough money to live and being homeless, with Stewart still in tow, if we did not pull the trigger," he said.
Tasha filed legal papers for divorce. The night before they escaped, on that grim day in February 2018, Rhodes and Tasha went for a drink at the bar at the nearby crossroads. The bartender kept looking her way, she recalled, because she kept crying.
"Stewart never noticed," she said. The family fled the next day.
Years in prison
It hasn't been easy. The family still lives in Montana. Tasha, Dakota, and his siblings have had to adjust to life outside of the militia movement, getting embedded in the more normal routines of work, school and community life.
Dakota found a house for rent, and later his own small space. In between several jobs and firefighting, he supports his family in a way, he says, that Rhodes never did.
Nowadays, he is studying subjects both new (art) and familiar (American politics) at a local community college.
Tasha still has not been granted a divorce, more than four and a half years after applying for one.
And still the ghosts of Stewart Rhodes and the Oath Keepers continue to linger.
Like many other political movements in America, the militia world was transformed by Donald Trump's first run for president in 2015. Rhodes and his Oath Keepers turned from staunch government opponents into imagined protectors of the Trump movement.
And after the 2020 election, the Oath Keepers geared up for conflict, stockpiling weapons and amping up the rhetoric, according to testimony presented in court.
When Dakota and Tasha tuned into news coverage on 6 Jan 2021, they didn't need to see Rhodes's face to know that he was there.
The giveaway was the "stack" - a formation of Oath Keepers in a line, their hands on the shoulders of the militia members in front of them, barging their way inside the Capitol.
Dakota had witnessed his father turn from a Trump sceptic into a full-throated supporter after the 2016 election.
In the lead up to the 2020 election, Rhodes envisioned his militia as a last line of defence protecting the Trump movement. In court he testified that he was waiting for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 200-year-old law which allows the president to call on armed forces and the National Guard to keep order.
In Rhodes' reading of that scenario, Oath Keepers would become almost a private Trump army.
"I knew that Stewart was really hitching his wagon to Trump and was going to have to bet it all on Trump retaining power, whether he won the election or not," Dakota said.
But now, Rhodes and one of his co-defendants, Kelly Meggs, have been jailed for 18 years and 12 years respectively, after being found guilty of the most serious charges to date stemming from the Capitol riot. Rhodes's sentence is the longest yet given to a Capitol rioter.
Three other Oath Keepers were found not guilty of the seditious conspiracy charge but were convicted on lesser charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding.
Years after escaping his father's home, Dakota's anger is still palpable. So is his relief.
"I'm going to be able to breathe a little bit easier," he said.
His political path has diverged from his father's. Prior to the midterm elections he volunteered for local Democratic Party politicians.
And in 2020, Dakota was back in Kalispell, joining more than 1,000 protesters in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Armed militia members were there too. One of them got in Dakota's face - covered at the time due to Covid restrictions. When he lowered the bandana around his mouth, the man was stunned.
"He very quickly realised that I was Stewart's son and was completely shocked to see me on the other side of the protest line."
His apartment today has pictures of wildlife scenes on the walls and a microwave and hotplate in the corner.
His dog Mocha looked on as he pulled out his body armour and rifles.
Dakota admitted that he was out of practice when it comes to shooting and only dons his body armour when reporters ask to see it. He prefers to spend his down time studying, drawing, and writing. He has a blog and recounted his own journey in a long essay for the progressive website Raw Story.
These days the rifles don't get much use. They bring back unpleasant memories of Rhodes and Oath Keepers training events. Still, Dakota holds on to his guns - just in case.
"I have no confidence in the United States resisting a growing fascist movement," he said.
After their escape, the Rhodes children had occasional meetings with their father. But those gradually went by the wayside. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, he's had sporadic text messages from his father, Dakota said.
He hasn't replied to a single one.
Additional reporting and video by Chelsea Bailey and Eloise Alanna.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63709446
Published
29 November 2022
By Mike Wendling
Kalispell, Montana
The son of militia leader Stewart Rhodes spent years plotting to help his family escape from his father's control. Now that the elder Rhodes has been jailed for 18 years, the rest of the family is rebuilding their lives.
The time had come. It was a dreary February day in 2018. Dakota had it all planned out.
His mother and five younger siblings were in the truck - some of them crouched out of sight on the floor.
They'd bundled into it as much as they could and made up an excuse - ostensibly they were heading to the trash dump just off the main highway, slick with black ice and crusted snow.
But just as they started to pull away, Dakota's father burst out the door of their remote cabin in the mountains of northwest Montana.
Dakota and his mother Tasha stiffened. The leader of the Oath Keepers militia had dominated their lives until that moment. Tasha and Stewart had been married for nearly 25 years, and she was familiar with his manic periods. He'd been up all night on a tear - working out, listening to music, practising Filipino stick fighting, pacing the floor.
It was a pattern of manic activity, Dakota said, that was familiar throughout years of emotional abuse and heightened paranoia.
"Hey," Rhodes growled. "Pick up some steak on your way back."
Dakota and Tasha murmured assent, and drove off towards the highway without a backwards glance.
Militiaman's son
With his beard and eye patch, Stewart Rhodes is one of the most recognisable faces of America's anti-government militia movement.
Since September, Rhodes and four members of the Oath Keepers, a militia group he founded in 2009, have been on trial in Washington for their roles in the 6 January Capitol riot. They were charged with seditious conspiracy - in this case, attempting to stop the certification of the 2020 election and the inauguration of Joe Biden - a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On the other side of the country, Dakota and Tasha, were closely watching the trial.
Dakota grew up "absolutely believing" in his father's view of the world - what he described as a "vision of a shadowy, malicious communist conspiracy seeking to institute a New World Order… aiming to seize total power and institute a one world government that would intentionally sow chaos".
It took until his teenage years for his faith in the coming government-backed apocalypse to be shaken, and until his early adulthood to finally escape.
Early memories
Things were not always that bleak.
Dakota Adams - he and his mother now use her maiden name - spent much of his earliest years not in the backwoods of Montana, but in the middle of America's east coast power centres.
His parents had met and married in the 1990s, and he was their eldest child.
Dakota lived his first years in the suburbs of Washington, DC where Rhodes was once an aide for libertarian congressman Ron Paul. When Dakota was about four or five years old, the family moved to Connecticut after Rhodes was accepted to Yale Law School.
Dakota recalled living on Chapel Street in New Haven and "having a set of neighbours that was so diverse that my street looked like the set of Sesame Street".
"I thought that that was just how the entire world was," he said.
He remembers the local pizza place and bagel shop, and playing with the children of graduate students from all around the country and the world, speaking the common language of Star Wars fandom.
"That was the one time I had a fairly normal childhood," he said. "It was the one time I had real friends and real social interaction."
Yet even then, according to Tasha, Rhodes displayed strange bouts of paranoia - the seeds of doubt that would later fuel his anti-government mission.
When they met, Rhodes was not particularly political, Tasha said, but was always devising strategies to avoid imagined enemies.
For example, for something as mundane as when he was checking the oil in his car, he would make Tasha stand guard "to make sure that no-one slammed the hood on his head," she said.
Dakota also recalled some dark memories. He remembered when he was around four years old waking his father up from a nap, only to have Rhodes jump up and pull out a folding knife.
"He would jokingly play it off as some kind of ultra manly animalistic caveman brain being activated before he was fully awake," Dakota said. "I've never heard of anything like that before or since."
Birth of the Oath Keepers
After graduating from Yale in 2004, Rhodes moved his family to various states in the American West while he worked as a lawyer. Over the course of these moves, his paranoia and anti-government sensibilities hardened.
The couple had five more children as the family ping-ponged across Arizona, Nevada and Montana. None attended a formal school. Some did not even have birth certificates.
In April 2009, the family was living in Nevada when Rhodes founded the Oath Keepers.
According to Tasha, the group was born of an all-night writing session during one of Rhodes's manic spells.
Tasha remembered trying to soothe one of her children as her husband blasted heavy metal music, and kept her from leaving the room.
He bashed out a foundational manifesto: "Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey."
"I'm trying to get this poor baby to sleep, and he kept saying, 'Wait, wait till you see what I wrote,'" Tasha recalled.
Would he now stop them from fleeing? Had he noticed his favourite gun was missing? Would he question why John-Boy, the family dog, was along for the ride to the dump? Dakota gripped the wheel while Tasha looked down at her daughters, hidden under the windows, their eyes opened wide.
The militia movement has long been a feature on the fringes of American life.
Militia members have a range of views but are generally concerned with the power of the US federal government, clampdowns on individual freedom and gun ownership - concerns that sometimes tip over into outright paranoia. In 2021, there were 92 militia groups active across 30 different states according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit that tracks extremist groups.
Rhodes - who once served as an Army paratrooper - founded Oath Keepers with the goal of recruiting military veterans, police officers and other first responders, as he imagined calling up legions of trained people who could fight against government tyranny.
His founding document began with a quote from George Washington and included some of the greatest hits of the militia world.
"We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people," Rhodes wrote.
There were warnings against blockades of American cities, detention camps and "the absurdly totalitarian claimed powers" of the president.
The document went viral in militia circles and would eventually push Rhodes into a series of conflicts with law enforcement.
But his wife didn't stand in his way.
"He kept saying the reason why he loses his temper, the reason why he's violent is because he hadn't found his path in life," Tasha said. "So part of me thought, well, maybe this will help fix whatever it is that's wrong with him."
At first, Rhodes did appear to find his calling.
In April 2009, Oath Keepers launched with an event in Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Rhodes began travelling around the country to drum up support. He appeared on conservative YouTube channels, the Alex Jones radio show, and even popped up on mainstream TV networks.
His family became an integral part of the militia project.
Family life became Oath Keepers life. Tasha would welcome members into their home; Dakota would answer militia emails and, when he was older, drive his father to and from Oath Keepers events.
But during long stretches when Rhodes was on the road, the rest of his family felt like life was closing in on them.
"We were so insular and isolated that the date and time and what day of the week it was, or what year it was, had very little bearing on our internal lives," Dakota said.
Today, Dakota lives in a one-room apartment down a country road outside a small Montana town, not far from the family home he escaped.
Now 25, he wears his dark blond hair to his shoulders - a contrast to the mostly close-cropped haircuts of his childhood photos. He has a considered, precise way of speaking that occasionally tips over with emotion when talking intensely about his family.
He wants to tell his story accurately, so much so that he apologises when he struggles to recall exact dates amid the clear threads of his otherwise sharp memory.
Reflecting on his childhood now, he said he realised that the family had become "accessories to the Stewart Rhodes brand".
His father had "made his family the centre point of this cult of personality that he wanted to build for himself," Dakota said. "And this reality that he wanted to spin into existence, in which he would be a major saviour figure in American history."
As Rhodes's eldest son, he said he felt a tremendous pressure to maintain the family facade. He was expected to take up stereotypically manly pursuits that could serve militia purposes. They included a grab bag of survivalist skills, shooting practice, martial arts training and home-school history lessons that focused mostly on the American Revolution and the battle of Thermopylae.
Like many sons, Dakota longed for his father's approval, which was slow in coming.
"From early childhood on, there was a sort of a layer of adoration towards my father that slowly eroded away over the years," he said. "I saw myself as nothing but an enormous failure to my family that could never live up to Stewart's standards."
Uncomfortable memories
Kalispell, Montana, is a small but growing city that serves as a gateway to nearby Glacier National Park.
Standing outside one of the family's previous homes, a modest dun-coloured house opposite a row of trailers, it's clear the place brought up uncomfortable memories for Dakota, who had spent his early teenage years there.
He recounted one incident in particular, sometime around 2012. A beloved pet dog named Yeti was in ill health and eventually died inside the house.
"Stewart was busy with [Oath Keepers] conference calls and emailing people and he put off taking my dog to be cremated," he said.
It took three days for Rhodes to finally take the dog away. He joked about the smell of the carcass and teased his teenage son about his emotional attachment to the animal.
Dakota was furious.
"I was struggling with the impulse to jump out and circle around to the driver's side door and yank my father out of the car to beat him in traffic," he said.
Throughout hours of interviews, in tweets and in posts on their blogs, Dakota and Tasha recounted numerous similar incidents of verbal abuse and neglect. A few stood out - like the time Dakota described Stewart choking one of his sisters on the family's front porch.
"Until I was an adult man," he said, "I lived absolutely under the thumb of an emotional terrorist."
Through his legal team, Rhodes declined to comment for this story.
Heading to the mountains
The small city of Kalispell was not remote enough for Rhodes.
In the early 2010s, the family moved to a cabin hours to the north, in a small community in the mountains populated by like-minded militia members, preppers, and other people who usually prefer to be left alone.
As a young man, Dakota spent one summer digging escape tunnels on the property, preparing for what his father believed was an inevitable government assault on the family compound.
Out in the countryside, miles from the connections he'd made in town, Dakota's favoured hobbies - martial arts and the Boy Scouts - fell by the wayside.
Isolated and struggling, he slunk into a depressive state. He spent more and more time online, on extreme websites and forums such as 4chan, and described himself at the time as a "neckbeard" - a slang term meaning, to put it politely, a basement-dwelling computer nerd who neglects personal grooming.
Throughout that time, spurred on by Rhodes, Oath Keepers were expanding their reach.
Armed members patrolled Ferguson, Missouri, in 2015, on the one-year anniversary of protests after teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a police officer. In the mid-2010s they were at the scene of standoffs between anti-government activists and law enforcement at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
But even as the militia grew, Rhodes's family struggled for money. The militia charged annual membership fees of $30, which later increased to $50, according to evidence in the criminal trial. Funds were supplemented by donations.
While a membership list leaked last year included 38,000 names, including some elected politicians and law enforcement officials, how many paid dues or for what length is unclear. Several people on the list who the BBC spoke to never paid anything. Rhodes has not filed tax returns since he founded Oath Keepers, according to evidence presented at his trial.
The money that did come in was poorly managed by Rhodes, his family said. Expenses - survival gear, ammunition and travel costs - racked up. While Rhodes would regale the family with stories of fancy meals on the road and militia training sessions, his wife and children frequently subsisted on bags of oatmeal and slices of dried fruit.
Amid all this, in Dakota's mind, his nagging doubts about the movement led by his father crystallised further.
"I started to see Stewart for who he really was, and I didn't believe in the end anymore. I didn't believe in the apocalypse," he said.
Time and again, his father's predictions of imminent social collapse and sweeping government crackdowns had failed to come true. That told him something. The end was not nigh.
"That meant that there was potentially something of my own future that I could still salvage," he said. "And it meant that I had to get my family away from Stewart."
Fighting fires
But how?
Dakota had no money, no formal education and a very small social circle. He took some steps in the right direction - he learned how to drive, and worked to pass his GED - the equivalent of a high school diploma. But the real transformation came after a random encounter at a petrol station while driving his father back from an Oath Keepers meeting.
A clerk there told him about the local volunteer fire department.
Dakota agreed to come along to the next meeting. It turned into the break that he needed.
Joining the fire department exposed Dakota to a new set of values that initially seemed to mirror what he heard at home: lessons about civic responsibility and preparedness. But at the fire station, people weren't talking about ancient battles, stockpiling guns and food, and raging against the government. They were getting out and helping people.
The experience expanded his social connections and led to paid jobs miles away from home, fighting wildfires as far away as California. His controlling father allowed him to leave home to fight fires, he said, because it fit the macho ideals he had for his eldest son.
Over all that time, he felt increasingly ready to leave, and as he moved into his 20s, Dakota realised that his siblings had been longing to escape even longer than he had.
"I was the last child to maintain any kind of loyalty or belief in Stewart's narrative," he said.
An initial plan developed. One after the other, the older children would move out of the family home, and help the remaining siblings escape.
"We were effectively going to daisy chain each other away," Dakota said.
A few late night conversations with his mother made him realise Tasha also wanted to leave.
Then came a lightning bolt.
The escape
The Gibralter Ridge Fire devastated thousands of acres in the nearby Kootenai National Forest. It began with a lightning strike in August 2017, and Dakota was one of the firefighters enlisted to fight the blaze.
He spent the summer and early fall battling the flames. It earned him enough money to buy his own truck, the first vehicle the family had that wasn't in his father's name.
"We were able to leave the house independently, instead of Stewart maintaining his strict control over our transportation," he said.
They had strategised for two years but their hand was forced, Dakota said, by the family's perilous financial situation. Being evicted from their woodland home was becoming an increasingly likely prospect.
"We were going to have to go through the worst case scenario of not having enough money to live and being homeless, with Stewart still in tow, if we did not pull the trigger," he said.
Tasha filed legal papers for divorce. The night before they escaped, on that grim day in February 2018, Rhodes and Tasha went for a drink at the bar at the nearby crossroads. The bartender kept looking her way, she recalled, because she kept crying.
"Stewart never noticed," she said. The family fled the next day.
Years in prison
It hasn't been easy. The family still lives in Montana. Tasha, Dakota, and his siblings have had to adjust to life outside of the militia movement, getting embedded in the more normal routines of work, school and community life.
Dakota found a house for rent, and later his own small space. In between several jobs and firefighting, he supports his family in a way, he says, that Rhodes never did.
Nowadays, he is studying subjects both new (art) and familiar (American politics) at a local community college.
Tasha still has not been granted a divorce, more than four and a half years after applying for one.
And still the ghosts of Stewart Rhodes and the Oath Keepers continue to linger.
Like many other political movements in America, the militia world was transformed by Donald Trump's first run for president in 2015. Rhodes and his Oath Keepers turned from staunch government opponents into imagined protectors of the Trump movement.
And after the 2020 election, the Oath Keepers geared up for conflict, stockpiling weapons and amping up the rhetoric, according to testimony presented in court.
When Dakota and Tasha tuned into news coverage on 6 Jan 2021, they didn't need to see Rhodes's face to know that he was there.
The giveaway was the "stack" - a formation of Oath Keepers in a line, their hands on the shoulders of the militia members in front of them, barging their way inside the Capitol.
Dakota had witnessed his father turn from a Trump sceptic into a full-throated supporter after the 2016 election.
In the lead up to the 2020 election, Rhodes envisioned his militia as a last line of defence protecting the Trump movement. In court he testified that he was waiting for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 200-year-old law which allows the president to call on armed forces and the National Guard to keep order.
In Rhodes' reading of that scenario, Oath Keepers would become almost a private Trump army.
"I knew that Stewart was really hitching his wagon to Trump and was going to have to bet it all on Trump retaining power, whether he won the election or not," Dakota said.
But now, Rhodes and one of his co-defendants, Kelly Meggs, have been jailed for 18 years and 12 years respectively, after being found guilty of the most serious charges to date stemming from the Capitol riot. Rhodes's sentence is the longest yet given to a Capitol rioter.
Three other Oath Keepers were found not guilty of the seditious conspiracy charge but were convicted on lesser charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding.
Years after escaping his father's home, Dakota's anger is still palpable. So is his relief.
"I'm going to be able to breathe a little bit easier," he said.
His political path has diverged from his father's. Prior to the midterm elections he volunteered for local Democratic Party politicians.
And in 2020, Dakota was back in Kalispell, joining more than 1,000 protesters in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Armed militia members were there too. One of them got in Dakota's face - covered at the time due to Covid restrictions. When he lowered the bandana around his mouth, the man was stunned.
"He very quickly realised that I was Stewart's son and was completely shocked to see me on the other side of the protest line."
His apartment today has pictures of wildlife scenes on the walls and a microwave and hotplate in the corner.
His dog Mocha looked on as he pulled out his body armour and rifles.
Dakota admitted that he was out of practice when it comes to shooting and only dons his body armour when reporters ask to see it. He prefers to spend his down time studying, drawing, and writing. He has a blog and recounted his own journey in a long essay for the progressive website Raw Story.
These days the rifles don't get much use. They bring back unpleasant memories of Rhodes and Oath Keepers training events. Still, Dakota holds on to his guns - just in case.
"I have no confidence in the United States resisting a growing fascist movement," he said.
After their escape, the Rhodes children had occasional meetings with their father. But those gradually went by the wayside. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, he's had sporadic text messages from his father, Dakota said.
He hasn't replied to a single one.
Additional reporting and video by Chelsea Bailey and Eloise Alanna.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63709446
by ti-amie
I'm sure their boy will pick up the tab.
I'm sure their boy will pick up the tab.
by ti-amie Jordan Fischer @JordanOnRecord
SENTENCE: Former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 YEARS in prison for his role at the top of a plot to stop the certification of the 2020 election. Tarrio's is now the longest Jan. 6 sentence to date.
SENTENCE: Former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 YEARS in prison for his role at the top of a plot to stop the certification of the 2020 election. Tarrio's is now the longest Jan. 6 sentence to date.by ti-amie Trump appointee who 'betrayed' oath on Jan. 6 sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison
Federico Klein, a Marine Corps veteran and former State Department appointee, was convicted of eight felony counts.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge sentenced a Marine Corps veteran and former State Department appointee to nearly six years in prison Friday, saying he'd "betrayed" the oath of office he'd taken.
In July, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden found Federico Klein, 44, and another man, Steven Cappuccio, guilty on multiple felony counts for their role in a violent, hours-long assault on officers who were attempting to prevent rioters from entering the Capitol through a tunnel on the west side of the building. Klein was convicted of eight felonies, including six counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding police, but avoided a dangerous weapon enhancement that would have sent him immediately to jail like Cappuccio. Another defendant, Christopher Quaglin, pleaded guilty to all counts against him and is set to be sentenced in January.
Klein was a political appointee of former President Donald Trump at the time working for the State Department. He'd also volunteered with Trump's presidential campaign, and had worked in Nevada following the election to investigate the president's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
On Friday, McFadden sentenced Klein to 70 months in prison, or nearly six years, and $5,000 in fines and restitution. He said Klein's "shock and egregious" conduct on Jan. 6 warranted a significant prison term.
"I don't remember ever seeing a case where someone assaulted so many officers in such a short period of time," McFadden, himself a former sheriff's deputy, said. The judge also suggested Klein could have been charged under the Hatch Act — a federal law that prohibits executive branch employees from some political activities.
Prosecutors wanted Klein, one of only a small number of federal employees to be charged in connection with the riot, to serve 120 months, or 10 years, in prison. They said in a sentencing memo filed Friday that he volunteered to travel to Las Vegas to investigate claims of voter fraud and was “keenly aware” of the legal options available to challenge election results. The night before Jan. 6, according to prosecutors, Klein met with friends and told them he believed then-Vice President Mike Pence was not going to certify the election.
When Pence did not go along with the plan the next day, Klein joined the mob that was attacking police inside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel of the Capitol. There, he used a stolen police riot shield to wedge in a door and prevent officers from closing it and participated in a “heave, ho” effort to push past police. It was during one of those “heave, ho” efforts that DC Police Officer Daniel Hodges was crushed in a doorframe by another of Klein’s co-defendants, Patrick McCaughey III.
While in the tunnel, prosecutors say Klein committed at least five separate assaults on police also beckoned other rioters in and yelled, “We need fresh people!”
Klein’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, argued in his own motion that, despite his multiple felony convictions, his client was “no different than thousands of other protesters” on Jan. 6. He also argued that, because McFadden did not find Klein guilty of using a dangerous weapon against police, he should not be lumped in with other rioters who did.
“Mr. Klein readily admits that the events of January 6, 2021, are abhorrent. Mr. Klein regrets his role in the events of that day. Mr. Klein will be sentenced because of his individual actions and participation on that day,” Woodward wrote. “However, no one person can be held responsible for the events of that day, and while Mr. Klein was present in an area which saw a long and intense skirmish between Capitol Police and rioters, Mr. Klein should be held responsible for his actions and his alone.”
Woodward argued for a sentence of 40 days in jail and three years of supervised release – a sentence dramatically lower than any of Klein’s co-defendants convicted of similar charges have received. However, prosecutors also sought a sentence significantly above any McFadden has handed down to date in a Jan. 6 case.
In April, McFadden, a former deputy attorney general who was nominated to the federal bench in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, sentenced McCaughey to seven-and-a-half years in prison for assaulting Hodges with a dangerous weapon. He sentenced Robert Morss, a former Army Ranger who was convicted in a stipulated bench trial of multiple accounts of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon, to five-and-a-half years in prison. Geoffrey Sills, a Virginia man who robbed an officer and then beat him with his own baton, received four years in prison.
Klein, who did not make a statement during the hearing, was allowed to self-surrender. McFadden said he would consider a recommendation from Woodward about where Klein should be placed.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/nati ... 2474bb26cb
Federico Klein, a Marine Corps veteran and former State Department appointee, was convicted of eight felony counts.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge sentenced a Marine Corps veteran and former State Department appointee to nearly six years in prison Friday, saying he'd "betrayed" the oath of office he'd taken.
In July, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden found Federico Klein, 44, and another man, Steven Cappuccio, guilty on multiple felony counts for their role in a violent, hours-long assault on officers who were attempting to prevent rioters from entering the Capitol through a tunnel on the west side of the building. Klein was convicted of eight felonies, including six counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding police, but avoided a dangerous weapon enhancement that would have sent him immediately to jail like Cappuccio. Another defendant, Christopher Quaglin, pleaded guilty to all counts against him and is set to be sentenced in January.
Klein was a political appointee of former President Donald Trump at the time working for the State Department. He'd also volunteered with Trump's presidential campaign, and had worked in Nevada following the election to investigate the president's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
On Friday, McFadden sentenced Klein to 70 months in prison, or nearly six years, and $5,000 in fines and restitution. He said Klein's "shock and egregious" conduct on Jan. 6 warranted a significant prison term.
"I don't remember ever seeing a case where someone assaulted so many officers in such a short period of time," McFadden, himself a former sheriff's deputy, said. The judge also suggested Klein could have been charged under the Hatch Act — a federal law that prohibits executive branch employees from some political activities.
Prosecutors wanted Klein, one of only a small number of federal employees to be charged in connection with the riot, to serve 120 months, or 10 years, in prison. They said in a sentencing memo filed Friday that he volunteered to travel to Las Vegas to investigate claims of voter fraud and was “keenly aware” of the legal options available to challenge election results. The night before Jan. 6, according to prosecutors, Klein met with friends and told them he believed then-Vice President Mike Pence was not going to certify the election.
When Pence did not go along with the plan the next day, Klein joined the mob that was attacking police inside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel of the Capitol. There, he used a stolen police riot shield to wedge in a door and prevent officers from closing it and participated in a “heave, ho” effort to push past police. It was during one of those “heave, ho” efforts that DC Police Officer Daniel Hodges was crushed in a doorframe by another of Klein’s co-defendants, Patrick McCaughey III.
While in the tunnel, prosecutors say Klein committed at least five separate assaults on police also beckoned other rioters in and yelled, “We need fresh people!”
Klein’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, argued in his own motion that, despite his multiple felony convictions, his client was “no different than thousands of other protesters” on Jan. 6. He also argued that, because McFadden did not find Klein guilty of using a dangerous weapon against police, he should not be lumped in with other rioters who did.
“Mr. Klein readily admits that the events of January 6, 2021, are abhorrent. Mr. Klein regrets his role in the events of that day. Mr. Klein will be sentenced because of his individual actions and participation on that day,” Woodward wrote. “However, no one person can be held responsible for the events of that day, and while Mr. Klein was present in an area which saw a long and intense skirmish between Capitol Police and rioters, Mr. Klein should be held responsible for his actions and his alone.”
Woodward argued for a sentence of 40 days in jail and three years of supervised release – a sentence dramatically lower than any of Klein’s co-defendants convicted of similar charges have received. However, prosecutors also sought a sentence significantly above any McFadden has handed down to date in a Jan. 6 case.
In April, McFadden, a former deputy attorney general who was nominated to the federal bench in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, sentenced McCaughey to seven-and-a-half years in prison for assaulting Hodges with a dangerous weapon. He sentenced Robert Morss, a former Army Ranger who was convicted in a stipulated bench trial of multiple accounts of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon, to five-and-a-half years in prison. Geoffrey Sills, a Virginia man who robbed an officer and then beat him with his own baton, received four years in prison.
Klein, who did not make a statement during the hearing, was allowed to self-surrender. McFadden said he would consider a recommendation from Woodward about where Klein should be placed.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/nati ... 2474bb26cb
by ti-amie 
Jordan Fischer
@JordanOnRecord
NEW: A jury will now decide whether John Earle Sullivan was a journalist or a chaos agent when he entered the U.S. Capitol as part of a riotous mob.
He took the stand today to explain why, for example, he shouted, "We're about to burn this s*** down!"
Sullivan claimed "blending in" was critical to his safety as a journalist — and using a megaphone to stir up the crowd was part of that.
Prosecutors pointed out he'd been run out of multiple activist circles for for "grifting" and "sabotage."
Sullivan repeatedly made denials — about starting chants, about why he'd brought the bullhorn, etc. — that were quickly challenged by his own words on video.
"I'm telling you, I brought my megaphone to instigate s***," he says in one clip.
The jury has the case now. They'll be back at 10 a.m. tomorrow to begin deliberations.
Jordan Fischer
@JordanOnRecord
NEW: A jury will now decide whether John Earle Sullivan was a journalist or a chaos agent when he entered the U.S. Capitol as part of a riotous mob.
He took the stand today to explain why, for example, he shouted, "We're about to burn this s*** down!"
Sullivan claimed "blending in" was critical to his safety as a journalist — and using a megaphone to stir up the crowd was part of that.
Prosecutors pointed out he'd been run out of multiple activist circles for for "grifting" and "sabotage."
Sullivan repeatedly made denials — about starting chants, about why he'd brought the bullhorn, etc. — that were quickly challenged by his own words on video.
"I'm telling you, I brought my megaphone to instigate s***," he says in one clip.
The jury has the case now. They'll be back at 10 a.m. tomorrow to begin deliberations.
by ti-amie Jordan Fischer
@JordanOnRecord
NOW: A NY mother and son who helped another rioter steal a laptop from the Speaker's office suite on Jan. 6 were sentenced to home incarceration.
Rafael Rondon will start his sentence after 14 months in prison for illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun.
The sentence imposed by Judge Cobb is drastically lower than what prosecutors sought: approximately 4 years for both Rafael Rondon and his mother Maryann Mooney-Rondon.
Cobb said she was giving them a "significant break," and warned not to abuse it.
@JordanOnRecord
NOW: A NY mother and son who helped another rioter steal a laptop from the Speaker's office suite on Jan. 6 were sentenced to home incarceration.
Rafael Rondon will start his sentence after 14 months in prison for illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun.
The sentence imposed by Judge Cobb is drastically lower than what prosecutors sought: approximately 4 years for both Rafael Rondon and his mother Maryann Mooney-Rondon.
Cobb said she was giving them a "significant break," and warned not to abuse it.