WASHINGTON, D.C. – Interview documents obtained by National File suggest that the federal government may have withheld from a grand jury claims made by members of the Oath Keepers – a controversial, far-right militia group that has been accused of antigovernment activities – that they had not planned in advance to enter the U.S. Capitol during the riots on January 6.
This runs in contrast with the claims that the Department of Justice has adhered to charging members of the Oath Keepers in connection with the riots, saying that the breaching of the Capitol was a pre-planned, calculated act to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Based on the leaked interview documents, a lawyer defending a member of the Oath Keepers accused of entering the Capitol that day claims he can get their case dismissed, which is based on charges of conspiring to “corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding,” which in this case would be the certification of the presidential Electoral College votes by Congress.
Reuters had reported earlier this year that there was “scant” evidence that the Capitol riots were coordinated and the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result and possibly take hostages, according to “current and former” law enforcement officials that they spoke to.
However, in contrast to the leaked FBI interview documents, Reuters did claim that the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys had, in fact, plotted in advance to breach the Capitol, but may not have had any plans set for what to do once they had gotten inside.
This contrasts claims made by an individual referred to as “Person 10” in court documents who was part of the Oath Keepers – described as the “leader of operations” in D.C. by the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes – who said during an FBI interview that the group had made no plans in advance to enter the Capitol.
Attorney Jon Moseley, who is representing Oath Keepers member Kelly Meggs, said that he will ask if the denial of coordination from the FBI interview was presented to the Grand Jury when his client was charged with conspiracy.
“We’ve got lots of things we’re going to do,” Moseley said. “I understand that there’s other witnesses who would confirm this.”
In August, reports came out that the FBI had concluded the capitol breach was a “one-off” event that was not coordinated or premeditated, simply happening spontaneously. More recently, earlier this week, an attorney for other January 6th defendants claimed undercover federal agents actually incited the riot, going as far as handing out weapons at the capitol which he called “clear entrapment.”
or a specific category with our 
Comments are closed.