Second Oath Keeper seditious conspiracy trial begins

Jurors in Washington, D.C., heard opening arguments Monday in the Justice Department’s next seditious conspiracy trial against members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia whose members are accused of playing a significant role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The trial, set to proceed through the remainder of the year, is the second brought by the government against Oath Keepers members present during the 2021 attack on the Capitol during the joint session of Congress when the 2020 electoral votes were being counted. 

Four codefendants — Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo — are accused of conspiring to stop the peaceful transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden, along with other felonies like destroying property and evidence. Each has pleaded not guilty and their defense attorneys maintain the government’s allegations overreach what the case’s evidence can reasonably prove.

“In the defendants’ words, they were at war,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Edwards, who delivered the government’s opening. “They were willing to use force and violence to impose their view of the Constitution.”

Two weeks ago, the Justice Department secured guilty verdicts for five different Oath Keeper defendants, including the organization’s founder Stewart Rhodes. Though all were charged with felonies, only Rhodes and his associate, co-defendant Kelly Meggs, were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Defendants from that trial are awaiting sentencing and face maximum sentences ranging from 40 to 86 years in prison.

Though Rhodes was not present in the courtroom, federal prosecutors and defense counsel both brought him up in their opening arguments — the government, to showcase violent rhetoric present in Oath Keepers correspondence, and the defense to distance their clients from those messages.

“This was an invitation to sedition,” Edwards said of Rhodes’ messages comparing his militia to American Revolutionary War fighters.

Scott Weinberg, defense attorney for Moerschel, rebutted the characterization by belittling Rhodes, calling him a “right-wing televangelist” who “lives off [militia] dues.”…