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Oath Keepers claim 'opposite' of sedition because Trump could order militia attack on Capitol: analysis
October 01, 2022
With opening arguments in the Oath Keepers' seditious conspiracy trial scheduled to begin on Monday, the New Yorker took an in-depth look at the legal argument being put forth by founder Stewart Rhodes and co-defendants.
"In the trial, Rhodes’s lawyers will attempt to sway the jury using an argument rooted in Rhodes’s version of right-wing militancy," Mike Giglio reported. "The Oath Keepers, they will argue, were not at the Capitol to fight with law enforcement on January 6, 2021. They were acting more as an extension of law enforcement, awaiting orders from Donald Trump, whom Rhodes had urged to invoke the Insurrection Act, to prevent Joe Biden from taking power. He implored Trump to call up members of the Oath Keepers and other armed Americans to serve as part of a Presidentially sanctioned militia."
The story noted a pre-trial motion where Rhodes' lawyers wrote, "the Government would like this Court to believe that is sedition, when in fact, it is the opposite. It is loyalty to an oath taken in defense of the Country.”
The co-defendants could face twenty years in prison if convicted.
"After Rhodes’s arrest, Phillip Linder, a well-regarded Dallas attorney, and his partner, James Lee Bright, became his defense lawyers. Sidney Powell, the lawyer who’d spread Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, reportedly hired Linder and Bright via her new foundation, as well as paid defense bills for another Oath Keeper charged alongside Rhodes; a senior member of the Proud Boys; and other defendants in January 6th cases," the New Yorker reported. "Last month, Rhodes attempted to replace the two attorneys and delay his trial; Judge Amit Mehta, of the D.C. district court, denied the motion, but the new lawyer Rhodes had selected, Edward Tarpley, was added to the defense team. Linder and Bright continue to direct Rhodes’s defense."
Bright said they were aware that Rhodes' defense could potentially be used to justify violence in the future and that Jan. 6 could have been worse, noting “how dangerous Trump was in that moment to America.”
He also noted how Trump incited his followers with giving a clear command for violence.
“Isn’t that where Trump is kind of a genius? He knew what to tell people. He figured it out,” Bright said. “He used the hell out of these people. He knew their fears. He knew their dreams.”
Read the full report.
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On Saturday, Donald Trump continued to receive blowback to a post on his Truth Social media platform that is being universally criticized for its blatant racism.
The post, where the ex-president described his former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's "China Loving wife, Coco Chow," was slammed by Alyssa Farah Griffin who also served in his administration as the White House Director of Strategic Communications.
In the post, Trump wrote, "Is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the Country down with him? In any event, either reason is unacceptable. He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise (sic) from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!"
That was too much for Farah Griffin who responded on Twitter with, "This isn’t some crazy person on the internet, this is the GOP front-runner for President if the Party doesn’t wake up & demand better."
She then added, "He’s not even trying to hide the racism at this point. Just despicable."
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Legal analyst serves notice to Trump attorneys their client is putting them on the verge of 'disciplinary action'
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By Jim Hightower
Let me say one word to you: Nuts.
Now, let me say one name to you: Ted Cruz.
Fiddle-faddles like Cruz and Scott have turned the once-proud U.S. Senate into The Little Nut Shoppe on the Hill.
They've become synonymous, with the Texas lawmaker perennially topping national lists of goofy, right-wing political goobers. Only, Ted can't rightly be called a lawmaker, for he's not a serious participant in that process, instead devoting his senatorship to political stunts and picking silly PR fights with a growing list of enemies.
Running out of people to attack, Ted has found another species for his vitriol: Fictional icons. He's been padding his right-wing credentials by going after Mr. Potato Head, Mickey and Pluto, and, believe it or not, the Muppets.
This U.S. senator has dedicated the power and public resources of his office to demonizing popular creatures on "Sesame Street," specifically Big Bird and loveable little Elmo. Ted rants he has proof that Muppets are covert tools of "government propaganda." So, this ridiculous excuse of a senator is saving America from… Muppets.
But for a whole bag of assorted nuttiness, you can't beat Senator Rick Scott's 11-point plan to "Rescue America." A disgraced former healthcare mogul, Cruz's mega-millionaire colleague reinvented himself as a wingnut Florida senator, and he now chairs a policy arm of the Republican Party.
In February, Scott set forth a stunning agenda of far-out right-wing extremism that he says his party will push if they retake the Senate this November, including:
- Implementing new federal taxes on the poorest half of Americans. So—as Scott puts it—they'll "have skin in the game."
- "Stopping socialism" by terminating Social Security and Medicare.
- Spending unlimited billions to build Donald Trump's folly of a border wall (and, ironically, naming the scam after The Donald).
Fiddle-faddles like Cruz and Scott have turned the once-proud U.S. Senate into The Little Nut Shoppe on the Hill.
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