Joshua James, a member of the Oath Keepers and a co-defendant of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, has pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy.
As CBS News' Scott MacFarlane reports, James's guilty plea is "a big win" for the United States Department of Justice and "potentially... problematic" for Rhodes, who has pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy charges.
According to MacFarlane, James is admitting that his actions at the Capitol were intended to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and that they were done as part of a plan concocted by Rhodes.
Additionally, James's plea deal is contingent upon his cooperation with prosecutors.
Although many Capitol rioters have been charged for their roles in breaching the Capitol and committing acts of violence, Rhodes and some of his fellow Oath Keepers are so far the only ones to face the very serious seditious conspiracy charges.
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"The seditious conspiracy indictment alleges that, following the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election, Rhodes conspired with his co-defendants and others to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power by Jan. 20, 2021," the DOJ alleged in its indictment. "Beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, Rhodes and various co-conspirators coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., on or around Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the certification of the electoral college vote, the indictment alleges. Rhodes and several co-conspirators made plans to bring weapons to the area to support the operation. The co-conspirators then traveled across the country to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early January 2021."