Oath Keepers turn on each other as they scramble to secure Capitol riot plea deals: report

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Kelly Weill, members of the Oath Keepers militia-- reportedly comprised of former law enforcement officers and military vets -- are breaking ranks and pointing fingers at each other as they pursue plea bargain deals related to their participation in the Jan 6th Capitol insurrection.

While the Wall Street Journal has been reporting on internal strife as members question how the organization's founder Stewart Rhoades is funding his "lifestyle" with their dues, others are more concerned with staying out of jail. And if that means providing investigators with information about their compatriots for a lighter sentence or charges being dropped -- they don't have a problem with that.

"In recent weeks, a steady drumbeat of Oath Keepers and their associates have pleaded guilty to crimes related to the Jan. 6 break-in at the U.S. Capitol, and agreed to cooperate with further investigations into the deadly riot. For the Oath Keepers, more so than almost any other group that participated in the break-in, those cooperation agreements could prove troubling to members anxious about catching charges," Weill wrote. "Of the more than 500 people charged in the riot, members of the Oath Keepers are among the only defendants accused of conspiracy for allegedly plotting the assault on the building, in an attempt to block the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory."

According to former Oath Keeper Edward Wilson, who once acted as spokesperson for the group, the organization is being roiled by criminal prosecutions.

"I think more will take it [the plea deals] now that they see others are folding in the ranks, especially higher-ups," Wilson explained.

According to Sam Jackson, author of a recent book on the Oath Keepers, the wheels appear to be falling off the group due to the riot prosecutions and the disenchantment with founder Stewart Rhodes.

"I think one of the things that Jan. 6 did was force a more individual level reckoning… about what ideas they espouse, what actions they advocate, and what organizations they belong to," Jackson explained. "So I think it's perfectly possible that people who are still committed Oath Keepers members might be spooked [by plea agreements]."

According to the report, "Wilson, the former Oath Keeper, estimated that some 15 percent of dues-paying members had distanced themselves from the group since the Capitol attack," but added that the ones sticking around are still enamored with the founder despite all the turmoil.

"The rest of them are fanatics," he told Weill before adding, "They'll follow him off a f*cking cliff, pardon my French."

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