Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Oath Keepers Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy
The criminal trial of five members of the Oath Keepers ended yesterday, and leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs received guilty verdicts on the charge of seditious conspiracy. All five were convicted of obstructing Congress. Both charges carry potential 20-year sentences. The jury determined that there was a genuine conspiracy to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and that the Oath Keepers were part of it. What the jury did not do is determine just who else was involved. That will be a matter for future investigations and trials. The conspirators probably include Donald Trump.
"The jury\'s verdict on seditious conspiracy confirms that January 6, 2021, was not just \'legitimate political discourse\' or a peaceful protest that got out of hand. This was a planned, organized, violent assault on the lawful authority of the U.S. government and the peaceful transfer of power," said Randall D. Eliason, a former federal prosecutor who teaches law at George Washington University. "Now the only remaining question is how much higher did those plans go, and who else might be held criminally responsible."
Part of the answer will be proved when the Proud Boys trial on the same charge of seditious conspiracy occurs. According to analysts familiar with that part of the conspiracy investigation, the evidence against those defendants is even more solid than that which convicted the Oath Keepers. Like this trial, that one will likely point fingers beyond the defendants. The Proud Boys have links to the inner circle of Trumpworld, so it is probable that Mr. Trump will be pulled into things either as an unindicted (so far) co-conspirator or as a material witness.
Mr. Rhodes and his associates will appeal the verdicts and the sentences when those are awarded. The fact that the jury did not convict all the defendants on all charges will actually help the prosecution. It shows that they did not simply take the government at its word bur rather they spent three days going over the facts and finding the differences in each situation. While the appeal is likely to be heard, one does not expect the defendants to succeed.
In a sense, the verdict was not so much about the actions of some right-wing nutjobs but about the Big Lie itself, that Donald Trump won the election of 2020. The jury simply did not buy the argument. CNN quoted Mr. Rhodes who testified "I believe the election was unconstitutional, and that made it invalid. You really can\'t have a winner of an unconstitutional election." He added, "In multiple states especially in the swing states . . . . you had them putting in new rules in direct violation" of state laws. The guilty verdict says the jury simply did not believe him.
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former Oath Keepers member who testified to Congress earlier this year about Rhodes, cautions that the decapitation of the Oath Keepers may not be the end of the group. "Stewart Rhodes was a known quality, he was kind of the devil we knew. He always kind of toed that legal line. It may be a different story entirely if we have someone else that rises up to fill that leadership vacuum that\'s willing to lead the charge into something like a January 6th event. Right now we have to consider and be diligently at watching what manifests in that vacuum that\'s left."
The same applies in case of an arrest, trial and conviction of Donald Trump. He is not longer bigger than the MAGA movement. If anything, he is its titular leader, but the beast has taken on a life of its own.
The price of liberty remains eternal vigilance.
© Copyright 2022 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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