DOJ raises stakes with rarely used sedition charges for Oath Keepers
By Rebecca Beitsch and Harper Neidig - 01/16/22 06:00 AM EST The seditious conspiracy charges brought by the Justice Department Thursday against the leader of the Oath Keepers and other members of the right-wing group signals the government is prepared to take on an ambitious fight to show that they joined the Jan. 6 attack as part of a coordinated effort to deny President Biden the White House.
The indictment contains the first sedition charges that have been brought in the wake of the riot and mark a significant escalation in prosecutors’ efforts by drawing a connection between the physical acts of mayhem that day with the broader effort by former President Trump’s supporters to obstruct Biden from taking office.
The arrest of Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right militia group, followed criticism of the Justice Department that despite filing hundreds of charges it was failing to go after major actors behind the attack.
The criminal statute for seditious conspiracy covers plots to overthrow or attack the government, or use force to prevent the execution of U.S. laws. The Justice Department’s case against the Oath Keepers’ leaders alleges that they conspired “to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power.”
“It’s significant because they are so rarely used and that reflects the gravity of the charges and the difficulties of proving it in court,” said Bruce Hoffman, a counterterrorism and homeland security expert with the Council on Foreign Relations.
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https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/589831-justice-department-faces-challenges-with-oathkeepers-case
