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U.S. prosecutors on Friday released new charges against the Oath Keepers leader and alleged members who have been charged with seditious conspiracy in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, saying a co-conspirator came to Washington with explosives and detailing the allegations that a co-defendant maintained a “death list” under the name of a Georgia election official.
The allegations came days before the Jan. 6 House committee held its next hearing Tuesday, which is expected to explore connections between extremist groups accused of playing a key role in Capitol violence and the effort. of former President Donald Trump to overturn 2020. elections through false allegations of electoral fraud.
In a 28-page presentation, prosecutors said a search by law enforcement on January 19, 2021 at the home of co-defendant Thomas Caldwell, a retired Berryville Navy intelligence officer , Virginia, retrieved a document that included the words “LIST OF DEAD” handwritten at the top with the name of a Georgia election official and an alleged family member of the officer. Both were the target of baseless allegations of being involved in electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election, prosecutors said.
That Caldwell compiled and maintained a “death list” that includes officials involved in the presidential election process, contemporary with his preparation to travel to Washington, DC, illustrates his actions during the alleged conspiracy and the intent to assassinate him. ‘to oppose by force the transfer of power.’ ”wrote U.S. Deputy Attorney General Troy A. Edwards Jr. of Washington, referring to the seditious conspiracy charge against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, and eight others, including Caldwell.
On Friday evening, Caldwell’s attorney, David Fischer, sent a statement from his client rejecting the indictment, which prosecutors first raised in arguing for Caldwell’s pretrial detention in February 2021. Since then, a judge has granted Caldwell parole.
“The DOJ’s assertion that it intended to assassinate election workers is an absolute lie and 100% disgusting. Unfortunately, the DOJ has withheld from the public the evidence that exonerates me by hiding behind protection orders.” , says the statement.
Separately, Edwards said the government has evidence that members of the Florida and Arizona group allegedly mounted semi-automatic rifles and other weapons at a suburban Washington hotel while a third team from North Carolina kept the guns “ready for go “in a vehicle to the parking lot. lot.
The prosecutor stated that another co-defendant from Rhodes, the alleged “head of state” of Florida, Kelly Meggs, had told a cooperating defendant that he had pleaded guilty in a cooperation agreement with the government that a another Florida member of the group, Jeremy Brown, came to Washington with explosives in his RV, which he left parked in College Park, Md. Brown, who pleaded not guilty to the felony charges Jan. 6, is not charged in the sedition conspiracy charge, but prosecutors described him as a “co-defendant.” conspirator ”.
Last September, the government allegedly confiscated weapons of Brown, including two illegal short-barreled firearms from his home in Tampa and military grenades from “the same caravan Brown used to travel to Washington, DC on Jan. 6,” the prosecutor said.
The lawyer awaiting Brown, a retired Special Forces soldier and a former congressional candidate who defends himself but has been arrested pending trial by separate federal gun charges in Florida, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The latest U.S. allegations were included in a required court file for prosecutors seeking to introduce derogatory evidence at the Sept. 26 Oath Keepers trial scheduled that is not directly related to their alleged crimes. Federal criminal law usually prohibits such material there, but they make an exception for relevant information that allegedly shows the motive, intent of a broader accused conspiracy, or is “intrinsic” to a case.
How Trump’s flirtation with an anti-insurgency law inspired the January 6 insurgency
Prosecutors claimed the defendants face charges that include conspiracy to corruptly obstruct Congress ’certification of the results of the 2020 elections and oppose President Biden’s oath by force. The indictment alleges that the group coordinated travel, equipment and firearms and stored weapons outside of Washington, prepared “to respond to Rhodes ‘call to take up arms under Rhodes’ direction.”
“Caldwell’s trips to Washington, DC, for January 6, as evidenced by his statements, were informed by the belief that the election was fraudulent and that the legal transfer of presidential power had to be thwarted by force. . His writings addressed to election workers are directly relevant at this point, ”Edwards said.
Edwards added: “Brown’s statements, firearms and explosives are intrinsic to the alleged crime of co-conspirators as direct contemporary evidence of the manner and means used by co-conspirators to advance the conspiracy’s goals. accused “.
In the statement papers, three Oath Keepers defendants who have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy charges admitted the allegations that they were part of a group that forced entry through the doors of the Roundabout after leaving in a single row in a pile down the stairs with camouflage vests, helmets, goggles and the Oath Keepers Badge. They acknowledged that some brought rifles to Washington that were previously hidden in a Ballston hotel and one in Vienna.
Rhodes, Caldwell and the other co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. Rhodes in an interview with The Washington Post in March 2021 said there was no plan to break the Capitol. He said the group launched firearms in northern Virginia in case it was needed as a “rapid reaction force” if Trump invoked the insurgency law and mobilized armed groups to stay in office. Rhodes’ lawyer declined to comment Friday night on the government’s latest allegations.
The attack on the Capitol came after a rally in front of the White House, in which Trump urged his supporters to march in Congress. The rioters injured dozens of police officers and looted the Capitol offices, halting proceedings when lawmakers were evacuated from the House floor.
Separately, a Rhodes lawyer said he contacted the House committee on Friday, January 6, offering to testify before him on the condition that he be allowed to appear live, in person. and unedited, not from the prison where he is in pretrial detention.
Rhodes “is not interested in any game,” attorney Lee Bright said, and will talk about his group’s activities in the last election and Jan. 6, relinquishing his rights to the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. Bright said the committee appears to be considering Rhodes’ conditions recognizing, as a practical matter, that such an appearance would likely be a court order from the judge, the prosecutors’ contribution in his criminal case and transportation by the marshals’ service. of the USA.