Thread by @twoodiac

Here’s the key statute in Rhodes’s indictment (“SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY”: 18 U.S. Code § 2384). Note that the use of the term “force” is different in kind from the other charges against Rhodes and his co-conspirators. 1/13 tinyurl.com/j6eap2p

Other charges include: obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to prevent an officer to discharge any duties; destruction of government property; civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; destroying documents on or after Jan 6. 2/13

All of these other federal crimes were committed *in the course of pursuing seditious conspiracy.* (Consider especially “...or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any *law* of the United States.”) 3/13

So the question arises: was Trump aware that a seditious conspiracy was afoot by Oath Keepers and--in the words of the indictment--“other co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury” when he sent the mob to the Capitol on Jan 6? 4/13

*Of course* he was.

*Of course* he was aware that the seditious conspiracy involved the show and use of force that at the very least would intimidate Congress and prevent the certification of Biden’s election. That was *what it was all about*! 5/13

The term “force” in the statute covers actions intended to *intimidate* Congress on Jan 6. Clearly, Trump hoped that the intimidation, if not actual violence, would do the job when he sent the mob to Capitol Hill. (It’s why it took him so long to urge his mob to “go home.”) 6/13

Read all the details in the indictments about *force* in the charges and think about the <<force INCLUDES intimidation>> equation and you will see that it is only a matter of time before Garland indicts Trump for SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY. 7/13 tinyurl.com/y7sb2fmh

To date, at least 265 individuals (besides the Oath Keepers) have been charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, and many more have been charged with trespassing, destruction of federal property etc. 8/13

Trespassing and obstruction are charges that are limited to a specific event--an official proceeding on that day. The DoJ must have decided that the individuals charged with obstruction had no plan beyond stopping the certification of Biden’s electoral win on Jan 6. 9/13

The significance of the Oath Keepers indictments is that they charge individuals with a wider plan, not just to obstruct an official proceeding, but to use force to subvert a federal *law*--in this case, the constitutional and statutory law governing a federal election. 10/13

That conspiracy began long before Jan 6, was partially executed on Jan 6, and continued until Jan 20 in an attempt to block Joe Biden’s inauguration. (In the event, it even extended beyond Jan 20 with the faux audits and other shenanigans.) 11/13

Were the Oath Keepers the only conspirators? Of course not. We see clear indications every day that the seditious conspiracy involved many others --not just Trump, but Flynn, Giuliani, Jones, Stone, Alexander, and others as well. 12/13

Expect shoes in the form of seditious conspiracy charges to start dropping on them too, in due course. 13/13

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