Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello from Judge Amit Mehta's virtual courtroom, where the second part of the pretrial detention hearing for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is set to begin at 1pm. On Wednesday's court action and what Mehta asked of the govt and Rhodes' lawyers:

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1494043273131966464

Here's the dial-in info to listen to the hearing before Mehta, plus court rules:
dcd.uscourts.gov/covid-19-emerg…
Toll Free Number: 877-848-7030
Access Code: 3218747

Follow @kenbensinger, who will also be covering today's proceedings. His thread on the Wednesday hearing:

https://twitter.com/kenbensinger/status/1494038913559662594

@kenbensinger We're listening to some pre-hearing small talk between what sounds like AUSA Kathryn Rakoczy and Rhodes' lawyers on the public line. Can confirm that it is very windy in DC today.

@kenbensinger They're discussing Texas BBQ. One of Rhodes' lawyers quips that the prosecutors will have to give them tips on where to eat when they're up in DC for the trial this summer. Rakoczy says yes, "we've got some great food options up here" (also can confirm)

@kenbensinger Okay Mehta is on and the hearing is underway now, no more banter

@kenbensinger Mehta begins by asking the pretrial services officer to discuss the screening re: Rhodes' proposed third-party custodians if he's released. Officer says Rhodes' cousin + husband found to be "suitable" but there was a concern, Mehta asks for details, they go off the record

The public line disconnected when they took the hearing off the record, dialed back in and listening to those sweet hold jams

And we're back on the line

Mehta asks if either side wants to say anything else that's new and wasn't part of the last hearing, defense/prosecutor say no, so Mehta is going to go right in to announcing his decision about whether Rhodes will stay in pretrial detention

Mehta begins by providing an overview of the charges that Rhodes is facing and a summary of the govt's alleged timeline of Rhodes' conduct before/during/after the Jan. 6 attack, notes seditious conspiracy is the most serious charge brought in these cases

Mehta says that if the conduct alleged is true, the danger "cannot be understated," noting there was "sophisticated and conscious planning" to bring firearms to the DC area

Mehta stops to note that Rhodes isn't up on the screen anymore and asks if they've lost him, court is going to look into what happened and try to get him back on the line, so we're paused now

And we're back on the line - Mehta says they've learned from the jail where Rhodes is being held that there's a power outage, not sure how long it'll be

Mehta says that rather than keeping everybody on the line, he'll have the parties all come back on at 5pm ET (Rhodes' lawyers banter a bit about the spousal/childcare complications this will cause)