Thread by @Brandi_Buchman

Good ☀️. It's Day 21 of the Oath Keepers sedition trial. The DOJ rested its case yesterday. Today, the defense continues to make its own. Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes is expected to testify soon. Live tweets at 9AM ET today and court wraps at 11AM, so get in while you can!

After more than a month of witness testimony and a raft of damning evidence, the DOJ rested its case against the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and four of his cohorts accused of conspiring to forcibly stop the transfer of power on 1/6.
dailykos.com/stories/2022/1…

I will live blog today!
dailykos.com/stories/2022/1…

Proceedings start soon. We have a bit of a delay as we await someone (unclear juror or witness) who didn't quite calculate time it would take to get thru traffic today (This is why you see pictures from me in the a.m. before the sun is up because I try to avoid traffic every day)

I still sit in traffic anyway, for the record. But its the difference between sitting it in for an hour + versus 20 minutes +

Jurors are seated and we continue today with the examination of Montana Siniff, the fiancee of defendant Jessica Watkins, by defense attorney Jonathan Crisp.
dailykos.com/stories/2022/1…

With Siniff on the stand, defense atty Crisp brings up a video for jurors to view that shows scenes from a protest in Louisville that Oath Keepers attended. It was shot by a person who is not an Oath Keeper. Rhodes is pictured in video, along with other OKers

Crisp asks Siniff who he recognizes in the video; Siniff says himself and Watkins.
Mehta asks Crisp to pause the video for a moment and calls for a sidebar.

While we wait, I've uploaded the jury instructions for you really hardcore people who enjoy this stuff.
scribd.com/document/60510…

We are back from the sidebar. And Crisp now continues with questions. We see more from the same KY video. There does seem to be audio in the video but in the media room, its extremely faint

This is a protest in KY in 2020 that followed in response to the police killing of Breonna Taylor. What we see now are Oath Keepers in tactical gear standing around, backs turned to a vehicle as protesters talk at them, sometimes @ close range

The video is being shown to support the defense's argument that the Oath Keepers have served as protective details or "peacekeeping" forces.
washingtonpost.com/national/behin…

The Oath Keepers have shown up in other cities before, armed, and as a self-proclaimed "peacekeeping" force. When they did it in St. Louis, they were asked to leave by local police.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2014…

When I covered the racial justice protests here in Washington with @JaackRodgers in 2020, we saw many men in tactical gear and fatigues that were not official police or LEOs. They wore no badges and refused to talk to us. I realized later that some of these men were likely w/OK

After several minutes of the video being played, Crisp asks Siniff what the OKers goal was in Louisville in 2020.
"Our goal was to protect businesses who invited us there," he says.
Crisp: Was it also a goal to provide medical aid?
Siniff says it was.

There's a police line shown in the video. Crisp asks if there was anyone injured in the rioting in KY.
Siniff says there were people injured as police tried to clear the street and that OKers treated people who were hurt. Siniff says that included members of BLM.

Crisp says: There's a question about whether you arrived armed at every protest
Siniff nods and says to his knowledge, every protest prior to the Million MAGA March in DC in 2020.

The purpose of having their weapons was self-defense, Siniff testifies.

Crisp brings up yesterday's testimony when Siniff said he didn't go to DC on 1/6 because it was a question of money. The financial status of his business at that time was "precarious," Siniff says today.

To be clear, the video in Louisville shown to jurors depicts an Ohio State Regular Militia operation but there are also OKers shown in the video.

She said she was going into the Capitol to "assist anyone who was needed" because prior to her entry she had heard about shots fired in the Capitol.

Crisp next brings up questions about whether he knew Watkins was going to bring weapons to D.C. area on Jan. 6.

At the time of his interview with the FBI, Siniff says he didn't know if Watkins brought weapons or not to the DC area. After her arrest, he learned that she brought firearms with her to Virginia.

Crisp says, regarding other protests, did Siniff ever have a detailed knowledge of what she took at other protests?
Yes, Siniff says, because he helped pack her bag.

He knew she took her medic bag on 1/6 and he generally knew what she kept in it but couldn't say specifically what was inside it for 1/6.
She packed Donovan Crowl's car for the 1/6 trip, not him. Siniff testifies he did not do an inventory of her weapons after she left for DC

Crisp acts if the way Watkins comported herself in KY was how she typically behaved at other events. When she was being accosted by protesters, when people were saying mean things to her, Siniff says her demeanor was "friendly."
Crisp ends questions of Siniff.

NOW: Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, is taking the stand to testify on his own behalf.

The founder of the Oath Keeper introduces himself to the jury as Elmer Stewart Rhodes III and says he goes by Stewart "for obvious reasons," and he chuckles.

Defense attorney Phil Linder reminds Rhodes that he does not need to testify today. And that he will be cross examined by the government. By testifying today, he waives his right to 5th Amendment. He has no questions.
"I'm good to go," he says.

I was born in 1965 in Fresno, Ca. He says he was born to a poor family, his mom was half Mexican, so he considers himself a quarter Mexican. His great grandfather rode with Pancho Villa, he says. In WWII, his family served in Pacific.

His granddad on dad's side fought Battle of Bulge.
His dad was a Marine, too and an uncle "on the Mexican side" who was a paratrooper in the 50s.
Rhodes says finance had nothing to do with his desire to serve, it was commitment to country

He graduated HS in Vegas and went off to Ft Bening. He wanted to be a Marine but the Army was trying to rebuild its special forces.
"So they offered me a shot and I took that shot"
He graduated HS in 1983
"During the cold war," he says.
He did not make it thru Special Forces

He ended up on a paratroop detail in Washington state; he was injured during training.
Rhodes is all smiles this morning, very chipper and it is clear he has been preparing for this morning.
Linder says he was honorably discharged and he's an injured veteran

Once discharged, Rhodes said he parked cars in Vegas during the day and at night did military training; he taught self defense to women's groups and to LGBT youth groups
"Because they are very vulnerable to assault"

He graduated summa cum laude from UNLV; initially I wanted to be a history major, I'm a history buff, he says. He wanted to be a teacher initially after Congress, but got into law. He worked for Ron Paul for one year.

My political orientation is libertarian and I picked him for that. He was definitely anti-war, anti-corruption and also not a big fan of the prison industrial complex, Rhodes says of Paul.

Rhodes describes being in law school during 9/11. As he testifies, his voice shakes a little and he takes a moment to reflect on that time period and how difficult it was for the nation; he said he had classmates who had family in the towers.

Rhodes says he was upset by Bush "torturing people across the world;" all of this has come up after Linder asked Rhodes about an award he won for a paper in school where he opposed use of enemy combatant status to...

hold people suspected of supporting terrorism indefinitely as unconstitutional.

Linder continues to ask Rhodes about his political leanings and convictions.
"America by far is the best version of democracy because of our Constitution," Rhodes says and he considers the bill of rights "our crown jewel"

Rhodes clerked for a year for AZ Supreme Court and after that he moved to Montana and practiced criminal law and a contract public defender from 2004-2006. He was also a volunteer firefighter in Montana, he says. He came back to Vegas in '07 after his mom got cancer.

He went home to Vegas to care for her until 2010.

Rhodes started the Oath Keepers in 2009.
"The big impetus was what I had learned in Bush years about enemy combatant status. The troubling thing about that was it was codified by the Supreme Court...." he compares it to interment of Japanese Americans during WWII

Rhodes said he was also outraged by the treatment of people during Hurricane Katrina by police officers; he was upset about guns that were seized from homes during this time. Police had a duty to say no to unlawful orders, he says, brings up My Lai, Abu Ghraib

What does the term Oath Keeper mean? Rhodes says it refers to the oath LEOs, military swear when they first sign up. He says OKers recruited police into org, but what the org is really about is "what they call reach, teach and inspire"

Rhodes says the police officers standing around George Floyd when he was killed should have pushed off the officer choking him if they were truly upholding their oath

Jurors see a mission statement from the Oath Keepers.
When Linder asks if Oath Keepers has been described as racist, white supremacist, he says:
"I've heard that from the media."
He says OKers have a members of various races.

In the military "we were all green," Rhodes adds.
"Its disgusting to me to hear anyone accuse me...most of my family is half Filipino or Mexican... so its disgusting to me [to be called racist]"

Rhodes says racists, neo-Nazis, communists would be kicked out of Oath Keepers if those ties were discovered when vetted. They're all trying to destroy the country, he says
"They'd be an absolute no go as a member"

Rhodes gets in a dig at OKer witness Abdullah Rasheed who testified on behalf of the govt.
Rasheed recorded the Nov. 9, 2020 Go To Meeting where OKers allegedly plotted the conspiracy to stop the transfer of power on 1/6
dailykos.com/stories/2022/1…

The dig at Rasheed - recall, Rasheed had a criminal background, particularly, assault of a minor.
"That's how I knew he wasn't a real member," Rhodes said.

Rhodes appears to get momentarily choked up as he discusses the treatment of veterans in the U.S.

Linder is asking Rhodes about how Oath Keepers conduct hurricane relief efforts and do it without pay.
Hurricane Harvey we were there for 3 wks, Rhodes says.
He designed it as a natl org w/ state and local groups.
"The most important community is your local community," he says

Linder: In addition to disaster relief efforts, did your group also do security?
Rhodes: yes, the first big security operation we did was Ferguson, MO in 2014 when there was the Michael Brown shooting
.

First protectee was a Black woman, Natalie Boyer (sp?) who owned a bakery. Her windows were broken out, and she gave OKers permission to be on the rooftops, Rhodes says.
"We stopped them from burning the buildings down," Rhodes says.

"We actually embarrassed the police department in some ways, Rhodes says.
Rhodes says Oath Keepers showed St Louis Police Department "how to treat protesters, how to protect businesses" & they were asked to leave because of that.

https://twitter.com/Brandi_Buchman/status/1588525609495298048?s=20&t=ZmdAyeA_gdSgsVRK0QcwSA

We supported the protestors right to protest; the curfew in Ferguson was unconstitutional, Rhodes says.
They told cops in MO "how to do it right" and how to "find the actual trouble makers"
"You don't try to shut down hte entire protest, you try to target the actual criminals."

"We did 9 security operations total in DC and the only ones who carried guns there were police officers legally allowed to carry them in DC," Rhodes testifies.

He says 30% of the OKer membership are police.

Rhodes says in March '17 after Trump was in office, a Trump supporter was "slashed" by antifa and police "let it happen"

Fast fwd to events in DC, 11/14, 12/12 and 1/6: he says they reached out to law enforcement in advance. Then we turn back to Louisville, KY, and Rhodes says they protected a gas station; Rhodes says an employee at gas station had to shoot someone who was attacking the business.

"Unlike the Proud Boys, we don't go and street fight and yell back at people," Rhodes says from the witness stand today.
(Text messages extracted by FBI have shown that OKers and Proud Boys aligned forces for Jan 6 though Rhodes bad-mouthes them today)

"No event we have ever done has resulted in any charge whatsoever until now," Rhodes says

Linder asks if he notices people became more hostile after Trump's 2020 campaign.
Both sides participated in the overheated rhetoric, Rhodes, who was recorded on tape saying he'd hang Nancy Pelosi from a lamp post, says.
"Remember I'm a libertarian," he chuckles.

Rhodes claims that OKers, at their peak, had 40K members. He says OKers used military tactical gear and equipment because rioters would throw dangerous things at them. He claims that includes water bottles with concrete in them. He said he brought a helmet to events often but...

He didn't have to wear his helmet often because the events were "pretty chill" for the most part.
But it was always critical to have with you, he explains, because antifa often have bad actors

The QRF or quick reaction force in KY was set up to respond to medical emergencies, Rhodes testifies.
They had one at the first Million MAGA rally on 11/14/20.
Since they couldn't bring firearms into DC, Rhodes says his concern was that over the summer, antifa attacked WH

Antifa said they were going to lay siege to the White House and drag Trump out of the White House.
ABOUT THAT
"While in the end officials said they were never really in danger..."
nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/…

The QRF was a mobile QRF, in a van.
Linder: why the mobile QRF?
Rhodes said he was actually concerned antifa would attack WH, if Secret Service was overrun, Rhodes said he thought Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act. So they wanted to be ready to respond ASAP

Linder suggests that the quickness of the QRF is what you're after and brings up now the QRF at the hotel in Va. "If you have one 65 year old guy in a hotel room at the QRF loading guns by himself.." that's not feasible, Linder laughs casually. Rhodes agrees.

From the witness stand, Rhodes says today, "I believe the election was unconstitutional and that made it invalid and that's before you even get to fraud...You really cant have a winner if you have an unconstitutional election...

"That would have meant that Trump also wasn't a winner," Rhodes says.
Recall, text messages extracted from Rhodes phone show him saying he would act with or without Trump, but they also had to show Trump they had his back.

Rhodes is testifying about what he thinks the proper legal interpretation of election and state laws are. He says there was a violation of the constitution in battleground states. This is his opinion.

Linder brings up the public letters Rhodes posted calling on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act.
"It was kind of like Horton Hears a Who, right? I'm trying to get not just the president but everyone to understand there's a constitutional issue here," Rhodes says.

We are on a brief break now and Mehta indicates that he will ask the jury when they get back, to go until noon today, instead of 11 am ET. (We always end a bit early on Fridays)

I find it remarkable that Rhodes is providing jurors with THIS theory during a SEDITION trial, "I think something was unconstitutional and therefore it was up to me and my friends to enforce the law as we saw fit personally"

Observation: I heard Rhodes' voice quiver when he talked about 9/11 and veteran suicide but his recovery time from wavering and nearly crying to talking at a rapid clip and at times chuckling was nil.

Before jurors return, Rhodes is on the stand and he is smiling and chatty wit surrounding marshall and attorneys.
"I know I talk too fast... was that too fast?" Rhodes asks his atty.
Once Judge Mehta is back seated on the bench, Rhodes drops the smiles.

The break is over and we resume with testimony by Rhodes. Mehta says we will have a hard stop at 11:30 AM ET.

Adams, Dolan, Zimmerman also said they would join the Oath Keepers in 2020 because of "what was going in America," Linder has Rhodes re-establish.

Rhodes is back on criticizing the police - which, again, seems like a pretty bold move here - There were a lot of "stand downs" by police he says, when police let people fight in the streets.
He says Oath Keeper membership ramped up during Obama years.

When Trump came into office, a lot of chapters went dormant, Rhodes says.
He says this was typical; during conservative presidencies, membership went down, during liberal presidencies, membership went up

Linder and Rhodes are now using Rhodes's time on the witness stand to discuss how BLM supporters or anitfa kill people.
(Earlier tweet deleted to clarify this tweet)

Rhodes complains about FB booting OKers off platform. Then Discord. That's when they started to use Signal,
(He doesn't go into why they were removed. And though he was mad about his speech being violated, he wouldn't talk to press at the time)
buzzfeednews.com/article/salvad…

Signal wouldn't boot Oath Keepers, Rhodes said, so they used it before their operations regularly after FB squeezed them out

Rhodes describes how he and Michael Greene met. Greene is also known as "Whip" and he also goes by Michael Simmons.
Rhodes says he and Greene met when Greene got involved in hurricane relief operations. Greene has a military background, Rhodes notes he's an explosives expert

"He was fantastic. Smart. Calm," Rhodes says of Whip aka Michael Greene aka Michael Simmons.
Rhodes adds that Greene's motto is "boring is best.
"And I'm the same way," Rhodes says.

Rhodes says the Oath Keepers put out a notice on Nov. 10 for the Nov. 14 MAGA march in Washington that asked for volunteers. The message, Rhodes says, he also put up "to send a message to antifa that 'you're not going to be able to get away with this'" this time [rioting]

How would you make your presence known to people who needed your services at an event?
Rhodes: We did a lot of Trump rallies. What happens is you're going through secret service, so if you're attending a rally, you're going to be disarmed...

Rhodes: "Antifa knows that people will leave a trump rally and be unarmed, so they will be attacked with clubs or pepper spray...
We'd have our guys stay outside the venue...coordinate w/local police and find out "where's the line" for no firearms. We'd stay outside the line...

"I know it sounds excessive but people were being attacked," tells the jury.
Linder asks Rhodes if he asks what a person's political affiliation is before he offers his protection/services
No, of course not, Rhodes says

We are at the segment of Rhodes' testimony where the Oath Keepers organization is portrayed as a legitimate business with legitimate clients - the crux of the "peacekeeping" claim that defense has launched

On 1/6; Rhodes says an OK team leader, John Shirley and Michael Greene would call DC Metro Police and let them know in advance that OKers were coming and if there were Secret Service in the area, they would let them know too.
"That was standard operating procedure," Rhodes says.

Before we close for the day after a nudge from Mehta; Linder asks about how people could identify Oath Keepers in a crowd. They would have their logo on clothes etc Rhodes says
I think, if ears did not deceive me, Linder made a one-off remark about how the logo looks cool

And with that, Mehta closes the trial day. Rhodes will resume his testimony on Monday at 9:30AM ET.
I will have a full write up about what we heard today (with lots of fact checking) later for @dailykos.

Linder says that he expects Rhodes will be under direct for another 1-1.5hrs on Monday. Linder expects Rakoczy to cross-examine Rhodes extensively.

Relaxed and so easy with a response that he would often apologize for speaking over his attorney, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the extremist Oath Keepers organization now on trial for seditious conspiracy, finally took the witness stand on Friday.
dailykos.com/stories/2022/1…