DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Jan. 6 committee staffers told preliminary plan for final report would focus largely on Trump, not on law enforcement failures, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The final report — much like the committee’s hearings — seems to be shaping up to be “all-Trump,” one source said. The “blue team” examined the preparedness and response of law enforcement agencies. Some staffers remain hopeful that members of the Jan. 6 committee might push back on the current plan and incorporate their research into the final report. The committee needs to release its final report before a new Congress is seated in January. Congress has oversight over and controls the funding of federal law enforcement agencies.

☆ 'Bogus,' 'ridiculous,' and 'made-up crap': DOJ veterans throw cold water on Trump's claim that he 'sent in the FBI' to help Ron DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sonam Sheth | C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

DOJ veterans shot down Trump's claim that he "sent in" the FBI to help Ron DeSantis win the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race. The feds are now investigating if "Stop The Steal" protests surrounding the 2018 Florida election served as a roadmap for the Capitol riot. But in another post, Trump went beyond simply relitigating the 2018 election to making a new, remarkable claim about his past support for DeSantis. It prompted eye-rolling, and with some, public denials that the Justice Department and FBI ever investigated 2018 election fraud at Trump's behest. Activities surrounding the 2018 Florida elections have attracted federal scrutiny — but not for the reasons the former president spouted off about on social media.

☆ A judge delayed the trial of former Trump advisor Peter Navarro on charges he defied the House January 6 panel
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DOJ hoped to begin the trial while the House January 6 committee remained in existence. The trial will now begin in a new congressional term, when the GOP is poised to control the House. Mehta delayed the trial by two months despite the Justice Department's stated preference of holding the proceeding while the House January 6 committee remained in existence. Federal prosecutor Raymond Hulser said the Justice Department had a "strong desire" to present evidence against Navarro with the House January 6 panel still intact. The prosecutor suggested that the Justice Department hoped the trial would pressure Navarro into cooperating.

During hours of testimony, Rhodes told jurors that going into the Capitol was "stupid" because it "opened the door for our political enemies to persecute us, and that’s what happened, and here we are." Meggs, Harrelson and Watkins went inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes said that he was "concerned" on Jan. 6 that Oath Keepers would get caught up "in all the nonsense with the Trump supporters" around the Capitol and that he sent a message on the encrypted app Signal asking Oath Keepers to gather at a spot near the Capitol for that reason. Yet as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, Rhodes praised the "patriots" and compared their actions to those of the country's founders, according to government evidence presented at trial. Rhodes said that he and the Oath Keepers were prepared to walk the “founders' path” but that even today he hopes conflict can be avoided.

☆ Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes Says Members Were ‘Stupid’ to Enter Capitol on Jan. 6
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Jan Wolfe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON— Stewart Rhodes , founder of the Oath Keepers militia, sought to distance himself from other members of the group on Monday, testifying during his seditious-conspiracy trial that his associates were “stupid” to have entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Under friendly questioning by his lawyer, Mr. Rhodes testified that he wasn’t aware until after the Capitol riot that some of his fellow Oath Keepers had gone into the building.

☆ Oath Oath Keepers founder used money donated to the far-right group for holiday travel and personal expenses: January 6 trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rakoczy then pressed him, asking if he'd tapped into Oath Keepers funds "quite a bit" to cover personal expenses. Rhodes, who remained outside the Capitol, testified that he thought it was "stupid" for Oath Keepers members to enter the building. From the Oath Keepers' founding, the group was focused on "forceful opposition to the government, isn't that right?" In her questioning, she also noted that the Oath Keepers provided ammunition for AR-15 rifles during the 2014 standoff at the Bundy Ranch. For Rakoczy, Rhodes' preferred image of the Oath Keepers was belied by his own messages with fellow members.

☆ Stewart Rhodes testifies in Oath Keepers Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers organization is testifying in his own defense at his seditious conspiracy trial on Friday. Stewart Rhodes is on trial along with Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell in connection with their actions surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The government rested its case on Thursday without calling cooperating witnesses who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. Rhodes, talking about Jan. 6, said in the recording that his "only regret" was that they did not have guns that day. A government exhibit showing individuals associated with the Oath Keepers.

☆ Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes slipped and testified he supports the 'right to riot' at his January 6 trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes took the risky step of testifying in his own defense. Rhodes said he founded the Oath Keepers as a community service-minded group. "I support the right to riot," Rhodes testified, before correcting himself to say, "I support the right to protest." "Like I said," Rhodes testified, "we supported the right to protest." Rhodes also bristled at the characterization of the Oath Keepers as a racist group.

☆ DOJ rests in Oath Keepers trial without calling witnesses who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors rested their case against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the far-right organization on Wednesday without calling three cooperating defendants who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. But the government did not call for three members of the group who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy — Joshua James, Brian Ulrich and William Todd Wilson — before resting their case. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington on Jun. Susan Walsh / AP fileProsecutors may have decided that presenting any of the three defendants who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy would be too much of a risk on cross examination. Prosecutors also can't explicitly argue that because a witness pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy that the defendants are guilty of the same charge, which limits the value of their testimony.

☆ An Oath Keeper thought the Electoral College was a place where politicians 'went to get educated,' defense lawyer says at trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Defense lawyers argued at trial the Oath Keepers were a community-minded service group. In their month-long case, federal prosecutors presented text messages and other evidence detailing the Oath Keepers' planning ahead of January 6. Rhodes is standing trial alongside Harrelson and three other Oath Keepers members — Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs, and Thomas Caldwell — on charges related to January 6. In another opening statement Thursday, a defense lawyer for Oath Keepers member Kelly Meggs argued that the group was providing security on January 6. "The testimony in this case will show the Oath Keepers chose community involvement, disaster recovery, security, personal security," Woodward said.

☆ Oath Keepers begin defense in trial over U.S. Capitol attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Chris Gallagher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Defense lawyers on Thursday opened their case in the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others over their alleged roles in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, arguing the defendants were in Washington to do security work and did not plot to stop the transfer of presidential power. The first defense witness, Watkins’ fiancé Montana Siniff, testified that Watkins had had no intention to try to stop the election certification. Prosecutors presented evidence including text and audio communications among the defendants in the run-up to Jan. 6, and called witnesses including FBI agents and former members of the Oath Keepers. Stanley Woodward, an attorney for Meggs, said in an opening statement that he would present an alternative motive for Meggs' actions. Rhodes, a Yale-educated attorney and former U.S. Army paratrooper, is expected to take the stand at some stage as the defense presents its case.

☆ Stewart Rhodes wrote message to Trump after Jan. 6 calling on him to 'save the Republic,' arrest members of Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Daniel Barnes | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Alpers testified that he was not working on behalf of a federal law enforcement agency when he made the recording. Alpers testified on the stand that he had connections to Trump's inner circle and said he could get a message to Trump "indirectly." When he met with Rhodes on Jan. 10, he had Rhodes type a message intended for Trump on his phone. Oath Keepers members Joshua James, Brian Ulrich and William Todd Wilson all pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. Several other Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty to other charges, including two Oath Keepers — Jason Dolan and Graydon Young — who testified in the trial.

☆ Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes drafted a text to Trump warning that Biden would 'turn all that power on you,' feds reveal at trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A government witness recorded a meeting with Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes after January 6. Jason Alpers said Rhodes typed a message for Trump warning his children would "die in prison." In that draft message, Rhodes sought to tell Trump that he "must do as Lincoln did." Federal prosecutors are expected to rest their case against Rhodes and the four other Oath Keepers members on Wednesday. At the outset of the trial, Rhodes' lawyer told jurors that the Oath Keepers founder planned to testify in his own defense.

“I felt it was like a Bastille-type moment in history," Graydon Young told jurors in the seditious conspiracy trial of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the organization. “Unfortunately, I was spending way too much time on YouTube and Facebook,” Young testified. "I thought protests were a waste of time, and they don’t achieve anything,” Young testified. On Jan. 6, Young testified, he was with his sister Laura Steele, who has also been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack but has pleaded not guilty. He later joined a group that rushed to the Capitol after hearing it was breached, Young said in court.

WASHINGTON — Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn testified during the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial on Monday that members of the far-right organization did not assist him during the Jan. 6 attack. Dunn, armed with a rifle, stood near House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office on Jan. 6 and interacted with members of the Oath Keepers. Video played by prosecutors captured some of his interactions with the Oath Keepers in the Capitol. Harry Dunn, third right, surrounded by Oath Keepers in a photo presented as evidence in the Oath Keepers trial. "I looked at my colleague and said, 'Oath Keepers?

☆ Oath Keeper saw Jan. 6 storming of U.S. Capitol as 'Bastille' moment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On Jan. 6, 2021, Young said he entered the U.S. Capitol with a group of fellow Oath Keepers with the aim of trying to disrupt proceedings to certify Biden's win. Young's testimony was the latest evidence presented by federal prosecutors in the criminal trial against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and his four co-defendants - Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson and Kelly Meggs. Young is the second Oath Keeper member so far to testify for the government after pleading guilty, in the hopes of winning a reduced prison sentence. I haven’t heard you articulate an actual agreement with anybody to commit a crime,” Rhodes' attorney, James Lee Bright, said. Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A former Oath Keeper testified he was in 'freakout mode and scared' after January 6. 'I'm going to have to tell my mom.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A former Oath Keepers member testified at the first seditious conspiracy trial linked to January 6. Graydon Young said he was "regalvanized" by Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes. Prosecutors showed text messages in which Oath Keepers planned for a revolution-like event. Within weeks of joining the Oath Keepers, in late 2020, he joined a security detail for longtime Trump ally Roger Stone. Inside the Capitol, Young testified Monday, "It was pandemonium."

☆ Oath Keepers Trial Resumes After Group’s Leader Contracts Covid-19
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Jan Wolfe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The sedition trial for Oath Keepers members charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol resumed on Tuesday after the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes , agreed to miss part of the proceeding while he recovers from Covid-19. Mr. Rhodes, who is being isolated in a Northern Virginia jail, waived his right to observe eight government witnesses, allowing the Justice Department to resume presenting its case to a District of Columbia jury.

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The criminal trial of Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers right-wing militia group, and four associates over their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was delayed on Monday after he tested positive for COVID-19. Rhodes remains in "total isolation" in jail, his lawyers said. Prosecutors have said the Oath Keepers planned a "quick reaction force" of armed members who waited at a hotel in northern Virginia with firearms they could transport across the Potomac River into Washington if called upon. Defense attorney Edward Tarpley said he has been unable to confer with Rhodes because the defendant remains isolated and cannot accept phone calls. It remained unclear if the jail could make such an accommodation or if Mehta would be willing to allow it.

Dolan has not pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy, but three other Oath Keepers have. Dolan testified Tuesday that before the Jan. 6 attack, he was drinking — often alone and in his garage — and getting sucked into online conspiracy theories. "I think my biggest trouble is trying to convince myself to say good bye," Dolan wrote in the message to other Florida Oath Keepers. Five members of the Oath Keepers, including Rhodes, are on trial for seditious conspiracy. The government introduced photos of Dolan entering the Capitol, and Dolan testified that he was chanting “treason!” along with other members of the pro-Trump mob.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A Florida member of the far-right Oath Keepers testified on Tuesday that he had been ready to use violence to stop the U.S. Congress from certifying Republican Donald Trump's election defeat, saying he wanted lawmakers to "be afraid." They will act out of charity, and they will act out of fear, too ... maybe they would be scared into doing the right thing," Dolan said. On Jan. 6, some of the group's members, including Dolan, were among the thousands of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, battling police and sending members of Congress scrambling for cover. Dolan testified that he brought his assault-style rifle and a pistol with him from Florida, and stashed them in a Virginia hotel. In that event, he said, he believed Oath Keepers "would be fighting with pro-Trump forces against basically pro-Biden forces."

☆ The far-right Oath Keepers appeared to be energized by Donald Trump's tweet about a 'wild' protest on January 6, jury hears
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A jury was told that Trump's tweets encouraged the far-right Oath Keepers to storm the Capitol. One Oath Keeper later said, "He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Kelly Meggs, an Oath Keepers leader from Dunnellon, Florida, wrote to other group members, "He wants us to make it WILD. William Campbell/Corbis via Getty ImagesThe indictment against the Oath Keepers details how the group planned to bring weapons to Washington DC on January 6, after hosting "unconventional warfare" training. Defense lawyers for Rhodes plan to argue that the Oath Keepers founder is not guilty because he believed Trump was poised to invoke the Insurrection Act.

☆ Congress asks Secret Service for account of contacts with Oath Keepers up to and on Jan. 6, 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection has asked the Secret Service for records of all communications between the far-right Oath Keepers group and Secret Service agents prior to and on the day of the attack, after a preliminary accounting by the agency indicated multiple contacts in 2020, according to a Secret Service spokesman. “Following the (Oath Keepers) trial, the committee reached out to the Secret Service and a verbal briefing as provided to staff, which was specific to the comments made at trial,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The Washington Post first reported an agent from the protective intelligence division was in communication with the Oath Keepers prior to Jan. 6, 2021. Two Secret Service officials told NBC News once the Oath Keepers had the phone number of the member of the agency’s protective intelligence detail, they made numerous calls directly to that agent. But regular contact with a militia type group like Oath Keepers, especially if treating them as a legitimate security partner, raises lots of concerns.”

☆ Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe obtained records showing multiple calls between Secret Service and Oath Keepers, NBC News reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Members of the Oath Keepers militia group among supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, January 6, 2021. The Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigative committee has obtained records showing that a member of the Secret Service's protective intelligence division had multiple phone calls in 2020 with members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group, NBC News reported Friday. The House select committee recently contacted the Secret Service asking for records of all contacts between the agency, which is responsible for protecting the president, and Oath Keepers, NBC reported. Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of plotting to stop the lawful transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden. The committee's request to the Secret Service was spurred by recent testimony at Rhodes' trial by the former leader of the North Carolina Oath Keepers, John Zimmerman.

Share this -Link copiedCommittee votes to subpoena Trump The committee voted on Thursday unanimously to subpoena Trump. Trump would not be the first president to be subpoenaed, nor would he be the first former president subpoenaed by Congress. "Even before the networks called the race for President Biden on Nov. 7th, his chances of pulling out a victory were virtually nonexistent, and President Trump knew it," Kinzinger said. “At times, President Trump acknowledged the reality of his loss. “What did President Trump know?

Search resuls for: "Stewart Rhodes"

25 mentions found