The last time the federal government won convictions alleging seditious conspiracy was in a 1995 case involving Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman. Abdel-Rahman and other associates were implicated in the first World Trade Center bombing and plots against other prominent U.S. landmarks.
The indictment comes after lawmakers had begun questioning the pace of prosecutions and whether Attorney General Merrick Garland was pursuing the organizers and fundraisers behind the attack. He vowed the day before the anniversary of the attack to pursue the participants at all levels.
More than 725 people have been charged and 150 have pled guilty in the Jan. 6 attack. About 140 police officers were injured and four people died that day, as a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol and temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes.
The House impeached Trump for inciting the insurrection, but the Senate acquitted him. Some lawmakers have argued Trump should be charged because of how he urged supporters at a rally near the White House to march to the Capitol and fight to save their country. But prosecutors haven't yet charged that his comments incited the violence.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said the evidence hasn’t emerged yet to charge Trump and the case would have to be air tight.
“To prosecute former President Trump, the Department of Justice needs smoking gun evidence that will leave absolutely no doubt that he is guilty of sedition,” Rahmani said. “Prosecutors would need Trump’s own words, either in writing, recorded, or multiple independent and credible witnesses, advocating a coup or the overthrow of President-elect Biden’s administration. I don’t think we have that. Or at least not yet.”
The Oath Keepers is an extremist group that recruits former members of the military and law enforcement. The indictment charged that beginning in December 2020, members coordinated and planned travel to Washington for Jan. 6 through encrypted and private communications.
In November, Rhodes was subpoenaed to testify and provide documents to the special House committee investigating the Capitol attacks. At the time, lawmakers referred to the Oath Keeper leader's 2020 Election Day statements, urging followers to "stock up on ammo" and prepare for a "full-on war in the streets," if Trump failed to secure a second term.
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