Dem
50
Ties
1
GOP
49
Please do make sure to read that headline in the voice of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. On Tuesday, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and his associate Kelly Meggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Three other associates, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell, were convicted of lesser felonies.
The convictions are far and away the most serious to be secured by the Department of Justice thus far in connection with the 1/6 insurrection. Meggs is looking at up to 86 years in prison, Rhodes 60 years, and the other three newly minted convicts between 40 and 56 years. People rarely get the maximum, of course, but the quintet is nonetheless going away for a long time. The 54-year-old Rhodes, for example, might effectively be looking at a life sentence, especially since the feds don't shave off all that much time for "good behavior."
On one hand, the activities of Rhodes and these other future guests of the federal penal system are pretty scary, since they took significant and potentially violent steps to try to overturn a presidential election. On the other hand, they are also kind of pathetic. For example, one part of the plan that got much attention at trial was that Rhodes built a "quick reaction force" of armed Oath Keepers, ready to swoop into Washington if needed. As a private citizen, Rhodes does not have access to things like, say, barracks. So, where was his "quick reaction force" as it awaited orders to deploy? Why, at a Comfort Inn in Arlington, VA, of course. Presumably they took their meals at a Cracker Barrel, and had a fleet of Subarus ready to carry them into battle.
Tuesday's verdicts mark the first time that a court proceeding has produced the finding that there was a conspiracy in place on 1/6. We are not lawyers, nor are we privy to the thinking of DoJ leadership, but we have to assume that's not a good thing for the fellow who was arguably the head conspirator, and who appears to be headed for an indictment of his own. (Z)