1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Second Oath Keeper pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy in major win for DOJ Capitol riot probe



A second member of the Oath Keepers militia has pleaded guilty to engaging in a seditious conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Politico reports that Oath Keeper Brian Ulrich on Friday pleaded guilty to both seditious conspiracy and obstructing an official act of Congress when he stormed the Capitol building on January 6th.

Ulrich joins fellow Oath Keeper Joshua James in pleading guilty to seditious conspiracy, which is by far the most serious charge leveled against any Capitol rioters.

In his plea agreement, which was announced last month, James admitted that his actions at the Capitol were intended to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and that they were done as part of a plan concocted by Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

The DOJ now has two members of the militia who can testify against Rhodes and implicate him in a seditious conspiracy, thus representing a significant boost to prosecutors' case against him.

Although many Capitol rioters have been charged for their roles in breaching the Capitol and committing acts of violence, Rhodes and some of his fellow Oath Keepers are so far the only ones to face the very serious seditious conspiracy charges.

"The seditious conspiracy indictment alleges that, following the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election, Rhodes conspired with his co-defendants and others to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power by Jan. 20, 2021," the DOJ alleged in its indictment. "Beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, Rhodes and various co-conspirators coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., on or around Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the certification of the electoral college vote, the indictment alleges. Rhodes and several co-conspirators made plans to bring weapons to the area to support the operation. The co-conspirators then traveled across the country to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early January 2021."

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/29/second-oath-keeper-pleads-to-seditious-conspiracy-00028982

[Rick Plant]

DOJ says Steve Bannon shouldn't be allowed to argue at trial he was just following government directions when he refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee. "The former President was not a government official at the time."

[Rick Plant]

Brian Ulrich is 44 years old from Georgia who is charged with seditious conspiracy and is accused of being part of the "stack" that breached the Capitol is pleading guilty.

Ulrich is accused of being part of the "stack #2" mounted by Oath Keepers amid the siege.

He faced federal judge Amit Mehta virtually and is pleading guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding.







He's not the first Oath Keeper to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy. Joshua James of Arab, Alabama did the same last month.

Ulrich has agreed to sit for interviews with federal investigators. Walls are tightening further around the other Oath Keepers defendants.

During the hearing, the Judge indicates Ulrich seems to be struggling and asks if he needs some time. Ulrich responds in trembling voice..."it's not gonna get any easier".

Sentencing guidelines are (roughly) 5-7 years in prison and $25,000 fine.

Judge is explaining that Ulrich has agreed to cooperate with the feds.

Ulrich is struggling and overcome by tears in the court hearing. For a second time, the judge has asked him "Do you need a moment?"

In his signed agreement with feds, Ulrich specifies that Stewart Rhodes was part of the conspiracy to stop the lawful transfer of power.

Here is Oath Keeper Brian Ulrich’s Statement of Offense. He plead guilty to Seditious Conspiracy. This is what he had knowledge of and what investigators can prove.

https://justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1497886/download

[Rick Plant]

Election 'theft' attorney to hand 10,000 Trump-connected emails over to Jan. 6th committee

In a late Friday filing, attorneys for John Eastman, who helped formulate a Donald Trump White House plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election, said their client has agreed to hand over approximately 10,000 Trump-related documents and emails to the House select committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection.

According to Politico's Kyle Cheney, the committee has been attempting to get their hands on the documents which are part of approximately 37,000 pages of emails, with Eastman previously claiming attorney-client privilege.

The report states that Eastman's change of mind follows a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge David Carter back in March.

According to Politico, "In Friday’s court filing, Eastman’s lawyers indicated that the select committee now wants more time to consider how to handle the remaining 27,000 pages of records that remain in dispute. Carter has asked Eastman to produce a log of all the emails that remain contested, but Eastman is now asking Carter for a brief reprieve while the select committee reviews the new documents and determines how to proceed."

The report notes that a lawsuit filed by Eastman -- in conjunction with text messages sent and received by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows -- is allowing the committee to paint a portrait showing "...that Trump sat by on Jan. 6, 2021 as a mob of his supporters ransacked the Capitol, waiting hours and continuing to press allies to block Joe Biden’s victory even as he watched the violence unfold on TV."

Politico's Cheney added, "The committee is preparing to hold at least eight public hearings in June outlining its evidence and findings so far, but the panel continues to be deluged with new information, prolonging its effort to bring the probe to a conclusion. The influx of 10,000 pages from Eastman — and the prospect of tens of thousands more — could be fodder for additional lines of inquiry for the select committee."

You can read more here from Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/30/eastman-trump-related-emails-00029141

[Rick Plant]

Oath Keeper pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy as pressure intensifies against right-wing extremist group

CNN — Brian Ulrich, one of the 11 members of the Oath Keepers facing sedition-related charges, pleaded guilty to “obstruction of an official proceeding” and seditious conspiracy in federal court on Friday, becoming the second person to plead guilty to the gravest charges to emerge from the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack.

According to the plea agreement, Ulrich, 44, will cooperate with the Justice Department in its historic prosecution against the far-right extremist organization. He could face more than six years in prison, according to the deal read aloud during Wednesday’s hearing, but prosecutors may ask for a lower sentence depending on Ulrich’s level of cooperation.

The guilty plea is another major step in the criminal case against the Oath Keepers, as prosecutors work to show how they believe the group of men plotted to stash weapons across the Potomac River, go to the Capitol and stop Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote. The case has grown dramatically over the past year, relying in part on explosive private messages between Oath Keepers leaders, video of the group from the week they were in DC, and the cooperation of at least six other Capitol riot defendants with ties to the Oath Keepers organization.

The plea comes nearly two months after fellow Oath Keeper Joshua James, who served as private security for right-wing figures around January 6, pleaded guilty to sedition-related charges.

“Did you do that, agree with [Oath Keepers leader Stewart] Rhodes and develop a plan to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power, by force, on January 6, 2021” US District Judge Amit Mehta asked during the hearing on Friday.

“Yes, your honor” Ulrich said.

Rhodes, who is also charged with seditious conspiracy, has pleaded not guilty.

Ulrich, who at times appeared to be crying during the hearing, also agreed that he “intended to influence and affect conduct of the United States government and to retaliate against the United States government.”

At one point, Mehta asked whether Ulrich needed time to gather himself. Ulrich initially declined, saying that “it’s not going to get any easier,” but later accepted – taking a moment to audibly weep and gasp for air.

Ulrich, who is from Georgia, was part of an Oath Keepers leadership Signal chat where he, Rhodes and others planned for January 6. The messages, which are quoted in court documents, show how Ulrich repeatedly asked about bringing guns to DC as part of a quick reaction force.

“Someone can tell me if I’m crazy but I’m planning on having a backpack for regular use and then a separate backpack with my ammo” Ulrich messaged the leadership chat in late December, adding that “I will be the guy running around with the ‘budget AR.’” In another message days later, Ulrich asked Joshua James about firearms and a potential plan to “stage them in VA.”

Other messages that Ulrich sent to members of the Georgia Oath Keepers said that “civil war” might be necessary if then President-elect Biden was inaugurated.

“We must win. We must defeat these radicals,” Ulrich wrote in one message, “there’s treason at work here. When someone committed treason it used to mean something. you used to pay with your life!” In another message, Ulrich referenced a “Ruby ridge scenario that we can rally behind.”

Ulrich, James, and Oath Keeper Mark Grods traveled together to DC on January 4. In his own plea agreement, James admitted to bringing a semi-automatic handgun on the trip, and said Grods and others brought firearms, including a rifle, a shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, and ammunition to a Virginia hotel. Grods has also pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the investigation.

On January 6, Ulrich, James, Grods and others rushed to the Capitol in golf carts during the siege, swerving around law enforcement. When they arrived, the group maneuvered through the mob with their hands on each other’s shoulders and eventually breached the building.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/29/politics/oath-keeper-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-brian-ulrich/index.html

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 Capitol riot trial: Suspect Guy Reffitt cries as son testifies in court against him
https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/crime/jan-6-capitol-riot-trial-suspect-guy-reffitt-cries-as-son-testifies-in-court-against-him/287-1d245a6e-42e2-4c5a-9eb6-45162ee21de3

[Rick Plant]

'Insane' Marjorie Taylor Greene could face subpoena for martial law text: Adam Kinzinger



Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) suggested on Sunday that he would be willing to support subpoenas for members of Congress who are suspected of participating in a plot to overturn the 2020 election.

During an interview on CBS, host Margaret Brennan asked Kinzinger if he and other members of the House Jan. 6 committee will force members of Congress to testify.

"I won't say who I think we need to talk to yet," the congressman replied. "I mean, I think everybody needs to come and talk to us. We've requested information from various members. In terms of whether we move forward with a subpoena is going to be both a strategic tactical decision and a question of whether or not we can do that and get the information in time."

"Do you favor one?" Brennan wondered.

"Yeah, I think ultimately whatever we can do to get that information," Kinzinger said. "If that takes a subpoena, it takes a subpoena. But I think the key is regardless of even what some members of Congress are going to tell us, we know a lot of information around it."

Brennan noted that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was recently exposed for suggesting martial law in a text message to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 6. Greene has called herself a "victim" of the Jan. 6 attack.

"Do you need to ask her a few questions?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I'd love to ask her a few questions," Kinzinger agreed. "We know some things. I won't confirm or deny the text messages, of course. But let me just say this. For Marjorie Taylor Greene to say she's a victim, it's amazing how, you know, folks like her attack everybody for being a victim."

The congressman recalled that Greene has a history of attacking school shooting survivors.

"And then when Marjorie Taylor Greene is confronted, she's all the sudden a victim and a poor, helpless congresswoman that's just trying to do her job," Kinzinger noted. "It's insane. We want the information. Look, history is not going to judge her or people like her that are buying the Big Lie well."

Kinzinger also said that he hoped that former Vice President Mike Pence would appear before the committee.

"I would hope he would do so voluntarily," he remarked. "These are decisions that I think we are going to end up making in the next week or two as we basically pin down what this hearing schedule is going to look like."

Watch the video below from CBS.

[Rick Plant]

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar added to Jan 6th committee's 'target list'



During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show," Guardian White House correspondent Hugo Lowell revealed that Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) have been added to a "target list" by the House select committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection.

Using the release of new texts to and from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as a springboard, Lowell claimed that the two lawmakers can likely be expected to be asked to testify before the committee.

With host Phang asking about letters previously sent to GOP lawmakers asking them to appear, she pressed the Guardian correspondent about what to expect next, including new letters.

"The committee has decided that they are definitely going to send a letter to [House Minority Leader Kevin] McCarthy," Lowell began. "We've also learned they are going to send letters to [GOP Reps] Jim Jordan, Scott Perry -- people they have sent letters to previously trying to get them to come in for a voluntary deposition or some type of other interview at least, to see what they go for the investigation."

"They are now also looking at, in light of the text messages with Mark Meadows that were leaked, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, people like Mo Brooks, people like Paul Gosar," he added. "So those are the kind of people now on the target list of the committee because they want to capitalize on the public pressure that is a building on these members of Congress because the public knows that they are in constant communication with the White House chief of staff, trying to overturn the election."

He later added the committee has been releasing the texts a portion at a time with a specific reason in mind.

'I think that this is a way to buy time for the committee, and for the members, for them to think, if they defy our latest letter, maybe this is the time that we can move forward with subpoenas," he explained. "I will say, that based on my sources, the mood on the committee has shifted this last week. There has been more of an impetus to get these people in and if it takes a subpoena, they may well do it."

Watch below: