Can Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes go to Capitol after Jan. 6 clemency? DOJ fights judge
WASHINGTON – After President Donald Trump granted clemency to Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes for his Jan. 6-related conviction, a federal judge ordered Rhodes on Friday to stay away from the U.S. Capitol now that he is out of prison.
Within hours, the Justice Department – which under the Biden administration had secured Rhodes' 2022 conviction – argued that Judge Amit Mehta didn't have the authority to issue that restriction. Trump commuted Rhodes' 18-year sentence Monday along with the sentences of 13 other defendants. He also pardoned roughly 1,500 defendants who faced Jan. 6-related charges.
Rhodes left a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland Tuesday and by Wednesday, he had visited Capitol Hill. Mehta issued his brief order, which also applied to seven other defendants whose sentences were commuted Monday, following that visit.
The order states that all eight defendants need Mehta's permission to visit the Capitol in particular as well as Washington, D.C. in general.
However, the Justice Department said in its motion that the commutation of Rhodes' sentence means he is no longer subject to the terms of probation or a supervised release from prison.
"As the terms of supervised release and probation are included in the 'sentences' of the defendants, the Court may not modify the terms of supervised release," wrote U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr.
In November of 2022, Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy after prosecutors successfully argued that members of the Rhodes-founded Oath Keepers right-wing militia conspired to block certification of the 2020 election through force.
After Rhodes' conviction, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said the verdict showed the Justice Department's commitment to hold accountable "those criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy."
Contributing: Ella Lee – Paste BN