Another Oath Keeper takes a plea deal -Joshua A. James pleaded to Counts 1 seditious conspiracy and Court 2 Obstruction of an official government function…
Another plea agreement -House Select Committee’s Court filing stating that Eastman & Trump engaged in a “conspiracy to defraud the United States of America” INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK HAS FINALLY ARRIVED
Background on the expansive Oath Keepers Seditious Conspiracy…
To be clear nothing in todays plea hearing should surprise you because some of us have been trying to impart facts versus “opinions” and if you’ve paid attention I’m pretty sure for a few months some of us have said: the one who flips first gets the best deal…
Defendant James agreed to plead guilty to Counts 1 and 3 in the Indictment,
Seditious Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2384, and
Obstruction of an Official Proceeding, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2),
…if my recollection is correct Joshua A James is now either the 4th or 5th Oath Keeper to take a plea deal. Again the USAO-DC has a pretty robust database and occasionally the Government updates that database in a timely manner
And unlike some charlatans I have never intentionally withheld any court documents from my readers/followers. Accordingly see the following Court Documents filed by the Government earlier today (see DOJ OPA USAO-DC Defendant James Files) because I genuinely believe that my readers are smart and that you take the time to read the filings and then formulate your own opinion versus hanging on to Blue QANON-sense drivel of deep stupid…
Roberto Minuta, of Prosper, TX -in March of 2021 Minuta and ISAAC STEVE STURGEON were formally charged. At the time I took the extra step of showing you the direct through line of the January 2020 Virginia Pro-Gun rally and explained that these two events are in fact linked
David Moerschel, of Punta Gorda, FL the July 2021 article notes that Moerschel was charged via a criminal complaint, as a co-conspirator. Bringing the July 2021 indictment of the eighteenth oath keeper
Brian Ulrich, of Guyton, GA was charged with Moerschel
Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, OH -to say Watkins and Caldwell were the actual ring leaders, it’s exactly accurate. They were following Stuart Rhodes’ directions
Last but certainly not least was the long awaited January 14, 2022 Indictment of Elmer Rhodes et al and Seditious Conspiracy. And unfortunately for you I tend to focus on the tiny details such as, related cases, un-indicted co-conspirators. In fact I think back in February of 2021 I actually stated, that based on a plain reading of the various affidavits, there are going to be a lot of defendants. Off the top of my head I believe I stated “at least 18 additional defendants” That assertion was largely based on reading the various court filings and understanding what those filing proffered…
I don’t know why but I can’t be the only one who not only listened to the April 6, 2021 hearing and noted this specific exchange between the Defense and Government - USA v Caldwell “yes your honor some of the Defendants have approached about plea offers” and literally said - this is important and it likely means the Oath Keepers are going to go “Lord of the Flies” on each other and I’m here for it, all of it.
As previously noted Defendant Joshua A James was indicted (see 6th Superseding Indictment) -Defendant James Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12. In the executed plea agreement, Defendant James pleaded guilty to:
Counts 1 and 3 in the Indictment, charging your client with Seditious Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2384, and Obstruction of an Official Proceeding, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), respectively
Each of these carries a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years, each —along with a hefty fine and probation. Again there’s speculation on social media that Defendant James “flipped” on Stewart Rhodes and Roger Stone. I tend to facially disagree with those assertions. Here’s why, Defendant James was part of the “second stack” —I think a far more likely scenario is Defendant James actually flipped on Robert Minuta.
The “nexus” between Roger Stone and the Oath Keepers is Minuta and his “second in command” Joshua James. Additionally unlike some I don’t go over the top with histrionics or other “click bait” reporting. As I have repeatedly stated: facts stand on their own and there’s no need to over dramatize court filings. It’s best to let the Court Filings speak for themselves. But I will say that James’ allocution certainly gave the impression that James wasn’t some low level Oath Keepers underlying. Specifically the Statement of Offense clearly disclosed just how important he was to Defendant Rhodes. Meaning today’s court filings details (some of the details have not been disclosed until now) just how close James & Rhodes relied upon each other in the furtherance of the “seditious conspiracy” The manner and means of the seditious conspiracy are kind of important because it finally answers a lot of questions…
For Example -I now refer you to page 3 of Defendant James’ plea agreement - which reads in part and this is very important so please pay attention. Unless you’d like me to reach through the internet and slap you… I’m kidding, sort of…
…There is no guideline provision expressly promulgated for seditious conspiracy… analogous crime is TREASON…
Factually speaking the Government is correct, see the U.S.S.C. November 2021 Sentencing Manual (600+-pages) provides the Court, the Prosecution and the Defendant with a formulaic tabled of how much time a Defendant can be sentenced, assuming arguendo, the Court doesn’t depart from the Sentencing Guidelines (understand the Court sua sponte can depart from the Guidelines and/or the agreed upon sentencing dictated by a plea agreement. In the past I’ve talked about the U.S.S.C. Sentencing table, see the November 2021 (most updated table) found here. Now let’s talk about page 3 of Defendant James’ Plea Agreement, which reads in part:
There is no guideline provision expressly promulgated for seditious conspiracy. Under U.S.S.G. 2X5.1, where available, the Court should apply the most analogous offense guideline. The parties agree that the most analogous offense to seditious conspiracy is “Treason,” under U.S.S.G. 2M1.1. The parties also agree that, for this particular defendant, U.S.S.G. 2M1.1(a)(2) applies, which further directs the Court to select the base offense level applicable to the most analogous offense applied to the defendant’s specific conduct. The parties agree that “Obstruction of Justice” under U.S.S.G. 2J1.2 is the most analogous offense for this defendant’s specific conduct.
I’d also like to draw your attention to the last paragraph on page 3 - here the parties agreed to “Combine Offense Level” and I have to say this is a significant concession made by the Government. Accordingly Defendant James has agreed to an Offense level of 32 - and now I refer you to the U.S.S.C. November 2021 Sentencing Table… or via Scribd
So if we are all factually speaking in agreement that Defendant James is looking at a level 32 offense then you also need to read pages 4 and 5 carefully specifically the proffer of a level 2 reduction and an additional level 1 reduction. Again math isn’t my strong suit but Basic Math I can do - which means Defendant James is looking at the possibility of a 3 level reduction, provided he adheres to the stringent terms and conditions of his plea agreement. Which means at the time of sentencing Defendant James will be sentenced at a level 29 (again note the embedded U.S.S.C. sentencing table -above - a 3 level reduction which could (on the low end) reduce his sentence by about 34 months…
The Cooperation clause in this plea agreement is pretty standard. In non-legalese Defendant James is the property of the USAO-DC until that office says they don’t need him anymore…
And lastly the restitution is on the higher end of other Defendants, meaning Defendant James is required to pay $2,000 in restitution. Off of the top of my head there are only a few (like less than a handful) that have been required to pay $2,000 —other defendants restitution varied from $500 to $1,500
Again you can view the plea agreement from the USAO-DC found here or you can pull down a highlighted and annotated copy via Scribd -and now for the “good stuff” I’ll actually never understand why some on social media often overlook the Statement of Facts. I suppose it’s because most on social media do not understand where “the good stuff is” because I’ve always been far more interested in the Defendant’s Statement of Facts/Offense, which generally accompanies a plea agreement has a bunch of “factual” information -
for example in Defendant James’ Statement of Offense again apologies for yelling; THIS IS IMPORTANT so please pay attention… on Pages 2 and 3 the Government proffered (I believe for the very first time) - I now refer you to paragraphs 4 and 5, in their entirety - because previously Defendant James was only indicted largely concerning the Second Stack but here the Government actually ties him to the QRF and James was the “regional chapter head” for Oath Keepers in Alabama… until this disclosure the Government merely stated James was likely in leadership but today we find out he ran the Oath Keepers in Alabama…
…James agreed to take part in a plan developed by Rhodes to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power by January 20, 2021, by deploying force to prevent, hinder, and delay the execution of the laws of the United States governing the transfer of presidential power. They used encrypted and private communications, equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodes’s call to take up arms. James and others amassed firearms on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.—some distributed across hotels and “quick reaction force” (“QRF”) teams—and planned, if called upon, to use them in support of the plan to halt the lawful transfer of presidential power.
On November 14 and 15, 2020, James met with Rhodes and others in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and at Caldwell’s Virginia farmhouse and learned about the start of their plans to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power…
Holy mother of God - the following is ALL NEW Facts:
Hey remember that time someone flippantly stated Grods’ plea agreement should make the conspirators really nervous… well I now refer you to paragraphs 15 et seq but specifically paragraph 18 (or remember that time when someone casually asked “how many hotel rooms are we talking about”… also to those who said I was wrong about Caldwell and his farm -I now refer you to paragraphs 15, 16 and specifically 17 —and no not a chance in hell that I’ll accept your apology. (Also see Mr & Mrs Meggs recent civil complaint)
January 4, 2021, James traveled with Ulrich, Grods, and others to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.James brought a semi-automatic handgun, and Ulrich, Grods, and others brought firearms, including a rifle, a shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, and ammunition.James stored their firearms at the Virginia hotel where he, Rhodes, Minuta, and others had rooms.
I mean I did say months ago that Defendant Grods appeared to be the weakest link and that Grod’s Plea Agreement would likely result in other “more senior” Oath Keepers negotiating a plea agreement was the likely and determinative outcome, but meh whadda I know…
…weeks leading up to January 6, 2021, Rhodes instructed James and other coconspirators to be prepared, if called upon, to report to the White House grounds to secure the perimeter and use lethal force if necessary against anyone who tried to remove President Trump from the White House, including the National Guard or other government actors who might be sent to remove President Trump as a result of the Presidential Election.
…James asked Minuta, “Want to keep pushing in?” Minuta responded, “yup.” James then pushed toward the Rotunda, yelling, “Keep fucking going!”…
…James, Minuta, Ulrich, Walden, Grods, and others then unlawfully entered the restricted grounds of the Capitol. James was wearing a backpack, a combat shirt, tactical gloves, boots, a paracord attachment, and an Oath Keepers hat and patches. James, Minuta, Ulrich, Walden, Grods, and others weaved through the restricted area in a military “stack” formation with hands on shoulders and gear.
I do not recall that Government disclosing that James et al specifically Minuta Grods via the second stack actually assaulted law enforcement officers…
James and Minuta joined alongside others in a mob confronting and physically engaging with a line of law enforcement officers who formed a barrier between the lobby and the Rotunda. Minuta, standing behind James and recording the events with a camera, began yelling, “This is what’s bound to happen, just get out! Get out! Get these cops out! It’s our fucking building! Get ‘em out, get out!” //James approached J.M …repeatedly told J.M. to “chill” and yelled at the officer, “Do you want out? Do you want out? Do you want out?” James then assaulted J.M by grabbing J.M.’s vestand pulling J.M. toward the mob.
….Other officers behind J.M. grabbed J.M.’s vest and pulled him back into the line of officers. While pulling J.M., James yelled, “Get out of my Capitol! Get out! Get out of my Capitol!” James fell backward and then jumped and pushed toward the officers repeatedly, continuing to yell, “This is my fucking building! This is not yours! This is my Capitol!”
Finally the Government disclosed Oath Keepers Post Jan6th…
Meaning on the very say day that the Oath Keepers attempted to block the peaceful transfer of power, they met at a Vienna VA restaurant (swear to baby cheesus if these domestic terrorist went to the Vienna Inn for chili dogs I just might lose my sh_t -I’m not kidding they have the best chili dogs in the DMV, sorry but Ben’s Chili Bowl doesn’t hold a flame to the Vienna Inn) but clearly Rhodes’ deep paranoia apparently also made others in this conspiracy uber paranoid that Law Enforcement was searching for them and the quickly left the DMV (DC MD VA) area…
Rhodes’s instruction, James, Vallejo, and others met Rhodes that evening at a restaurant in Vienna, Virginia. Rhodes discussed saving “the Republic” by stopping the transfer of presidential power and began to make plans to oppose the Inauguration on January 20, 2021, including by having people open-carry firearms at state capitols around the country.’
And for those of you who don’t understand the “crime-fraud” exemption - if the attorney really did send the following communications to Rhodes, James or other Oath Keepers —then that Attorney needs to be indicted. No really read paragraph 47 and tell me where I’m wrong —spoiler I’m not and I find it unseemly that their attorney sent this communication (for the record I’m 95% positive I know who the attorney is but it’s not my place to unmask him -he’s eyeballs deep in a lot of FBI interviews or at least he should be) because I know exactly who sent that telegram message to Defendant James… in my industry we call this “criminal intent…state of mind…obstruction of evidence…in the furtherance of a seditious console” to over throw our Government…
…January 8, 2021, James received a Signal message, in a group chat that included Rhodes, from an individual he understood to be an attorney for the Oath Keepers that stated, “STEWART: YOU ALL NEED TO DELETE ANY OF YOUR COMMENTS REGARDING WHO DID WHAT. You are under zero obligation to leave them up. You/we have not yet gotten a preservation order instructing us to retain those chat comments. So DELETE THEM. I can’t delete them because this is a legacy Signal chat that doesn’t let me delete comments. Only the comment author can delete a comment. So GET BUSY. DELETE your self-incriminating comments or those that can incriminate others. Start now …”
After Jan6th James traveled with Rhodes to Texas, where Defendant James stayed with Rhodes -and this makes Defendant James’ allocution today all the more interesting because I think a lot of us assumed that James was an underlying and that Robert Minuta was a higher position than James in the Oath Keepers hierarchy —based on the facts elucidated in Defendant James’ Statement of Offense it appears that he was literally Stewart Rhodes’ second in command and that should prove to be very interesting for the other Oath Keeper Defendants. It is still unclear if the Government has facts/evidence that some how link Roger Stone (or Steve Bannon or Trump) to the Oath Keepers. And only time will tell if the Government has evidence of an actual nexus but boy Defendant James appears to have completely flipped on his fellow oath keepers. And that in of itself is a momentous win for the Government…
Mood and not current location…
And your obligatory salt water therapy -I’m going on a 17+ hour work day. Given I published an article before 6AM today and literally walked in my house about an hour ago. Notwithstanding I decided that my readers would probably want to know the latest factual developments in the Oath Keepers case. The facts versus conjecture or uninformed prognostications -although I suppose some could argue I’m the uniformed party here…<snort>
Also it is highly unlikely that I will be able to publish any article until Saturday, March 6, 2022 - I’m literally expecting to work 18+ hour days until March 14ish — which is killing me because I’m only halfway done with the House Select Committee on Jan6th recent court filing (its 206 pages long)
The Select Committee’s filing states in part: “Eastman and Trump were part of a criminal conspiracy” but here’s the Committee’s tweet/thread - regarding the Select Committee’s brief filed this evening in John Eastman’s lawsuit -if I have time tomorrow or Friday I’ll do a deep dive into the recent filing but keep in mind that the House Select Committee is not conducting a criminal investigation and I wouldn’t be surprised if folks at Main Justice are reviewing the Committee’s Court filing.
The Select Committee’s brief refutes on numerous grounds the privilege claims Dr. Eastman has made to try to keep hidden records critical to our investigation. The Select Committee is not conducting a criminal investigation. But, as the judge noted at a previous hearing, Dr. Eastman’s privilege claims raise the question whether the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies in this situation. We believe evidence in our possession justifies review of these documents under this exception in camera. The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power.
“We look forward to the Court’s review of our filing as the Select Committee’s investigation moves forward.”
Again apologies for my truncated and haphazard reporting -but I need to emphasize this - the Select Committee filing states “not conducting a criminal investigation” however the Committee could very well send a criminal referral from Congress to the DOJ and that should put main justice on high alert. Or at least one can only hope. Because the Committee’s filing offers one of the most detailed recitation of the fraud committed by Eastman and Donald Trump… and that my friends is a wrap. I literally have to be out the door in less than six hours and I still have one work related project that I need to complete before I go all “Game of Thrones” on a certain PITA lawmaker…who’s become a thorn in my client’s side. -Filey
Excellent reading as always - I've bookmarked the link to the Capitol Breach Cases. It is an excellent capture of what's happening there. Thanks, Filey - let's see what happens
Excellent reading as always - I've bookmarked the link to the Capitol Breach Cases. It is an excellent capture of what's happening there. Thanks, Filey - let's see what happens
Love, love LOVE how detailed you’ve always been when summarizing your analysis. You provide truth and receipts.