After Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by more than 7 million votes in the 2020 presidential election, attorney Sidney Powell and the Oath Keepers used different methods in an unsuccessful effort to help Trump steal the election. Powell abused the legal system; members of the Oath Keepers, according to U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors, physically attacked the U.S. Capitol Building. Now, the Washington Post is reporting that the DOJ is "asking a federal judge to probe possible financial relationships between" Oath Keepers members and Powell's nonprofit Defending the Republic.
The DOJ's request, according to Washington Post reporters Rachel Weiner and Spencer S. Hsu, "follows media reports that" Defending the Republic "has used some of the millions of dollars it has raised through spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election to pay legal fees for Oath Keepers members facing trial." BuzzFeed and Mother Jones have reported that four of the Oath Keepers members facing charges in connection with the January 6, 2021 insurrection, including founder Stewart Rhodes, have taken money from Defending the Republic.
