The federal judge overseeing a case against the founder of the far-right anti-government group the Oath Keepers and several of its members has rejected an attempt to delay the trial, which is set to begin in Washington DC within three weeks.
Despite his effort to fire them, Stewart Rhodes will be represented by the attorneys he rebuked in a court filing this week, according to US District Court Judge Amit Mehta.
A newly hired attorney for Mr Rhodes filed a motion to push back his trial on charges of seditious conspiracy for his role in the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, citing a “near-complete breakdown of communication” with his legal team, which he said Mr Rhodes has “relieved and terminated.”
He also requested three more months to prepare for his trial.
The following day, Judge Mehta lambasted Mr Rhodes’ allegations and attempt to stall the case as “incorrect and frankly bewildering” during a 15-minute screed.
“The very first allegation is that somehow Mr Rhodes is not receiving a fair trial, and that is unequivocally false,” Judge Mehta said on 7 September.
Judge Mehta said that at “no point” since his arrest has Mr Rhodes “remained silent,” and “not once have I heard a peep from Mr Rhodes about his lack of contact with his lawyers or his disenchantment with his lawyers’ performance.”
“Not once has he complained one iota about his lawyers,” Judge Mehta said.
In his filing on Tuesday, Mr Rhodes claimed that he has not received “any mailings” from the two attorneys who have been representing him – James Lee Bright and Phillip Linder – “and has had no visits in almost two months,” according to the filing from Louisiana-based attorney Edward L Tarpley Jr.
Mr Bright told the judge that the filing signalled a “lack of trust” in their relationship with Mr Rhodes.
“Perhaps it is a broken relationship, your honour,” Mr Bright said. “I’ve given seven months of my life to Mr Rhodes. I’ve missed sporting events. I’ve missed time with my family for a man I don’t know. I’m prepared to come to DC for six weeks away from my children.”
Judge Mehta said the attorneys for Mr Rhodes “are going to be at that table” representing him, “period, full stop, end of story.”
The judge also rejected Mr Rhodes’s arguments for more evidence in the case; he requested reams of witness testimony from a House select committee investigation into the attack on the Capitol, including interviews with Kelly SoRelle, the Oath Keepers’ general counsel who spoke with the committee earlier this year and was arrested in Texas last week.
Mr Rhodes has received “every dispensation” including frequent sessions during which he is allowed to review evidence at the court, Judge Mehta said. Federal prosecutors have “bent over backwards” to provide him with evidence, he said, with US Marshals escorting to him to the courthouse twice a week for up to six hours at a time while he remains jailed in DC.
“No other defendant is getting that kind of accommodation. No one,” according to Judge Mehta.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Mr Rhodes and other militia members spent weeks plotting an attempt to disrupt the joint session of Congress, including plans for a cache of weapons and supplies, to prevent Joe Biden’s presidency and keep Donald Trump in office.
A trial is scheduled to begin on 26 September. Mr Rhodes has pleaded not guilty.
