Members of a right-wing militia group facing trial on the most serious charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection should be barred from trying to blame former President Donald Trump for their actions, the Justice Department told a judge.
Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol to prevent the peaceful transition of power to Joe Biden, didn’t have the authority to order such an attack and therefore can’t be used in a so-called public-authority or entrapment defense, the U.S. said in a filing Friday in Washington.
The U.S. is seeking a court ruling to prevent lawyers for Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes and other members of the group from using the defense during its opening statement to the jury or while questioning witnesses during the seditious-conspiracy trial, set to begin Sept. 26.
