2022, Year of Accountability

This week we got a verdict in the Oath Keepers Sedition Trial. And it’s good news.

Founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes and his associate Kelly Meggs were found guilty of Seditious Conspiracy. The other Oath Keepers on trial, Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, and Kenneth Harrelson, were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy but were found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding along with Rhodes and Meggs. Lawfare Blog has created a helpful chart with all the charges and which Oath Keepers were found guilty of what.

These convictions are the DOJ’s most high-profile wins to date, a victory that will hopefully repeat when members of the Proud Boys go on trial later this month for the same crimes. As the January 6 committee said in their statement, “today’s convictions are a victory for the rule of law and reinforce the fact that the violence of Jan. 6th included a deliberate attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and block the transfer of presidential power.”

But perhaps no one has described the significance of a guilty verdict better than Rhodes’ ex-wife Tasha Adams: “This is the first time he’s ever faced consequences ― ever. Really, it’s the first time he’s ever been held accountable for anything he’s ever done.”

Accountability has been a recurring theme of CARD since January 6; arguably, everything…