The defense team in the U.S. Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center.
Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes, founder of the extremist group, are poised to argue that jurors cannot find him guilty of seditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before the siege on Jan. 6, 2021, were in preparation for orders he anticipated from the then-president -- orders that never came.
The Insurrection Act gives a president broad authority to call up the military and decide what shape that force will take. Trump did float that kind of action at other points in his presidency. Bright said Rhodes, a Yale Law School graduate, understands the risks of testifying but has insisted since the first day they met that he be able to "speak his piece."
Court records show the Oath Keepers repeatedly warning of the prospect of violence if Biden were to become president. The Oath Keepers amassed weapons and stationed armed "quick reaction force" teams at a Virginia hotel in case they were needed, prosecutors say. The Insurrection Act is shorthand for a series of statutes that Congress passed between 1872 and 1871 defining when military force can be used in the United States by the federal government, said University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck. The Act does give the president wide discretion to decide when military force is necessary, and what qualifies as military force, Vladeck said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Capitol riot jury picked for first seditious conspiracy trialJury selected for founder of the Oath Keepers, four associates in Capitol insurrection case
Read more »
Officials: North Korea fires suspected ballistic missilesNorth Korea has fired suspected ballistic missiles, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Saturday.
Read more »
Joshua Whitehead's first non-fiction foray looks at process, Indigeneity, queernessJoshua Whitehead is in the early stages of his next novel, but it is starting to take shape in his mind.
Read more »
VIDEO: Paramedics team up with Global Medic to feed city's poorThousands of pounds of food arrived at the Soup Kitchen Community Centre on Thursday
Read more »
Barbara Nolan – language keeper, elder – shares her wisdomResidential school survivor, honoured elder, credits the love and support of her family and community for her well-being
Read more »
Ian lashes South Carolina as Florida surveys devastation – Terrace StandardIan’s centre came ashore with much weaker winds than when it crossed Florida’s Gulf Coast
Read more »