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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11949173" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sidney-powell" source="Orion">Sidney Powell</keyword> is bankrolling legal fees for criminal defendants of the January 6 insurrection.</li><li>An attorney for an Oath Keeper said they're paying his fees and others'.</li></ul>A fundraising vehicle created by Sidney Powell is paying for the legal defense of people involved in the January 6 insurrection, a lawyer involved in one of the cases told Insider.The group, <keyword id="12689566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="defending-the-republic" source="Orion">Defending the Republic</keyword>, is sending funds to Jonathon Moseley, an attorney representing <keyword id="13358794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kelly-meggs" source="Orion">Kelly Meggs</keyword>, a member of <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keepers-capitol-attack-plans-trump-direction-court-filings-2021-2">the Oath Keepers militia</a>. Prosecutors say Kelly Meggs, along with his wife <keyword id="13358795" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="connie-meggs" source="Orion">Connie Meggs</keyword>, mobbed the Capitol building and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutors-say-oath-keepers-likely-stored-jan-6-weapons-at-virginia-hotel">maintained weapons nearby</a> as Congress certified now-President Joe Biden's victory in the <keyword id="11907757" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2020-election" source="Orion">2020 election</keyword>.Moseley told Insider that Defending the Republic was paying the bills for several other attorneys with clients defending January 6 criminal cases, and that it has an application process for defendants and attorneys in need of payment, but that details about the process are not widely known."That's been one of the odd things about this," Moseley told Insider in an interview Thursday morning. "I think they're doing good stuff and they're not telling anybody they're doing good stuff."Representatives for Defending the Republic, Powell and her lawyer didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.Defending the Republic's use of funds for January 6 defendants was first <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/sidney-powell-funding-oath-keepers-defense">reported by Ken Bensinger in BuzzFeed News</a>. A representative for the <keyword id="12254187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oath-keepers" source="Orion">Oath Keepers</keyword> told BuzzFeed <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">News</keyword> that Powell's group was also paying for the legal defense of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oath-keepers-leader-elmer-stewart-rhodes-capitol-attack-january-6-2022-2">Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the militia's leader</a>, who the Justice Department has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oath-keepers-leader-elmer-stewart-rhodes-capitol-riot-january-6-2022-2">accused of seditious conspiracy</a>.The Justice Department has brought <a href="https://www.insider.com/all-the-us-capitol-pro-trump-riot-arrests-charges-names-2021-1">nearly 800 criminal cases overall</a> against people who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as part of a mob trying to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. Leading up to and following the insurrection, Powell has been one of the loudest voices pushing false conspiracy theories that the presidential election results were manipulated in Biden's favor, and that former President <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword> was the true winner of the vote. She has asked supporters to donate to Defending the Republic, an opaque fundraising vehicle, as she spread her conspiracy theories.The group has raised over $14 million, according to records made public in November. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/sidney-powell-defending-republic-donations/2021/12/06/61bdb004-53ef-11ec-8769-2f4ecdf7a2ad_story.html">According to the Washington Post</a>, $550,000 of that went to a ballot review in Arizona that verified Biden's victory in that state. Another $5.6 million went to unspecified legal fees and grants, the Post reported.<h2>Defending the Republic has legal problems of its own</h2>Specific details about how Defending the Republic uses its money are hard to come by.In late 2020, Powell said the money would be used to pay for lawsuits challenging the 2020 election results — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-campaign-lawsuits-election-results-2020-11">all of which failed</a>, and one of which resulted in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sidney-powell-seeks-sanction-reversal-says-portrayed-as-lunatic-2022-2">sanctions against her and her colleagues</a> with <a href="https://www.insider.com/lawsuit-accuses-former-trump-attorney-misconduct-2020-election-fraud-2022-3">more possible sanctions in her home state of Texas</a>. In <a href="https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/02nd_Judicial_District/Denver_District_Court/Cases%20of%20Interest/20CV34319/001/2021-09-17%2019-56-42%20EXHIBIT%20L-1%20%20Defending%20the%20Republic%20Depo%20and%20Exhibits%2008-04-21.pdf">an August deposition</a>, a lawyer for Defending the Republic said some money would be used to challenge mask and vaccine mandates.People listed as officers in incorporation papers for Defending the Republic <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/sidney-powell-defending-republic-donations/2021/12/06/61bdb004-53ef-11ec-8769-2f4ecdf7a2ad_story.html">told the Washington Post</a> that, in reality, they had either resigned did not have broad responsibility delineated in the group's official documentation, and that Powell personally kept a firm grip over how it spent funds. In December, a grand jury found that Powell had falsely filled out incorporation documents as part of a federal investigation into her fundraising, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/03/sidney-powell-filed-false-incorporation-papers-for-non-profit-grand-jury-finds">according to The Guardian</a>.Defending the Republic is also named as a defendant in a lawsuit that Dominion has brought against Powell, alleging she defamed the election technology company with her conspiracy theories. In court filings, Dominion <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.225699/gov.uscourts.dcd.225699.39.0_4.pdf">has argued</a> that Defending the Republic is Powell's corporate "alter ego" that she has used to funnel money to herself. Powell is also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-sues-verizon-jan-6-committee-subpoena-2022-2">fighting</a> a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-committee-subpoenas-giuliani-powell-ellis-2022-1">subpoena from the January 6 Committee in the House of Representatives</a> seeking her phone records.<div type="image" title="sidney powell" height="1666" width="2223" msid="90144390" hostid="261"></div>Moseley told Insider that lawyers and defendants involved in the January 6 insurrection can apply to have it cover legal fees, but that he personally didn't have to go through the process because Meggs had already been approved for the program before he joined the case."I have told many people to go talk to them, that they should apply," Moseley said. "But I didn't have to do an actual application form or anything like that because I was invited."Moseley has also previously represented Zachary Price, a member of the <keyword id="11932020" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="proud-boys" source="Orion">Proud Boys</keyword> charged with crimes related to his attack on the Capitol, and told Insider he hasn't been completely paid for his work on Price's case. He said he would have applied to Defending the Republic's fund had he "known about this option" at the time.Court records show that Moseley is also listed as an attorney representing Christopher Price and Cynthia Ballenger, another husband-wife due charged with crimes linked to the attack on the Capitol. He told Insider he didn't ask Defending the Republic to pay their legal fees because he "didn't anticipate much work" in their case, and that another attorney was handling most of the work pro bono.Moseley said he doesn't know Powell personally, nor is he familiar with Howard Kleinhendler, an attorney for Powell also <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/sidney-powell-funding-oath-keepers-defense">reportedly involved</a> in making decisions for Defending the Republic."I just hand in my invoices every month," Moseley said.He declined to say who he coordinated with at the organization, saying they were "very private.""I don't understand why these people are so sensitive about it," Moseley said. "I don't see the problem, but they are nervous. Other people are nervous about the attention, things like that. So I'll leave them to speak for themselves."

Sidney Powell is using some of the $15 million she raised from election conspiracy theories to fund the legal defense of January 6 defendants

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An <keyword id="9860607" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oath-keepers">Oath Keepers</keyword> member said he organized an "alliance" with the Proud Boys and Three Percenters.</li><li>The messages, obtained by prosecutors, were sent ahead of the January 6 Capitol riot.</li><li>Members of all three far-right groups face charges in relation to the riot.</li></ul>A member of the Oath Keepers militia said he "organized an alliance" with members of the Proud Boys and Three Percenters ahead of the Capitol riot on January 6, according to <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.227815/gov.uscourts.dcd.227815.98.0_1.pdf">messages included in court filings</a>.The Oath Keepers member, <keyword id="10905681" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kelly-meggs">Kelly Meggs</keyword>, wrote that the right-wing extremist groups made plans to "work together.""This week I organized an alliance between Oath Keepers, Florida 3%ers, and Proud Boys. We have decided to work together and shut this shit down," Meggs wrote in Facebook messages on December 19, according to the filing.The message was included in <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.227815/gov.uscourts.dcd.227815.98.0_1.pdf">a filing from federal prosecutors</a> arguing that a judge should keep Meggs in jail ahead of a criminal trial. Prosecutors charged Meggs, alongside several other members of the Oath Keepers, in relation to the insurrection at Washington, DC on January 6. Prosecutors describe him as a "team leader" of the group. His wife, <keyword id="10905682" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="connie-meggs">Connie Meggs</keyword>, has also been charged and has recently argued that her court hearings should be delayed <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keeper-capitol-riot-asks-delay-hearing-wedding-ring-stuck-2021-3">because her wedding ring is stuck</a>.In previous filings, prosecutors have <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keepers-capitol-attack-plans-trump-direction-court-filings-2021-2">detailed the Oath Keepers' efforts in planning their actions at the Capitol</a>. Members of the group held training sessions, carried military-style equipment, <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keepers-quick-reaction-force-capitol-riot-overstated-lawyer-2021-3">kept a "quick reaction force" nearby to supply guns</a>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/accused-oath-keeper-charged-capitol-riot-said-kill-politicians-court-2021-3">threatened to murder lawmakers</a>, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keepers-capitol-attack-plans-trump-direction-court-filings-2021-2">looked at then-President Donald Trump for direction</a>, court filings show.The new filing sheds more light on the extent to which Kelly Meggs was involved in the planning, and how he expected Trump to support their efforts. He said the Oath Keepers were "called" to Washington on that day."Trumps staying in, he's Gonna use the emergency broadcast system on cell phones to broadcast to the American people. Then he will claim the insurrection act [sic]," Meggs wrote in a Facebook message obtained by prosecutors.Members of the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters have also been charged in relation to the riot. Prosecutors brought conspiracy charges against the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, in addition to other charges.The Justice Department is considering whether to <a href="https://www.insider.com/sedition-charges-capitol-riot-likelihood-succeeding-explained-2021-3">bring sedition charges</a> against the Oath Keepers, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/us/politics/sedition-oath-keepers-capitol-riot.html">the New York Times reported</a>. Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing the cases against Oath Keepers members, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-sherwin-sedition-capitol-riot-investigation-professional-conduct-justice-department-2021-3">scolded department officials</a> over the report and threatened to issue sanctions over statements speculating about charges. A Justice Department official told Mehta that the comments given to the Times would be investigated by the department's professional conduct office.Expanded Coverage Module: capitol-siege-module

An Oath Keepers member bragged about organizing an 'alliance' with other far-right groups ahead of the Capitol riot, court filings say

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An <keyword id="9860607" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oath-keepers">Oath Keepers</keyword> militia member charged in the Capitol riot has asked to delay her court hearings.</li><li><keyword id="10905682" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="connie-meggs">Connie Meggs</keyword> says her wedding ring is stuck, so she can't board a plane for court in Washington, DC.</li><li>Her husband was also arrested in connection with the insurrection.</li></ul>Connie Meggs, a member of <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/oath-keepers">the far-right Oath Keepers militia</a> who participated in the riot at the Capitol building, says her court hearings should be delayed because her wedding ring is stuck, her lawyer said in a court filing.Meggs was arrested in Florida on February 17 alongside her husband, <keyword id="10905681" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kelly-meggs">Kelly Meggs</keyword>, who was also charged over his participation in the insurrection. But while Kelly Meggs was extradited to Washington, DC to be jailed ahead of his trial, Connie Meggs wasn't allowed to board a plane."When Mrs. Meggs was taken to the Jacksonville International Airport, she was denied boarding of the aircraft because she was wearing her wedding ring, which apparently cannot be removed past the knuckle on her ring finger," <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.227816/gov.uscourts.dcd.227816.67.0.pdf">her attorney, David Anthony Wilson, wrote in a court filing reviewed by Insider</a>. "She was then taken back to the jail in Orlando, Florida where the officials there refused to cut the ring from her finger. To this day she remains languishing in that facility."The 59-year-old Connie participated in the mob that stormed the Capitol building on January 6, prosecutors say. The insurrectionists sought to stop Congress from certifying the country's electoral votes in favor of now-President Joe Biden at the urging of then-President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged.Prosecutors have <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keepers-capitol-attack-plans-trump-direction-court-filings-2021-2">identified the Oath Keepers as one of the far-right groups that planned violence ahead of the event</a>, along with the Three Percenters and Proud Boys. Ten members of the Oath Keepers have been charged in public court documents so far.Because Connie Meggs remains jailed in Florida, her attorney has asked the judge to delay hearings over her case, which will be based in Washington, DC. Meggs said she could participate in the hearings via video if she's released on bail, Wilson said."Because Mrs. Meggs cannot be transported while wearing the wedding ring which she cannot herself remove, nor will the jail, it appears there is no definitive time frame within which she can appear before this Court should she remain in custody," Wilson wrote, adding: "She is in limbo, deprived of her liberty and unable to even appear before the Court to start preparing a defense to the charges against her, which she is anxious to do."A representative for Jacksonville International Airport didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.A judge previously ruled that Meggs should remain in detention until a criminal trial.Federal prosecutors appear to be building a major case against the Oath Keepers, charging them in groups and filing excerpts of communications between them showing that <a href="https://www.insider.com/oath-keepers-capitol-attack-plans-trump-direction-court-filings-2021-2">they trained in advance of the insurrection, looked at Trump's directions for an attack on the Capitol</a>, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/accused-oath-keeper-charged-capitol-riot-said-kill-politicians-court-2021-3">had ambitions to kill lawmakers in Congress</a>.Expanded Coverage Module: capitol-siege-module

A militia member charged in the Capitol riot says her court hearing should be delayed because her wedding ring is stuck, lawyer says

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12040647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="enrique-tarrio" source="Orion">Enrique Tarrio</keyword>, charged with leading the <keyword id="11932020" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="proud-boys" source="Orion">Proud Boys</keyword>' attack on the Capitol, is asking for a venue change.</li><li>Tarrio is citing an Oath Keepers-backed poll showing 70% of District residents already think Jan. 6-ers are guilty.</li></ul>Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio is asking for a venue change, arguing <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21883680-tarriovenueletter5-5-22">in a new court filing</a> that Washington, DC residents are prejudiced against <keyword id="11910059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="capitol-attack" source="Orion">Capitol attack</keyword> defendants.In arguing that he couldn't get a fair jury in DC, Tarrio's filing cites a poll conducted on behalf of two Oath Keepers also charged in the attack on the Capitol, Thomas Caldwell and Connie Meggs.That poll, conducted by Lux Research, shows that 72% of District of Columbia residents say they would be likely to find those accused of storming the Capitol guilty.<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21883652-luxpoll">The Lux poll</a> was taken on behalf of accused Oath Keepers Thomas Caldwell and Connie Meggs, and has already been rejected as a basis for venue changes by judges in other Jan. 6-related cases.Tarrio's venue-change request also cites <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21883739-proudboyspoll5-5-22">a separate survey</a> by John Zogby Strategies showing that 68 percent of DC registered voters who have heard of the Proud Boys hold an unfavorable opinion of the group.A lawyer for Tarrio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Tarrio, charged with conspiracy for allegedly orchestrating the extremist group's attack on the Capitol, has also asked <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-enrique-tarrio-wants-out-jail-capitol-attack-2022-4">to be freed on a $1 million bond</a>; that request is also pending.Federal prosecutors say that although Tarrio was not at the Capitol on the day of the attack, he spent months planning and encouraging the Proud Boys' violent disruption of Congress's confirmation of Joe Biden's presidential win.

Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio doesn't think he'll get a fair trial in DC

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The DOJ charged six people in the <keyword id="9860607" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oath-keepers">Oath Keepers</keyword> movement in connection with the Capitol riot.</li><li>Nine people associated with the Oath Keepers are charged with conspiracy to obstruct Congress.</li><li>The Oath Keepers are a far-right extremist group.</li></ul><a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1369071/download">In an indictment released on Friday</a>, the <keyword id="67869" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Department-of-Justice">Department of Justice</keyword> <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/six-individuals-affiliated-oath-keepers-indicted-federal-grand-jury-conspiracy-obstruct">charged six additional</a> defendants associated with the far-right Oath Keepers movement with conspiracy to obstruct Congress.The six new defendants have been added as codefendants to an existing case against three defendants, Jessica Watkins, Donovan Crowl, and Thomas Caldwell, alleging that Oath Keepers conspired to commit violence at the Capitol. <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/six-individuals-affiliated-oath-keepers-indicted-federal-grand-jury-conspiracy-obstruct">The new defendants</a> are Graydon Young, Kelly Meggs, Connie Meggs, Laura Steele, Sandra Ruth Parker, and Bennie Alvin Parker.Prosecutors said in the indictment that the defendants planned to besiege the Capitol as early as November 3 and coordinated plans on social media for weeks beforehand to travel to Washington, DC, with weapons and tactical gear in tow. "Trump said It's gonna be wild!!!!!!! It's gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that's what he's saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your s---!!" Meggs wrote in a December 22 Facebook message, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1369071/download">prosecutors said</a>. President Donald Trump tweeted on December 19: "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!" So far, the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases">has filed conspiracy charges</a> against 18 defendants in total in connection with the riot, including the nine people associated with the Oath Keepers.Since the <keyword id="10554785" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="capitol-siege">Capitol siege</keyword>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/all-the-us-capitol-pro-trump-riot-arrests-charges-names-2021-1">authorities have charged over 250 defendants</a> with offenses including entering and remaining in a restricted building illegally, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and, in some cases, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-stolen-speakers-lectern-returned-to-capitol-2021-1">theft of US government property</a>.After the initial wave of prosecutions and arrests, investigators started refocusing their wide-ranging inquiries on whether the violence was coordinated, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-capitol-riot-investigation-shifts-gears-11611687676">The Wall Street Journal reported</a>. Those ongoing probes could lead to more-complex conspiracy and sedition charges, the report said.In <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/u-s-v-ethan-nordean-aka-rufio-panman-charging-affidavit/f38139a0-680e-471d-a87e-d992bf574dc3/?itid=lk_inline_manual_1">charging documents filed in the case of the Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean</a> earlier this month, prosecutors suggested that the far-right extremist group <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-planned-capitol-siege-as-revenge-against-police-fbi-2021-2">may have planned violence on police officers at the Capitol</a> to get revenge on Washington-area law enforcement after one of their members was stabbed at a December demonstration that turned violent.Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-capitol-rico-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-mulls-using-law-designed-to-prosecute-mafia-against-capitol-rioters-idUSKBN2A32W2">Reuters reported</a> that prosecutors at the Department of Justice were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-prosecutors-capitol-rioters-rico-law-organized-crime-2021-2">also considering whether to pursue charges</a> under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law enacted in the 1970s to prosecute Mafia members and organized-crime rings and connect organized-crime leaders to those offenses.

DOJ charges 6 more defendants in the Oath Keepers movement with conspiracy in the Capitol insurrection

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tuesday's hearing will dissect 'that mob on the Mall,' Adam Schiff has promised — including its leadership and funding.</li><li>The role of the <keyword id="11932020" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="proud-boys" source="Orion">Proud Boys</keyword>, <keyword id="12254187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oath-keepers" source="Orion">Oath Keepers</keyword>, and other extremist groups will be front and center.</li></ul>Tuesday's January 6 hearing will focus on "that mob on the mall," California Democrat Adam Schiff <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mick-mulvaney-republicans-must-watch-january-6-hearings-trump-2022-7">said last Sunday,</a> promising that right-wing extremist groups — including the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters — will be front and center.It's a tantalizing prospect, given what we've seen already.Will there be more from ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who had a chatty cameo during the first hearing, and that other Proud Boy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boy-membership-tripled-trump-stand-back-and-stand-by-2022-6">who testified membership "tripled"</a> when Donald Trump told them to "stand back and stand by?"Will there be more on how the words "Proud Boys" and "Oath Keepers" kept cropping up "when Mr. Giuliani would be around," as we heard from White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson during the sixth hearing?We'll have to tune in to hearing 7, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, to find out.Meanwhile, here are five potential bombshells, based on what committee members like Schiff have teased is coming — and also based on the worried-but-wishful thinking of <keyword id="12554904" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="extremism" source="Orion">extremism</keyword> watchdogs.<h2>1. 'How a group of Proud Boys led a mob'</h2>"In our hearings to come," Republican vice-chair Rep. Liz Cheney told viewers on June 9, kicking off the first hearing, "we will show specifically how a group of Proud Boys led a mob into the Capitol building on January 6."Tuesday could be that hearing to come. And given that the general outlines of the Proud Boys' role on January 6 are already out there, the word "specifically" is key.Federal indictments have long called the Proud Boys the spear-tip of the mob. The feds have alleged that members of the violent, pro-Trump group were first at the Capitol barricades, and first to bust a window into the building itself, allowing rioters inside.But bombshell-dropping has become routine for the committee, especially given the sixth hearing on June 28, when Hutchinson lobbed a virtual evidence fusillade, including that Trump <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-most-notable-moments-from-the-january-6-hearings-so-far-2022-7">knew some in the mob were armed</a> when he urged them to "fight like hell" and then tried to lead them to the Capitol.So explosive new revelations about the Proud Boys may well come Tuesday, maybe through additional testimony by Tarrio and alleged North Carolina Proud Boys leader Jeremy Bertino, the "membership tripled" fellow.We know from the first hearing that both men were pretty talkative during their taped committee questioning.Elmer Stewart Rhodes, leader and founder of the network of anti-government militias comprising the Oath Keepers, has also appeared before the committee, though he mostly invoked the Fifth Amendment; on Friday he offered to testify again, but <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/08/jan6-oathkeepers-stewartrhodes-00044729">only if it was broadcast live</a>.Jonathan Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, said it's a good bet that at least Tarrio and Bertino — <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/jeremy-bertino/">an unindicted co-conspirator</a> in the government's Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case — will have more to tell us on Tuesday, as will any surprise garrulous extremists the committee may have in the wings. <h2>2. That extremist-Trumpworld backchannel</h2>Minutes after the first public hearing, Rep. Bennie Thompson had a decisive answer for CNN's Jake Tapper, who asked, "are there going to be witnesses that describe actual conversations between these extremist groups and anyone in Trump's orbit?"<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-allies-spoke-with-extremist-groups-capitol-riot-hearings-chair-2022-6">The committee chair's answer was "Yes."</a>There will be "a number of witnesses," Thompson promised, "that people have not talked to before, that will document a lot of what was going on in the Trump orbit while all of this was going on." Here again, Tuesday may be the day for these promised new witnesses and new specifics.Before the public hearings began, we already knew a little about extremist-Trumpworld coordination — including that the Oath Keepers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oath-keepers-to-tell-jury-they-believed-trump-would-federalize-them-2022-6">were invited to provide security</a> for January 6 rally organizers, among them longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone.Then Hutchinson revealed that this coordination extended to the White House itself. "I recall hearing the word Oath Keeper and hearing the word Proud Boy closer to the planning of the January 6 rally, when Mr. Giuliani would be around," the top aide to Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said in her pre-taped testimony."I'd really like to hear the story behind that," said Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty <keyword id="11899820" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="law" source="Orion">Law</keyword> Center."How many people in the White House were talking about the Proud Boys or were talking about the Oath Keepers," Miller wondered in a recent interview. "And in what capacity were they talking about them?" As a bonus backchannel bombshell, Tuesday's hearing may reveal more on how the Oath Keepers' Rhodes tried — and failed — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oath-keepers-leader-elmer-stewart-rhodes-donald-trump-january-6-2022-5">to get Trump on the phone</a> on the evening of January 6.And speaking of backchannels, we'd sure like to learn more about any Congress-insurrectionist action — especially that riot-eve t<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-republican-congressman-barry-loudermilk-tour-day-before-january-6-2022-6">our of congressional office hallways</a> that GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia gave to a group of MAGA-hatted visitors.One of Loudermilk's tour-goers was filmed at the riot the next day, shouting threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "We're coming to take you out and pull you out by your hairs."<h2>3. Cooperation among extremist groups</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boy-oath-keepers-leaders-film-crew-january-5-meeting-2022-3">A meeting</a> between Rhodes and Tarrio in a parking garage on January 5, 2021, is another insurrection plot point where new information would be welcome.A handshake and brief greeting were exchanged by the leaders of the country's two largest far-right extremist groups on the eve of what both had openly hoped would be an insurrection. Was anything more exchanged at this seemingly chance encounter?"It's still kind of an open question of what was discussed there, whether that was any planning and organization or if that was just a kind of happenstance," said George Washington's Lewis, noting that it would be great to hear more about this on Tuesday.Other signs of possible coordination among extremist groups have cropped up in court filings, Lewis said. Maybe these, too, will be fleshed out.He pointed to a March court filing in which accused Oath Keepers conspirator Connie Meggs asked for bail. <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.227815/gov.uscourts.dcd.227815.98.0_1.pdf">The filing</a> included a December 19, 2020, Facebook post from her husband, accused Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs."This week I organized an alliance between Oath Keepers, Florida 3%ers, and Proud Boys," his post said. "We have decided to work together and shut this shit down." Something was certainly up in Florida. Key Proud Boys sedition co-defendants Tarrio and Joe Biggs, who is a former InfoWars staffer, live in the state, as do Stone and several of the Oath Keepers who were his bodyguards at the Capitol on January 5. Lewis isn't expecting clear-cut diagrams of relationships, though, among extremists, Trumpworld, and Trump himself, who's a master at keeping his hands clean."It's all part of a small complex ecosystem, full of grifters, hangers-on, conspiracy-minded individuals," Lewis said."I mean, there's never more than one or two degrees of separation between a Mark Meadows, a Roger Stone, a Mike Flynn, Ali Alexander, Giuliani, Alex Jones, and then domestic violent extremists like Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes."So, you know, when you have talk about these relationships, it's less of a direct organizational chart or straight lines between persons A, B and C, than it is this kind of interconnected web of very strong personalities, each of whom are more power-hungry and conspiracy-minded than the last." <h2>4. Did money cross hands? </h2>Schiff said last Sunday that Tuesday's hearing will include new details on "who was financing" that mob on the Mall.The possibility for funding-related bombshells is particularly intriguing.Were Oath Keepers paid to provide security to rally organizers or participants? If so, where did the money come from? And what about any Trumpy funding for Oath Keepers' and Proud Boys' legal bills? On January 5, 2021, the day before the <keyword id="11907536" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="capitol-riot" source="Orion">Capitol riot</keyword>, Steve Bannon suggested on his podcast that he and others in Trump's orbit had tried to wrangle bail for Tarrio earlier that week. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-leader-arrested-washington-dc-destruction-of-property-charges-2021-1">Proud Boy leader was arrested</a> after the December burning of a Black Lives Matter banner belonging to a historic Black church in DC.And in March, it was revealed that Trump attorney Sidney Powell used some of the $15 million she raised from election conspiracy theories <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sidney-powell-defending-the-republic-fund-january-6-capitol-riot-criminal-defense-2022-3https://www.businessinsider.com/sidney-powell-defending-the-republic-fund-january-6-capitol-riot-criminal-defense-2022-3">for the legal defense of January 6 defendants</a> including some of the 9 sedition-charged Oath Keepers.The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were otherwise generally self-sufficient, though, using membership dues or crowd-sourced funding to pay for travel and supplies, said George Washington's Lewis and the SPLC's Miller."It actually does not take a lot of money," Lewis said, "to get in a van with a couple of guys and some body armor and buy some bear spray and go to DC. That's just the reality."<h2>5. How at risk was Mike Pence? Nancy Pelosi? </h2>Previous hearings revealed that Vice President Mike Pence was at one point just 40 feet away from rioters.We know from the committee's June 16 hearing and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/page/file/1355186/download">from court filings</a> that a Proud Boys confidential informant told the FBI that the group <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu01ypSzwDk">"would have killed Mike Pence</a> if given the chance" — and Pelosi, too. Will there be more details on this?"As we saw time and time again, as the Proud Boys were part of this mob, they played that role in egging on, inciting, encouraging other rioters at very specific, important flash-points throughout the day," said Lewis. As for the Oath Keepers, the DOJ said in <a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Rhodes%20et%20al%20Indictment.pdf">its January 12, 2022 seditious conspiracy indictment</a> that a subset of the extremist group at one point peeled off from the Rotunda "toward the House of Representatives in search of Speaker Pelosi. They did not find Speaker Pelosi." "Based on everything we know," said Lewis, "I don't think they were going to try to lobby her." We shouldn't lose sight, extremism watchdogs warned, of how well-armed some rally-goers were, and how violent their rhetoric was."They've engaged in violence for many years, and their words do have meaning," Miller said of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.In focusing on "that mob on the Mall," and the revolution-bent extremists who allegedly were its vanguard, Tuesday's hearing may shed new light on how close to real harm key lawmakers came."There is this version of events where one or two small things break differently," said Lewis, "and the story we're telling a year and a half later is much different."Because the mob wanted to use violence and did use violence against more than 140 law enforcement offers. And had they found Mike Pence, had they found Nancy Pelosi, I am fairly confident they would have used violence against them as well."

You Searched For "connie meggs" and got 6 results

Sidney Powell is using some of the $15 million she raised from election conspiracy theories to fund the legal defense of January 6 defendants

Jacob Shamsian

An Oath Keepers member bragged about organizing an 'alliance' with other far-right groups ahead of the Capitol riot, court filings say

Jacob Shamsian

A militia member charged in the Capitol riot says her court hearing should be delayed because her wedding ring is stuck, lawyer says

Jacob Shamsian

Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio doesn't think he'll get a fair trial in DC

Laura Italiano,C. Ryan Barber

DOJ charges 6 more defendants in the Oath Keepers movement with conspiracy in the Capitol insurrection

Grace Panetta

5 bombshells we hope drop at Tuesday's Jan. 6 committee hearing on extremist groups and the 'mob on the Mall'

Laura Italiano

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