Judge reverses course, grants Oath Keepers access to Capitol after Trump grants clemency
CBSN
The federal judge who presided over the seditious conspiracy trial of far-right Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes rescinded an order that barred Rhodes and his co-defendants from traveling to Washington, D.C. The Justice Department had called on him to modify the sentences of the group members, who were serving years-long sentences after their convictions on crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said Monday, "[I]t would be improper for the court post-commutation to modify the original sentences," but because President Trump's clemency "can reasonably be read to extinguish enforcement of Defendants' terms of supervised release," the judge vacated his order.
Mehta on Friday had ordered the Oath Keeper members Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerchel, and Joseph Hacket to be barred from entering Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Capitol building "without first obtaining the permission from the Court."
