Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes agrees to waive appearance in trial after positive COVID-19 test
CBSN
Washington — The seditious conspiracy trial of five alleged members of the far-right Oath Keepers group is back on track after leader Stewart Rhodes agreed to waive his right to appear for portions of witness testimony on Tuesday after he tested positive for COVID-19.
The highest-profile trial in the Justice Department's sprawling Jan. 6 investigation was unexpectedly postponed on Monday after its top defendant contracted the virus while in pretrial detention.
Rhodes, whose attorneys say he is "in total isolation," dialed into Judge Amit Mehta's courtroom from jail in Alexandria, Va., and said he would allow the government to call eight witnesses deemed by his legal team to be "inconsequential" to the case specifically against him. These witnesses include a U.S. Capitol Police officer, a Secret Service agent, the Architect of the U.S. Capitol, and a custodian of records from Facebook.
