![Takeaways from the landmark sedition indictment against the Oath Keepers and why DOJ acted now](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220105232504-capitol-riot-west-front-file-01062021-super-tease.jpg)
Takeaways from the landmark sedition indictment against the Oath Keepers and why DOJ acted now
CNN
The Justice Department on Thursday announced the first sedition charges related to the January 6 insurrection, a watershed moment in the year-long investigation.
The case resolves around the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, and its leader Stewart Rhodes. Many of the defendants were already facing charges for storming the US Capitol building and deny wrongdoing. But the new indictment raises the stakes significantly and made public new details about their alleged plans for violence.
Attorney General Merrick Garland had balked at the earlier efforts to bring the seditious conspiracy charge. But in the months since, people briefed on the matter say FBI investigators and DC federal prosecutors have spent much time building the case, at least in part with the help of cooperators and the benefit of internal communications among the Oath Keepers.