No wonder Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes is suddenly so eager to testify
Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes has been rotting behind bars for the past six months while he awaits criminal trial on serious charges like seditious conspiracy. Given that members of his own group have cut cooperating plea deals, Rhodes is likely to be convicted and never get out of prison.
If Rhodes were smart he’d cut a cooperation deal with the DOJ himself. Instead, a couple days ago, he announced that he wanted to testify to the January 6th Committee, while demanding that it take place live during a public hearing. There was no reason to expect that the committee would give in to Rhodes’ conditions, given that he’s an unstable nut job who can’t be trusted on live television, and that the committee is doing so well it doesn’t really need Rhodes.
But now we’re getting some interesting insight on what may have suddenly motivated Rhodes to want to testify to the committee. Mother Jones is reporting that during this upcoming Tuesday’s January 6th public hearing, former Oath Keepers spokesman and former Stewart Rhodes roommate Jason Van Tatenhove is set to publicly testify against the Oath Keepers.
It’s enough to make you wonder if Rhodes knew Van Tatenhove was about to publicly testify against him, or at least feared that the committee had lined up someone compelling to testify against the Oath Keepers, and that’s what prompted Rhodes to suddenly decide that he also wanted to publicly testify. The committee would surely be willing to let Rhodes testify behind closed doors, to see if he has anything useful or coherent to say. But they’re not just going to hand him a hot mic. As the upcoming testimony of Van Tatenhove makes clear, the committee doesn’t need to roll the dice on someone like Rhodes, when it has the vetted cooperation of his terrorist group’s former spokesman.
