In an attempt to take a page out of former President Donald Trump’s book, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes —who is on trial for his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol— submitted a court filing on Tuesday demanding the court appoint a special master to review his case. On Thursday, a federal judge turned down his request, calling it “mystifying,” according to POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney.
“You told me last week you were here in good faith. I’m starting to question that,” said District Judge Amit Mehta in Rhodes’ hearing. “The idea that you would want to inject a special master for no apparent purpose … a week before trial is mystifying.”
MEHTA tells Rhodes' lawyer the motion for a special master is nonsense: "You told me last week you were here in good faith. I’m starting to question that."
"The idea that you would want to inject a special master for no apparent purpose … a week before trial is mystifying."
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 14, 2022
Rhodes claimed that it was necessary to sort through all of the information amassed during discovery and they have not had access to that material. But judge Mehta was not buying it.
The Oath Keepers are a far-right militia group. Many of their members were present at the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since then, Rhodes and ten other Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy.
