What happened to the Capitol building is abhorrent
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:34 am
Rhodes testified that he believed the 2020 election was "unconstitutional," but he also claimed that there was no plan to actually enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, another key explanation employed by all defendants.
A third one-time member of the far-right Oath Keepers told the jury that he had been led to believe that Rhodes had the phone number belonging to a U.S. Secret Service agent and that Rhodes had been in contact with that individual in the months before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
John Zimmerman, a former member of the North Carolina chapter of the militia group and a military veteran, testified that Rhodes told him of the alleged connection with the agent during a September 2020 phone buy phone number list call between Rhodes and the individual who Zimmerman thought was the Secret Service agent ahead of a Trump rally in Fayetteville, N.C. The U.S. Secret Service said it is "aware" that individuals from the Oath Keepers had contacted them but they were not aware of any allegations of criminal wrongdoing among their ranks connected to the Rhodes case.
"t is not uncommon for various organizations to contact us concerning security restrictions and activities that are permissible in proximity to our protected sites," a Secret Service statement said at the time of Zimmerman's testimony.
Stanley Woodward, Meggs' attorney, told the jury they did not condone what happened on Jan. 6, but disputed the government's interpretation of events.
", but these defendants are not charged with causing the events of Jan. 6," Woodward argued.
Watkins was one of three defendants who chose to take the stand. She testified that while she was "just another idiot" inside the Capitol that day — admitting to entering the building and interfering with law enforcement — she was not part of a conspiracy to obstruct Congress' certification.
A third one-time member of the far-right Oath Keepers told the jury that he had been led to believe that Rhodes had the phone number belonging to a U.S. Secret Service agent and that Rhodes had been in contact with that individual in the months before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
John Zimmerman, a former member of the North Carolina chapter of the militia group and a military veteran, testified that Rhodes told him of the alleged connection with the agent during a September 2020 phone buy phone number list call between Rhodes and the individual who Zimmerman thought was the Secret Service agent ahead of a Trump rally in Fayetteville, N.C. The U.S. Secret Service said it is "aware" that individuals from the Oath Keepers had contacted them but they were not aware of any allegations of criminal wrongdoing among their ranks connected to the Rhodes case.
"t is not uncommon for various organizations to contact us concerning security restrictions and activities that are permissible in proximity to our protected sites," a Secret Service statement said at the time of Zimmerman's testimony.
Stanley Woodward, Meggs' attorney, told the jury they did not condone what happened on Jan. 6, but disputed the government's interpretation of events.
", but these defendants are not charged with causing the events of Jan. 6," Woodward argued.
Watkins was one of three defendants who chose to take the stand. She testified that while she was "just another idiot" inside the Capitol that day — admitting to entering the building and interfering with law enforcement — she was not part of a conspiracy to obstruct Congress' certification.