An Oath Keeper, Brian Ulrich, pled guilty on Friday to seditious conspiracy during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. His cooperation with the criminal investigation and the anticipated trial holds out great promise for the prosecution and its ability to press on further toward responsibility for President Trump.
Ulrich is the second Oath Keeper, after Joshua James, to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy. Both had to pledge to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation.
It largely escaped notice which federal judge in Washington D.C. took the pleas from both James and now Ulrich. It is Judge Amir Mehta. He was a nominee of President Obama, whose strong credentials carried him through the Senate by acclamation.
Mehta has the James and Ulrich pleas for a specific reason: he has the conspiracy indictment against the whole group of Oath Keepers, and he will preside over their trial, which may occur later this year.
Judge Mehta also has a key civil suit about January 6th against President Trump. When Trump made a motion to dismiss, Judge Mehta threw it out. Judge Mehta’s opinion addresses how there was plausible evidence to suggest Trump engaged in a conspiracy with organized groups. The conspiracy would use any means including violence to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Judge Mehta’s opinion allows the case to proceed, with the plaintiffs demanding documents, depositions, and other evidence from Trump and members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Returning to the plea by Ulrich, a great deal depends on how vigorously Judge Mehta acts on the pleas and that trial. Time and again pleas by guilty defendants have proved to be the key to a successful conspiracy prosecutorial investigation and criminal trial. A famous example was in the very courthouse, in the District of Columbia, where Judge Mehta sits. Back in 1973, federal prosecutors moved forward with the case against the original Watergate burglars. The burglars pled, believing they would receive light sentences.
Judge John Sirica was enraged at the insult of obstruction and conspiracy paraded before him in his courtroom. He famously gave James McCord, former CIA officer and FBI agent, a sentence of 25 years in prison. The sentence broke through the Nixon White House’s cover-up. McCord wrote a letter to Judge Sirica telling about the conspiracy. The ensuing high-level Watergate criminal trial included the top White House officials and the Attorney General, John Mitchell. McCord’s sentence was reduced from 25 years to 1 to 5 years, and he served only 4 months.
Will Judge Mehta have the opportunity and the just determination that will similarly follow the trail from the January 6th seditious conspiracy near, or actually to, President Trump? Time will tell.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2022/04/29/the-latest-oath-keepers-seditious-plea-today-goals-to-a-trump-skeptical-judge/