Jared Moskowitz Pounces On GOP For Stewart Rhodes’ Attendance At Hearing

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) called out House Republicans on Wednesday for the presence of Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right violent militia group Oath Keepers, at the first hearing for a new GOP-led panel related to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the riot; however, his 18-year prison sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump upon his return to office.

Republicans used the panel to fuel a “revisionist spectacle,” per The Associated Press, with Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) calling the initial House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack a “total sham” and declaring that police officers put on “a pretty good show” in their testimonies about the bloody scenes from the U.S. Capitol that day.

“It’s not every day, of course … you get to meet someone who was convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States. Hasn’t happened in 30 years,” Moskowitz said of Rhodes, adding that the Oath Keepers founder was sitting in the first row, which he said was a “reserved” section controlled by his GOP colleagues.

Rhodes told a HuffPost reporter that he wasn’t there at the panel’s invitation; the committee’s chair, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), said Rhodes just showed up.

Moskowitz continued: “Not sure why he’s here. I don’t know if he’s here to tell us about the Oath Keepers’ secret handshake or what treehouse they meet in or whether girls are allowed in. I’ve always wondered that about the Oath Keepers.”

The hearing was supposed to be about the delayed capture of Brian Cole, the man accused of laying pipe bombs outside Democratic and Republican party headquarters buildings on Jan. 5, 2021. The pipe bombs have been the subject of right-wing conspiracy theories.

“I’m here because I believe they’re railroading an innocent man. I think Cole is innocent just like I was and it’s like deja vu all over again,” Rhodes told HuffPost.

Following the hearing, Rhodes and right-wing election denier Ivan Raiklin also spoke to Infowars from outside Loudermilk’s office.

Roughly a year ago, a Washington, D.C., district court barred Rhodes and several other Oath Keepers from entering the nation’s capital and U.S. Capitol grounds without court permission. That order was rescinded just days later.

Rhodes relaunched the Oath Keepers in November, claiming that the president could call upon the militia “if he sees it necessary” as a means to “repel invasions, to suppress insurrections, and to execute the laws of the union.”

Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that GOP members said they did not invite Stewart Rhodes to the hearing.