'Oath Keepers' Leader Offers To Testify Live Before Jan. 6 Select Committee

An attorney for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes says that Rhodes will offer to testify under oath before the House Jan. 6 select committee but will ask that a series of demands be met first.

Phil Linder, who is serving as Rhodes attorney in the Jan. 6 investigation and Rhodes' criminal seditious conspiracy case, said Rhodes will demand any committee testimony take place live on national television. 

"He'll do it under oath, but he wants it to be part of a public hearing, similar to the previous committee hearings," Linder said. Linder said Rhodes wants similar national exposure for his testimony. 

A committee spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

Rhodes is in pretrial detention in a Washington, D.C.-area jail as he awaits trial later this year on seditious conspiracy charges. He has pleaded not guilty in the case. 

He has already sat for a virtual deposition with the Jan. 6 committee, shortly after his indictment in his criminal case on Jan. 12, 2022. Shortly after the deposition, Rhodes' attorney told CBS News that Rhodes had declined to answer some of the committee's questions, but had spoken at length about the origins of the Oath Keepers group.

Criminal prosecutors have alleged Rhodes and his co-defendants were part of a conspiracy to block the peaceful transfer of power. 

"They coordinated travel across the country to enter Washington, D.C., equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodes's call to take up arms at Rhodes's direction," according to the indictment. "Some co-conspirators also amassed firearms on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., distributed them among 'quick reaction force' teams, and planned to use the firearms in support of their plot to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power."

The Jan. 6 select committee had subpoenaed Rhodes in November 2021, before his arrest, seeking testimony about his activities. The subpoena said, "On Election Day, you declared that an 'honest election' could only result in a win for Donald Trump, called for Oath Keepers to operate as "undercover" poll watchers and encouraged your members to 'stock up on ammo' and prepare for a 'full-on war in the streets.'"  

The select committee's next hearing will be held on July 12.