first when stewart rhodes, the head of the oath keepers and another defendant, edward vallejo pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy. now, you know these men are two of the 11 suspects accused of plotting to basically try to use force to top congress from carrying out the job of certifying the presidential election. you know, the thing we all assume will happen after a free and fair election. and that same thing that s part of a peaceful transition of power. the kind of thing that stops us from being addict tatership when someone says, you know what, no, i would rather stay right here. the reason the charges are so serious, well, because the stakes are too high not to be and believe me, i know from experience that charges alone won t convince a jury. proving your burden is no cakewalk. why? well, for the same reason i just said, the stakes are too high and it remains to be seen frankly of whether the government can meet its burden of proof on these charges, but i tell you
assume will happen after a free and fair election. and that same thing that s part of a peaceful transition of power. the kind of thing that stops us from being addict tatership when someone says, you know what, no, i would rather stay right here. the reason the charges are so serious, well, because the stakes are too high not to be and believe me, i know from experience that charges alone won t convince a jury. proving your burden is no cakewalk. why? well, for the same reason i just said, the stakes are too high and it remains to be seen frankly of whether the government can meet its burden of proof on these charges, but i tell you, evidence like this little tidbit right here, if it gets in, well, let s just say it will help their case. you know, on november 10th, after the election was called for biden, rhodes, he was bragging about how men positioned outside, he had them outside of washington, d.c. prepared to engage in violence on trump s command. we have men already s
we played for you this sound last night. here it is again, manu raju asking about his flip flop about the january 67th committee that wants to question him. regarding the creation of an outside commission, you also oppose the select committee. that s not true. go ahead and ask your question. reporter: you said, sure, you d be able to testify. what was the date of that? reporter: that was last year. now you re saying you won t voluntarily cooperate. why should thepublic not conclude that that you re hiding something? great question. i hope everything gets corrected at cnn. one of the reasons they want to talk to the congressman is they want to know his state of mind at the time, talk to people who were talking to the former president has the capitol was being assaulted. here s part of the q & a yesterday. you a unique window into that day. you were one of the few people who spoke to him that day. doesn t the american public have a right to know what the preside
go? and how to make a seditious conspiracy case by way of the last major attack at the capitol. in washington, d.c., ruthless fanatic violence erupted in the halls of congress. plus, as baltimore officials face perjury charges. is there a reason this guy hasn t been charged yet? and mark elias on a surprise court victory for democrats. all in starts right now. good evening from new york. i m chris hayes. today two of the people facing seditious conspiracy charges in connection with the attack at the capitol on january 6th appeared in court for the first time. 63-year-old edward vallejo answered questions from a judge remotely from an arizona jail and 56-year-old elmer stewart rhodes u appeared in plano, texas. they are among 11 members of the far-right extremeist group the oath keepers. they are facing the most serious charges we have seen the department of justice bring in the wake and related to the insurrection. as we are learning more about these defendants
oath keepers will be in court this afternoon in connection with the attack on the capitol. stewart rhodes will appear next hour facing a major charge of seditious conspiracy. stewart and ten members including edward vallejo are accused of planning violence to stop congress for formally counting the results of the election. according to the indictment, rhodes sent the group an encrypted message within two days of the 2020 election. it said, quote, we re not getting through this without a civil war. and on the day of the riot, prosecutors say he reminded the group that prior to the american revolution, the nation s founders had stormed the governor s mansion in massachusetts. a short time later, some members of the oath keepers began moving into the u.s. capitol in military formation. rhodes stayed outside during the attack but prosecutors say in the weeks that followed, he met with his group to plan more violence and spent $17,000 on weapons and ammunition. in an interview thi