Lawyer for far-right group arrested in connection to January 6 attack on US Capitol

By AP 1 September 2022, 8:08 pm

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This image released by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol shows Kellye SoRelle, general counsel for the antigovernment group Oath Keepers, during a deposition displayed at a hearing by the committee on July 12, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP, File)

A lawyer for the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group has been charged with conspiracy in connection with the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol, authorities say today.

Kellye SoRelle — general counsel for the antigovernment group — was arrested in Texas on charges including conspiracy to obstruct the certification of US President Joe Biden’s electoral college victory, the Justice Department says.

SoRelle, 43, is a close associate of Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers’ leader who is heading to trial later this month alongside other extremists on seditious conspiracy charges.

After Rhodes’ arrest in January, SoRelle told media outlets she was acting as the president of the Oath Keepers while he’s behind bars.

Prosecutors have accused Rhodes and his militia group of plotting for weeks to stop the transfer of power and keep former US president Donald Trump in office, purchasing weapons, organizing military-style training and setting up battle plans.

SoRelle told The Associated Press last year — when FBI agents seized her phone as part of the January 6 investigation — that she had no knowledge of or involvement in the Capitol breach. She called the seizure of her phone “unethical” and the investigation “a witch hunt.”

She is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Austin, Texas, later today and it isn’t immediately clear if she has an attorney to speak on her behalf.