The Justice Department is petitioning an appeals court to throw out the convictions of unpardoned defendants who were charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The United States has determined … that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” read a motion filed April 14 in the case of Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, and Jessica Watkins.
All four defendants belonged to the Oath Keepers, a group that says its members are mostly former military, police, and medics who are dedicated to upholding Constitutional rights. Rhodes, the group’s founder, had been one of the most high-profile Jan. 6 defendants; he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges….