Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes meets with lawmakers after leaving prison on Trump clemency
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The Oath Keepers founder met with at least one member of Congress in Washington after his release from prison. Stewart Rhodes never entered the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, after he conspired with members of his far-right anti-government Oath Keepers militia group to break into halls of Congress in what prosecutors described as an act of terrorism.
![[Donald Trump commuted Stewart Rhodes’ 18-year prison sentence to time served after he was found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 attack]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/23/2194733881.jpg)
But two days after Donald Trump released him from prison, Rhodes freely walked through congressional office buildings in the Capitol complex. The Oath Keepers founder met with Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida to lobby for a pardon for fellow Oath Keeper and January 6 rioter Jeremy Brown, who was sentenced to seven years in prison on weapons charges.
![[Stewart Rhodes was joined by election conspiracy theorist Ivan Raiklin as they toured congressional office buildings in Washington, D.C. on January 22]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/23/2194733672.jpg)
Rhodes, wearing a navy Trump 2020 hat, was joined on the Hill by far-right activist Ivan Raiklin, who filmed a series of interactions with reporters as they toured the Capitol, amplified bogus claims about the 2020 election, downplayed the mob’s attacks, and proclaimed his innocence.
“What did I do on January 6 that caused the harm?” Rhodes said at one point. “I didn’t direct my guys to go inside. They did that all on their own. Where is my culpability?”. He also said he regrets saying he wanted to “f******* hang” then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
