The trial determining whether Rep. David Eastman’s membership in Oath Keepers is a violation of the Alaska Constitution closed out the week with a New York state member of Oath Keepers testifying via videoconference on Friday that the group is simply a loosely organized affiliation and that its leader, Stewart Rhodes, gave no known orders to invade the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, has been found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other offenses in connection to the disruption of the Senate’s certification of the Electoral College vote that made Joe Biden president.
One of the witnesses to testify on Friday said that he helped police officers exit from the Capitol after a handful of citizens overwhelmed the entrances and police seemed exhausted. Defense attorney Joe Miller showed a video clip of Michael Nichols with a bullhorn, shouting at the group gathered outside to allow police through so they could get outside the Capitol.
Nichols, a member of Oath Keepers who was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, told the court that he was there not at the direction of Rhodes, he was not in communication with Rhodes, and that he, and others, were there as independents, to help provide backup for law and order. He said police seemed exhausted by the events of the day.
As the plaintiff’s lawyer tried to take apart his testimony, he stood firm on his statement that there is no chain of command in the Oath Keepers, which he described as being just a group of former law enforcement officers who can help the country as needed in the case of a loss of civil order.
The Northern Justice Project on behalf of Wasilla resident Randall Kowalke is trying to have Rep. Eastman removed from office due to his “lifetime membership” level in Oath Keepers. They have accused him of being part of a group trying to stop an election, but they themselves are trying to invalidate a legal election in Alaska. Their reasoning is that he has violated the Alaska Constitution’s disloyalty clause by his very membership in Oath Keepers.
Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna appears to believe that bureaucrats at the Division of Elections have a responsibility to determine if any or every candidate is loyal enough to the government to serve in office. Thus, the fate of a legislator in Alaska, who has a membership in the Oath Keepers, is in the hands of one man.
Eastman won reelection in November by over 51% on the first round of ballot counting, and did not need to go through the ranked-choice reassignment of votes, even with two other Republicans on the ballot.
Points made on Friday during the hearing:
- – Oath Keepers is not a militia in almost any understanding of the word.
- – There in no chain of command in Oath Keepers.
- – Stewart Rhodes, the leader of Oath Keepers, gave no orders on Jan. 6 to the general membership. He did not order people into the Capitol.
- – Stewart was found not guilty on charges that are central to Kowalke’s and the Northern Justice Project’s case, and was never even charged with trying to overthrow the government.
- – The stash of weapons in Virginia was a lawful act, and was intended to be available if Oath Keepers were called upon to assist law enforcement. The nation’s capital has extremely strict gun laws, which is why Oath Keepers did not bring their sidearms.
- – Nichols was asked by Northern Justice Project if he would disassociate from the Oath Keepers, and he said he wouldn’t disassociate with any group that supports the U.S. Constitution.
- – Rhodes is expected to testify on Monday or Tuesday, but his appearance is dependent on the decisions of his jail-keepers.
- – Pat Martin, spokesman for Alaska Right to Life, is expected to testify on Monday. He was at the the Grant Memorial and took photos with Eastman on Jan. 6.
- – Eastman is expected to testify on Monday or Tuesday.
- – The judge expects the trial to end by Tuesday, if Rhodes can be made available to testify.
Political actions that publicly advocate for the overthrow of a legitimate election is what the Northern Justice Project is accusing Oath Keepers of doing.
But, in fact, when Alaska Democrats in the Legislature tried to get Eastman kicked out of the Legislature starting in January of 2021, that is what they were doing — trying to overthrow a legitimate election for their own political reasons.
That reasoning was repeated in the Alaska Democratic Party’s official newsletter, which has called for the expulsion of Eastman.
The attempt to eject Eastman forcibly from the Legislature continued by Democrats for several months, and it wasn’t until the Oath Keeper’s website was hacked and records of membership in the organization were publicized that the Democrats decided to try a new tactic — remove Eastman through the courts, this time accusing him of membership in an organization that they say seeks to overthrow the government.
No one has asserted that Eastman was anywhere near the melee that broke out at the Capitol that day. He was safely at a distance, at the Ellipse, and at the Grant Memorial. The Northern Justice Project has tried to paint him as an extremist because he went to the Holocaust Museum.
