Details emerge from events of Capitol attack as Oath Keepers trial begins
(KYMA, KECY/ CNN) - The House January Sixth Committee says it plans to hold possibly its final hearing next week.
But, Americans don't have to wait that long to learn more about what happened during the Capitol riot.
There is new insight about what key figures were doing during the January sixth attack. Five alleged members of the far-right Oath Keepers group are on trial, charged with seditious conspiracy.
The estranged wife of founder Stewart Rhodes says he studied manipulation techniques to inspire others to storm the capitol - but he chose not to enter the building himself.
Also as for then-President Donald Trump, newly released audio shows, at one point, he denied watching the riot unfold on TV, but testimony to the January 6th panel contradicts that.
Meanwhile, the five defendants in the Oath Keepers trial - Rhodes and four co-defendants, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Thomas Caldwell have all pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy and other charges.
Opening statements began on Monday.
The Justice Department is alleging that Rhodes and members of his organization plotted to oppose the peaceful transfer of power, claiming the group stockpiled guns in "quick reaction forces" just outside of D.C. that could be brought into the city at a moment's notice.
Federal prosecutors also revealed in court on Monday that the founder of the group was recorded days after the attack saying his "only regret about that day is that the group "should have brought rifles" and that having been armed inside the capitol would have "fixed it right then and there."
On the other side, Rhode's defense said the "Oath Keepers came to Washington as 'peacekeeping' security guards who 'had no part in the bulk of the violence that occurred on January 6th.'"
The defendants are among the first arrested in the Capitol riot to stand trial for seditious conspiracy, which is a Civil War-era charge that calls for up to 20 years behind bars.
Day two of testimony in the trial will resume Tuesday.
