The First Node of the Insurrection Conspiracy: The Oath Keepers

With a fairly steady drumbeat since the day of the attempted coup pm January 6, the government has been charging one after another person involved, most based off evidence obtained via social media and tips from those who know them. But that has left the picture surrounding the event rather formless, probably (given that almost all the affidavits were written by different FBI Agents) intentionally so.

That began to change in the last two days with charges against Jessica Watkins, retired Marine Donovan Ray Crowl, and Edward Caldwell, with the former two members of an Ohio militia and Caldwell coordinating their efforts as part of a larger Oath Keepers effort.

These Affidavits describes that Watkins and Crowl were in the disciplined unit that entered the Capitol in formation.

I have reviewed footage of the January 6, 2021, incursion of the U.S. Capitol, including a video that, at the approximate 3 minute and 8 second mark, shows 8 to 10 individuals in paramilitary equipment aggressively approaching an entrance to the Capitol building.1 These individuals, who are wearing helmets, reinforced vests, and clothing with Oath Keepers paraphernalia, move in an organized and practiced fashion and force their way to the front of the crowd gathered around a door to the U.S. Capitol.

It relies for that claim on Parler postings from Watkins describing using force to get into the Capitol and entering the Senate, not to mention IDing her compatriots.

Crowl also did an interview with Ronan Farrow.

The Caldwell affidavit describes that, after returning home to Ohio after the initial riot, Watkins then went back to the DC area to stay with Caldwell.

During the course of this investigation, law-enforcement authorities spoke with Witness-1 (W-1). W-1 informed that although WATKINS returned to Ohio after the January 6, 2021 incursion, she subsequently left Ohio on or about January 14, 2021, to stay with a friend and fellow Oath Keeper whom W-1 knew as “Tom” or “Commander Tom.” As described below, your affiant believes this individual is CALDWELL. WATKINS also provided W-1 with instructions on how to contact her, including by providing a phone number at the location where she would be staying, 540-XXX-XXXX. A database check for this phone number reveals that it is a phone on CALDWELL’s property, the PREMISES. [number substituted]

The Caldwell affidavit then describes him, before the January 6 insurgency, recommending they pile into one or two rooms at the Comfort Inn in Ballston. It describes Crowl messaging Caldwell that he’d be seeing him soon and calling him Commander.

It also cites Caldwell’s own social media posts from the riot, including his report of what the Proud Boys had done to push the cops out of the way.

Caldwell also sent a Facebook message (this may be private, which, since there’s no mention of a warrant, would suggest another witness shared it with the FBI) saying,

We need to do this at the local level. Lets storm the capitol in Ohio. Tell me when!

Watkins and Crowl were charged with the two trespassing-based charges virtually everyone gets charged with, along with 18 USC 1512(c)(2), tampering with a proceeding, which carries a 20 year sentence.

Caldwell is charged with the two trespassing charges, the tampering one, along with conspiracy to tamper, and abetting.

Presumably, the FBI has been obtaining search warrants to identify the other people involved in this node of activity, including the common communication between (for example) Caldwell and the Proud Boys, as well as the Ohio Militia and the Oath Keepers more generally. Likewise, the FBI is likely using location data from within the Capitol to understand precisely what these people were doing.

This is not the first use of a conspiracy charge (the zip tie guy and his mom were charged with conspiracy, too, but that was probably because there was less direct social media evidence of her inside the Capitol and also as a means to get her son to cooperate), but it is one that is likely to be fleshed out as a way to force people to confess what the larger plan, if any, was.

Update: Corrected how zip tie guy and mom were charged.

Update: DOJ has released a more detailed conspiracy charge against these dirtbags. This Facebook message is one of the most chilling:

On January 6, 2021, while at the Capitol, CALDWELL received the following Facebook message: “All members are in the tunnels under capital seal them in . Turn on gas”. When CALDWELL posted a Facebook message that read, “Inside,” he received the following messages, among others: “Tom take that bitch over”; “Tom all legislators are down in the Tunnels 3floors down”; “Do like we had to do when I was in the core start tearing oit florrs go from top to bottom”; and “Go through back house chamber doors facing N left down hallway down steps.”

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77 replies
  1. subtropolis says:

    It’s good to see that some of the militia types are beginning to be rolled up. I do expect that they will receive some of the most serious charges. (Those within the government who conspired to make it easier for the mob, perhaps, might suffer a worse fate, though I’m only cautiously optimistic that they will be made to pay.) I’ve seen many complaints that the majority of those charged have been getting off too lightly, but I don’t think that it’s in the government’s (nor the public’s) best interests to attempt to prosecute them all for sedition. That ought to be left for those who were quite serious about it, rather than the dumbass mob.

    • Norskeflamthrower says:

      “That ought to be left for those who were quite serious about it, rather than the dumbass mob.”

      No absolutely not! The dumbasses need to be charged with the same felonies as the smart ones, just suspend the sentences for the period of hard time that the instigators and leaders get. The stupids and the ignorants make up the population necessary for successful sedition so let’s educate ’em this time so they don’t show up again next week.

      • PeterS says:

        Stupids and ignorants = deplorables?

        I’m with subtropolis; some of those people just watched mainstream media (Fox News) and listened to the leaders of their chosen political party, hardly extreme behaviour.

        • ducktree says:

          I’m not so forgiving nor willing to “understand”. They’re all adults in full possession of their faculties, agency and responsibility for the decisions they made and actions taken, heat of the moment notwithstanding.

          When I was 10 or 12, I was given leeway for transgressions… but never at this level.

          They need to sack up.

          • @pwrchip says:

            I’m with ducktree, “I’m not so forgiving nor willing to “understand”.
            Throw the book at them with the heaviest penalty, if we don’t we will be inviting more of these idiots to do it again and again. Enough is enough.

        • jerryy says:

          Would you consider as fair making them take (and pass!) a civics course?

          One that includes a section on how the Nürnberg Laws lead to the Nuremberg trials as well as a section that goes through and discusses the Alamy collection of lynching photos — there are quite a few where the gathered observers are the towns folks smiling for the camera instead of being aghast at the proceedings.

          The leaders are not rushing out to grab the media and use them to lead the crowds back from the disaster they took part in.

          • Norskeflamthrower says:

            No civics courses. Those ignorants who don’t have enough information or are willfully blind to the truth of things are at least as dangerous as the Steve Bannons and Ted Cruzes because without them there is no fascist insurrection. The best way to insure that the stupids and the ignorants don’t come back next week or next month is to educate them with fear. Then we can get on with creating a country, economy and society that benefits the stupid and the ignorant as well as everyone else. Don’t worry about converting them, just make their lives better.

            • Norskeflamthrower says:

              I was one of those “progressives” who cringed at Mrs. Clinton’s use of “deplorables” to describe those who were the victims of the neo-liberal assault on the working class, poor and minorities. But as the Trump administration ground on I realized that we could not focus on “winning them back” or “dialoging” with them as long as the politics and policies that created their fear and anger remained. Fight the elected powerful, mobilize the politically marginalized and make life better for everyone including the deplorables but first we must take them out of their fascist uniforms. A good look at jail can serve to educate the ignorants who grew up understanding that their whiteness gave them immunity from prosecution.

            • jerryy says:

              We need something a little more even-handed. Fear only works on some, love only works on some, knowledge and duty only works on some. Turning a blind eye and hoping for a better outcome down the road hardly works at all.

              We have plenty of folks in prisons where fear was not enough to deter them ( this is only referring to the ones that are actually guilty ), we have laws with stiff penalties that do not stop folks from committing the crimes, even the death penalty does not stop folks from killing, if it did the “states” would not be executing folks.

              We already have lots of fear, we need something else.

        • Xboxershorts says:

          I’d like to save the harshest of punishments for the assholes who FINANCED this insurrection and the media platforms that amplified the lie that became their rationalization that committing an act of war against the United States of America is somehow an ok thing to do

          We need to go after the money that backs this kind of idiocy and ignorance.

          • Norskeflamthrower says:

            “We need to go after the money that backs this kind of idiocy and ignorance .”

            AAAAAAAAAAfuckingMEN!!!!

      • ChuckD says:

        There’s been no mention anywhere (that I’ve looked) of any mention of cc cams within and about the Capitol. Hard for me to believe they aren’t in use there.

        • Rayne says:

          I saw a conversation elsewhere today which said there are cams but they are avoiding sharing any information about them publicly to avoid providing information about them to the next possible group of insurrectionist conspirators. Kind of like the panic button we read about early on but have heard almost nothing about since — means and methods for security which shouldn’t be disclosed if at all possible.

  2. Ravenclaw says:

    I imagine that in the face of a vigorous defense it will be very difficult to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that these people engaged in either “rebellion and insurrection” or “seditious conspiracy” (although it’s pretty clear that something of the sort was going on), but I’d sure like to see the authorities try – even if right-wingers fifty years from now still crow over their acquittal, as with the “great sedition trial” in WWII. At any rate, if the evildoers can be convicted of even minor offenses and placed on permanent watchlists, no-fly lists etc., it will help the cause of our struggling democracy.

    • skua says:

      I’m not so sure. If these people were black or Muslim and had somehow survived after doing what they did then it is very difficult to imagine them not being jailed for decades. If fascist insurrectionists are now grouped with violent jihadis in terms of threat to the nation then their actions will be viewed harshly by authorities, judges and juries.

  3. Stacey says:

    This is a tiny but mildly curious observation of all of the pictures and video I’ve seen of these crowds: There are no ‘street medics’ with milk or baking soda/water mixtures for pepper spray remediation. Everyone’s just using the drinking bottles they picked up over at the speeches.

    Hum, it’s almost as if these poor white privileged revolutionaries are not USED to getting pepper sprayed for expressing their opinions to their government, otherwise, they’d have come better prepared for that. No?

    • PeterS says:

      Yes.

      And I know that there were some very dangerous thugs involved, and I know that there was some inside help, but the main impression I get from the videos is of a bunch of five year olds suddenly discovering that all their kindergarten teachers have disappeared.

    • Rayne says:

      LOL They expected all the police to be on their side — some clearly were, proven with selfies taken with some of the Capitol Police. And these flabby, pasty middle-class poutragers still didn’t see but a fraction of police force used on peaceful BLM protesters. Much of the spray irritating their eyes was from among their own cohort, like the bear spray one insurrectionist spread rather indiscriminately.

      This tweet thread covered it pretty well — how these same people who whine about wearing masks really couldn’t handle much.

      • Raven Eye says:

        I don’t know it it is your creation, but “flabby, pasty middle-class poutragers” warms my heart.

        • Rayne says:

          Mostly mine. Can’t remember the first time I saw “poutrage” but it stuck. They certainly aren’t peaceably-assembled protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.

  4. Marinela says:

    Or it is possible they filed charges so that Trump could pardon them.
    We should see soon by tomorrow if this is the case.

  5. Teddy says:

    Because nothing says Oath Keeping like breaking one’s oath to preserve protect and defend the Constitution. Which I suppose their convoluted logic tells them they were doing, but still…. Don’t you have to Quit Your Oath before actually breaking it? (I know little about Oaths.)

    • Raven Eye says:

      The foundation of the Oath Keepers is their “10 Orders We Will Not Obey”. This empowers individual service members to make their own decisions about which orders to follow. There is always the obligation to not disobey an unlawful order, but the Oath Keepers want member to listen to THEM, rather than what might come down in training or from a JAG lawyer.

      1. We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.

      2. We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects – such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.

      3. We will NOT obey any order to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to trial by military tribunal.

      4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state, or to enter with force into a state, without the express consent and invitation of that state’s legislature and governor. [* My favorite, considering the Oath Keepers’ actions in Portland, OR last year.]

      5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty and declares the national government to be in violation of the compact by which that state entered the Union.

      6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

      7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

      8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control” during any emergency, or under any other pretext. We will consider such use of foreign troops against our people to be an invasion and an act of war.

      9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies, under any emergency pretext whatsoever.

      10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

      • Raven Eye says:

        As was suspected, the Oath Keeper site was shut down by their service provider. A statement from their temporary site”

        “Oath Keepers and patriots,

        “Oath Keepers has been attacked by the hostile radical left. Our server provider, LiquidWeb has shown its colors and caved to the Loony Left.

        “We will recover and are working to rebuild a communications and membership website.

        “Please use your training and adapt to the new environment. Keep your cool and know that we are all in this together. Use this time to tweak your local communications with one and other.”

      • cavenewt says:

        There is always the obligation to not disobey an unlawful order

        It’s a little convoluted so I may be confused, but isn’t there one too many negatives there?

      • harpie says:

        Wow. They seem to live in some kind of delusion in which members of the military might receive legal orders to do any of these things on American soil [or anywhere].

      • Rayne says:

        What a joke, especially that 10th. They undermined states’ obligations and rights to conduct their elections and they supported violent assembly.

        • Raven Eye says:

          This is an incompetent attempt to create a self-licking ice cream cone. If it were only as benign as ice cream…

          When you stop to take a look at it and consider the situations in which the 10 orders might come into play, the recruitment targets end up being — in addition to veterans and “formers” — primarily law enforcement and national guard personnel (for operations/orders under state orders) and maybe Coast Guard (under Titles 14, 19, etc.). Most of their “scenarios” are much less likely to involve DoD operations and personnel.

          So we’re back to the diversion of DHS and other federal attention from domestic threats. The result is less information on emerging threats, and even the kind of information that smaller civilian agencies can use to understand the threats within their own communities — and the threats within their own ranks.

        • timbo says:

          A dangerous joke and now there must be a cleaning up the mess that they’ve made of more than just their own lives.

      • John Paul Jones says:

        Most of those seem pretty anodyne, or they relate (as someone said) to a fantasy America as in the movie Red Dawn, all except for #5, which is basically a re-run of the idea behind the Confederacy.

        • Raven Eye says:

          There is a paragraph or two under each of the 10 cases. That would have been too much text to stuff in here, but you can see a version at:

          https://oath-keepers.blogspot.com/2009/03/oath-keepers-declaration-of-orders-we.html

          It may seen like a soothing or familiarable fantasy, but setting it up the way they did is likely to be effective. Once you, as leadership, have the “10” stuck in your members’ heads, you can spin a narrative that will illuminate one or more of the “10” and provide enough proof for action. That’s the self-licking ice cream cone part of it, whereupon you get the high fives and “F@*k yeah, man!!!”

        • Rayne says:

          If this is the dystopia they believe they live in, why are they pro-Russia? And why are none of them shouting, “WOLVERINES!”

      • Stacey says:

        I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that if Trump Admin had tried to issue any order to specifically go after black/brown people in ANY of the ways that their 10 oaths say they would not, they’d be JUST FINE with it!

        As you pointed out, Oregon’s invasion of Trump’s Gestapo didn’t seem to register for them and was expressly violative of their “oaths”. They may as well have just said, “if the guv’m’nt comes after our guns or our white privilege we won’t stand for it”, since that’s essentially what their oath actually is. That’s their prime directive, however they want to dress it up in tri-corner hats and quasi-military valor!

        • Raven Eye says:

          Heck…If they showed up in tri-corner hats, smart uniforms, and muzzle loaders I might actually give them a listen.

  6. bg says:

    One of the people I have not seen in any of the “wanted” photos posted around is the guy with the “Alaska hat” called out by John Sullivan in the video posted on this site a few days back. I’ll see if I can find it. What JS pointed out was that seemed to appear out of nowhere amongst police and went down the stairs with the police after he was bashing at the doors when the shooting happened. He has dark hair and glasses, rips the hat off at one point. The hat has long flaps at the sides. I don’t quite get JS, but he did have a lot of video. The guy was smashing the doors.

    • Hika says:

      “I don’t quite get JS”
      I do. He’s an anarchist chancer looking to get famous and make money by agitating confrontational actions, which is why he was just as happy playing with the 1/6 crowd as the BLM protestors. I saw some Twitter threads from last year where experienced left-wing activists were extremely wary of him, distrusting his methods and motives – specifically his opsec was so sloppy that he exposed a bunch of other people and didn’t care to correct the error, meaning he didn’t care about exposing other people to harm so long as he got what he wanted. Which pretty much told them to avoid him and encourage others to avoid him for their own well-being. So Sullivan might rightly be described as an agent provocateur but he’s dancing to his own mad tune.

  7. Rayne says:

    Welcome to emptywheel, little drive-by newbie (which our resident bear must have dispatched). You are clearly new here so I’ll cut you slack this one time and spoon feed you what you could look up but have chosen not to because you have an agenda. Your use of terms in quotes tips your hand.

    First, I’ll point to the Constitution, Article I, Section 4:

    Section 4: Elections
    The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

    The States are charged with the conduct of elections — not the federal government — along with the selection of Electors (see Article II, Sect. 3 and 12th Amendment). All 50 states fully discharged those duties and certified their elections. The opposition had ample opportunity to contest the conduct of the election and provide evidence against the outcome — petition for redress — as 60 or more lawsuits and multiple recounts have shown.

    And yet at least 59 of 60 lawsuits failed, though conducted before a range of judges at state, federal and SCOTUS level, by appointees from across three presidencies.

    Choosing instead to organize violence to obstruct Congress’s remaining Constitutionally-outlined obligations to finalize the election is seditious conspiracy:

    18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy

    If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

    The acts intended to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States are rebellion and/or insurrection:

    l18 U.S. Code § 2383 – Rebellion or insurrection

    Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

    That we haven’t seen these charges specifically may mean the charging authority/ies felt they wanted a sure charge under code which has been more frequently used instead of sedition, rebellion or insurrection since these have been charged but rarely. There are plenty of charges with meat to them as it is and some which come very close, including:

    Conspiracy to commit an Offence;
    Conspiracy civil disorders;
    Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority;
    Violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds;
    Aiding and abetting destruction of federal property;
    Certain Acts During Civil Disorder, Aiding and Abetting;
    Restricted Building or Grounds;
    Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds
    Destruction of Government Property;
    Theft of government property (under $1,000);
    Steal, sell, convey or dispose of anything of value of the United States;
    Conspiracy and unlawful entry with dangerous weapon;
    Knowingly and willingly committing Obstruction of Justice;
    Obstruction of an Official Proceeding;
    Obstructing law enforcement;
    Knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions, engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions;
    Same, while using or carrying a dangerous weapon;
    Carrying a Pistol Without a License (Outside Home or Place of Business) 2015;
    Possessing a Firearm on Capitol Grounds, Carrying a Pistol Without a License (Outside Home or Place of Business) 2015,
    Possession of Unregistered Ammunition;
    Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device (and) Possession of Unregistered Ammunition;
    Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device (and) Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees;
    Assault on a Federal Officer Using a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon;
    Tampering with a witness, victim or an information;
    Making interstate threats and threatening a witness;
    Threats in Interstate Commerce;
    Making interstate threats to Speaker Nancy Pelosi;
    Parade, demonstrate, or picket in a Capitol building;
    Unlawful activities on Capitol grounds, parades, assemblages and display of flags;
    Curfew Violation;
    Riot Act – Felony;

    Those are just the charges so far — there may be more to come against the persons listed here. Riley Williams is just one example of a trespasser who may be charged with more pending further investigation.

    Those who are responsible for the death of a Capitol Police officer may find themselves accused of more than trespassing and assault.

    I will not point to “real evidence” for you. Just like the U.S. Codes to which you referred to but refused to look up, you’re refusing to look at the volumes of self-incriminating selfie photos, bystander/participant/journalist photos and videos, text messages and posts on multiple social media sites in which persons accused of trespassing and other evidence provided by electronic devices. Check the link I embedded above for more details about evidence provided by the government when they filed charges.

    • Rayne says:

      I can’t help it, I have to post this one bit of “real evidence” idiocy. The stupid, it burns…how hard is it to prove Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority when they take photos and share them with the feds? They’re asking for it.

    • Hika says:

      I know this is a late comment, but don’t forget that the one, single, lonely win the Trumpies had in court in their litigating of the election was not much. It prevented an extension of the number of days after the election in which Pennsylvanians could show ID to validate their mail-in vote. Law said it had to be done by Nov.6. Pa-SOS tried to make it Nov.9 but this was not allowed to stand. That’s it. That was their only win.
      https:[break]//www.courthousenews.com/trump-ekes-out-a-small-win-against-extension-to-cure-pennsylvania-ballots/

  8. JAMES SCAMINACI says:

    Page 22, paragraph k of the affadavit in support of criminal complaint. There are three messages strongly suggesting that the Oath Keepers and possibly others were receiving messages from one or more members of Congress giving the location of Democrats. Message 3 (M3) suggests Oath Keepers had very good prior knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Building.

    These communications have gone unremarked in the press, but I think they suggest that arrests of GOP members will probably occur.

    M1: “All members are in the tunnels under capital [sic] seal them in. Turn on gas.”

    M2: “Tom all legislators are down in the tunnels 3floors down.”

    M3: “Go through the back house chamber doors facing N left down hallway down steps.”

  9. My Uncle Fred says:

    I usually just read Emptywheel, but…

    Announcements about treasonous honchos, usually lead me to look them up. I want to see what they look like. Yeah its a weird tick of mine.

    The case of Edward Caldwell seem rather curious. Members of the rabid right can be categorized as beneficiaries or actors. The beneficiaries incite the actors to perform in a way that maintain the beneficiaries power. Yes its a simple model, but the complexities of life still redound to simple issues.

    Searching for Watkins or Crowl (aka fellow conspirators), their pictures are all over the web. Not too many different pictures, but every website on every side of the issue has their image on display. Not so for Caldwell (or his wife). I couldn’t find a single one in several hours of research.

    Ok, so Edward has a low I-net profile, so does my 96 yo mom. But He’s only 66, and with his wife co-owned a (s-corp) tech company HQ’d out of their home in Berryville, VA. This company, from 2004 – 2007 (or later) did at least $6.7mm in federal contracts (primarily Justice and DEA) as a retired-disabled-vet-owned firm. It looks like they shut down (retired?) in about 2014. Clearly tech savvy hasn’t inhibited them from leaving a normal I-net bread crumb trail.

    But, apart from their address, a few phone numbers, and a little about the business, they’ve left scant tracks. There is an official notice about a property sale last fall, related to Edward acting as Trustee for his parents Living Trust. And that’s all I could find. No pictures anywhere.

    Meanwhile, Trulia/Zillow think their home is worth about $600k, for a 2500 sqft 2BR/2Ba on 19 acres in horse country. This along with the scale of their business, and the fact they appeared to have retired early (near the age of 60), suggests that they’ve seen plenty of financial success.

    My problems with this (yes I’m presenting lots of assumptions) are:
    – They should be beneficiaries, not actors.
    – They’ve worked hard to leave no trace over an extended period of time.

    Who knows what will come out about them, or many others, over the months and years to come. But I’m left with some unease about the Caldwells acting almost as an inactive mole until recently, waiting for the opportunity to be put to purpose. For example are there others like them still below the surface? And, what motivated Edward to take on this active actor role?

    Maybe I should just go read a LeCarre novel.

    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      Thank you for sharing this research, My Uncle Fred. Virginia provides cover for plenty of mole people, in my observation. If you dig up more, please pass it along.

    • Eureka says:

      Maggie Haberman: “The president signed the pardon paperwork around 11:30, per officials.”
      https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1351755887090819073
      11:58 PM · Jan 19, 2021
      [QTing the tweet above by MSNBC exec Jonathan Wald, whom she had retweeted, which was her first tweet about it. The written statement Wald screenshots is a blurb by Haberman, appears to be from a NYT live update or statement of hers, not an actual article]

    • Eureka says:

      Josh Dawsey’s on now saying number is expected to reach 150.

      This is grating because (besides Trump wants attention/to take it from Biden and TOMORROW, and here he has it) of the resonance of the midnight hour to executions… no successful 11th hour appeals for the folks Trump-Barr have insisted on killing.

    • Eureka says:

      An aside while everyone’s going over the lists, since the realtor was noted above:

      Dawsey said on MSNBC several minutes ago (before 1244am) that there were “discussions” at the WH about pardoning the insufferable realtor but that they decided against pardoning those involved in the insurrection. We shall see, but besides the obnoxious video above, she’s (for e.g.) in the ITV News video (linked in Riley June Williams’ arrest affidavit – see Marcy’s post –>) *stroking the orange noose hanging from the gallows* while smiling and saying, “Joe Biden” (IIRC the video and the name spoken), plus:

      https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1350253097818329089

      David Begnaud: “I didn’t see this until now: Dallas area realtor & life Coach Jenna Ryan declared “we are armed and dangerous”. She’s since been arrested by the FBI and is now asking President Trump for a pardon, saying he’s the reason they went there to “stop the steal” [video]”
      https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1350514152066801664

      • Eureka says:

        Youtube removed the long ITV News video (Storming the Capitol – The Inside Story); Ryan’s noose-fondling session was in the neighborhood of 31:40. The ITV News site might have it.

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