U.S. cited ‘domestic terrorism’ in search tied to Oath Keepers’ lawyer

A court opinion unsealed Tuesday evening marks what appears to be the first time the federal court in Washington has disclosed the FBI and Justice Department’s use of a domestic terrorism measure in the USA Patriot Act to obtain a search warrant connected to their sweeping probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Federal investigators probing the extremist group Oath Keepers on charges of seditious conspiracy last year invoked the provision that permits the government to obtain a search warrant from a U.S. magistrate judge anywhere in the country rather than one located where the search is to be executed in a domestic terrorism investigation, according to the newly unsealed court records.

The 18-page opinion revealed that in July 2021, prosecutors asked a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C., rather than one in Texas, to approve a court-authorized search of a cellphone owned by a person who appears to match the description of an attorney for the Oath Keepers, Kellye SoRelle. The lawyer was arrested last week in Texas and was with the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The opinion, signed and released Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, did not identify the Oath Keepers, SoRelle or Rhodes by name, or explain why prosecutors utilized the provision, other than to say it was enacted to help investigators move urgently in terrorism cases.

However, Faruqui’s opinion quoted an FBI agent’s affidavit submitted with the warrant application outlining details and statements that are identical to the allegations prosecutors have made in indicting Rhodes and other alleged Oath Keepers members on the historically rare charge of seditious conspiracy.

The opinion related to the search warrant application also cited alleged statements by the device owner on social media that mirror those made by SoRelle, and that could be incriminating.

The cellphone owner told law enforcement that there were no longer any barricades visible by they time they and the group’s leader arrived at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the court opinion stated. But the judge said the government offered video evidence from the device owner that indicated the person saw barricades and that people “broke the barrier, they got up there, they may end up inside before it’s all said and done.”

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