The texts shown to jurors by the prosecution paint a stark picture. Rhodes was insistent in his open letters to former President Donald Trump that he invoke the Insurrection Act and call the Oath Keepers to his aid.
But Trump never invoked the act.
Rhodes messaged people in the Oath Keepers' “Old Leadership Chat”:
“What he needs to know is that if he doesn't do it, we will. And if we need to do it ourselves without him as commander in chief, it will be exponentially harder and many of us will die."
To members on the Oath Keepers “Jan 6 OP” channel, Rhodes says he wants teams from separate states to come to DC and they will command themselves but he is the overall person in charge.
Then, a key detail emerges.
Rhodes says in a text to Jan 6 OP channel that he’s sorry he can’t be so involved in planning for Jan. 6 at this stage because he's been tied up doing something else.
"We will have many balls in the air, I have been so busy on many back channel working groups trying to advise the president, that I am behind the curve on getting you all plugged in on this one,” Rhodes wrote.