The attorney for Thomas Caldwell, a man charged in connection with the Capitol riot who’s alleged by authorities to be a leader of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers, says his client previously worked for the FBI.
As detailed by the Associated Press on Tuesday, attorney Thomas Plofchan said in a motion requesting the judge to release Caldwell from jail while he awaits a trial that his client was a section chief for the FBI from 2009 to 2010 following his retirement from the Navy.
Caldwell is further said by Plofchan to have held a top-secrete security clearance since 1979, as well as operated a consulting firm that engaged in “classified work” for the government. 66-year-old Caldwell, meanwhile, was arrested in January at his home in Virginia and has remained behind bars in the weeks since. His attorney, however, has denied that Caldwell entered the Capitol, citing what he says are physical limitations that have rendered him “a 100 percent disabled veteran.”
In DOJ documents preceding Caldwell’s arrest, Caldwell is said to have been “involved in planning and coordinating the January 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.” Furthermore, Caldwell—per those same Facebook-citing documents—“appears to have a leadership role within Oath Keepers.”
Among the charges against Caldwell are conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., which was reported last month to be the first of its kind among those who have been charged in connection with the fatal attack on the Capitol.
Earlier this month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recounted the Capitol riot during a powerful Instagram Live broadcast, noting that those who have since urged the public to move on or forget about the attack are using the same tactics favored by abusers.
“It’s about creating safety and we are not safe with people who hold positions of power who are willing to endanger the lives of others if they think it will score them a political point,” she said at the time.
