A member of the far-right Oath Keepers accused of rioting in the Capitol met with Secret Service agents before the siege and received a VIP pass to the rally where then President Donald Trump spoke, according to a court complaint .
A lawyer for Jessica Watkins said in Saturday’s filing that the oath-keeper was in Washington DC to “ provide security ” to the speakers at the Jan. 6 rally, where she stood within 50 feet of the podium.
Watkins is one of nine people associated with the Oath Keepers accused of conspiring to block the certification of the election results in the most sweeping charges that prosecutors have issued so far in the investigation of the Capitol violence.
The filing suggests that Watkins had a more formal role than previously known at the rally, where hundreds of Trump supporters gathered before walking to the Capitol and making their way in.
When asking a judge to grant Watkins bail, attorney, public defender Michelle Peterson, said the government’s files in the case “are filled with rhetorical flourishes design to spark the passions of its readers without supporting evidence.” “
“Watkins was not present as an insurgent, but to secure the speakers at the meeting,” the filing said.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the nature of Watkins’ meeting with the agents.
The indictment also accused Trump of contributing to the violence, a strategy that lawyers have pursued for many of the accused rioters in court.
Watkins “believed that the president of the United States was calling on her and her small militias to support the president and the constitution,” the petitioner said. “She was ready to serve her country that way.”