Judge reverses order banning Oath Keeper leader Rhodes from Washington D.C.

“It is not for this court to divine why President Trump commuted Defendants’ sentences, or to assess whether it was sensible to do so,” Mehta wrote. “The court’s sole task is to determine the act’s effect."

Published: January 27, 2025 4:45pm

A federal judge on Monday reversed his order that banned Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and seven other Oath keepers from entering Capitol Hill, after President Donald Trump commuted their sentences to time served.

The judge initially banned the leader and the seven other members from going to Washington, D.C., or the Capitol complex as part of their supervised release. But the Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to dismiss the supervised release terms after Trump commuted the sentences.

Mehta said he would not dismiss the terms but would not enforce them, according to The Hill.

“It is not for this court to divine why President Trump commuted Defendants’ sentences, or to assess whether it was sensible to do so,” Mehta wrote. “The court’s sole task is to determine the act’s effect."

Trump also gave “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to all Jan. 6 defendants, outside of Proud Boys and Oath Keeper leaders.

“The unconditional quality of President Trump’s Proclamation thus can reasonably be read to extinguish enforcement of Defendants’ terms of supervised release,” Mehta ruled.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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