Kellye SoRelle, the Oath Keepers general counsel, is the latest member of the far-right group to face charges related to Jan. 6.
In an indictment released on Thursday, federal prosecutors accused SoRelle of four offenses: tampering with documents, conspiracy, obstruction of a federal proceeding, and misdemeanor trespassing.
It was a bare-bones document, not the kind that told a story about who SoRelle is, or what, exactly, it was that attracted the federal criminal justice system’s attention.
But SoRelle, who also served as general counsel for MAGA group Latinos for Trump, has surfaced at various points in both the investigation of the Oath Keepers and of the Proud Boys, the other extremist group that stormed the Capitol.
SoRelle has also been known for her vocal Twitter presence, in which she maintained her belief that the 2020 election was stolen.
She also advocated for various other conspiracy theories, many of which appear inscrutable to the casual observer.
But SoRelle has arguably attracted the most attention for a meeting in which she took part the day before Jan. 6.
On Jan. 5, she walked with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes into the garage of a D.C. hotel, where they two met Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.
A documentary film crew captured part of the encounter on tape. Also at the meeting was Joshua Macias, a right-wing activist, and Latinos for Trump leader Bianca Garcia.
Tarrio served as chief of staff to Latinos for Trump. SoRelle was the group’s general counsel while also serving as general counsel to the Oath Keepers.
The substance of the meeting itself was not caught on tape, though Tarrio has said through an attorney that it had to do with finding an attorney for his flag burning charges — brought the day before, on Jan. 4.
“I just need to talk to her,” Tarrio says as he walks into the garage, per the tape. “This guy has a good attorney.”
SoRelle told Reuters this year that she still did not understand why the meeting was held.
“There was no reason for him to show up and there was no reason for me to be there,” she said.
SoRelle, an attorney who prosecutors say was arrested in the city of Junction, Texas, may have earned a mention in at least one previous filing relating to the Oath Keepers.
In a March 2022 plea agreement, Alabama Oath Keeper chapter leader Joshua James described receiving a message on Signal from an unidentified Oath Keepers attorney on Jan. 8, 2021.
The message, addressed to group leader Stewart Rhodes, instructed members to “DELETE ANY OF YOUR COMMENTS REGARDING WHO DID WHAT.”
“You/we have not yet gotten a preservation order instructing us to retain those chat comments. So DELETE THEM,” the message, cited by prosecutors in the filing, reads. “I can’t delete them because this is a legacy Signal chat that doesn’t let me delete comments. Only the comment author can delete a comment. So GET BUSY. DELETE your self-incriminating comments or those that can incriminate others. Start now …”
SoRelle was charged in part on Thursday with directing people to destroy evidence.
