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Texan Kellye SoRelle, lawyer for Oath Keepers, is charged in Jan. 6 insurrection

By Jolie McCullough, The Texas Tribune

Texan Kellye SoRelle, lawyer for Oath Keepers, is charged in Jan. 6 insurrection” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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Kellye SoRelle, a Texas attorney for the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, has been indicted on four counts related to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to federal prosecutors. She was arrested in Junction on Thursday morning.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in part alleges SoRelle destroyed and hid potential evidence to obstruct the criminal investigation into the Capitol attack, indicting her on a charge of tampering with documents. She is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s win during the 2020 elections, as well as being inside the Capitol during the insurrection.

SoRelle’s initial court appearance will take place in Austin on Thursday afternoon at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, prosecutors said.

SoRelle, a 43-year-old Granbury attorney who unsuccessfully ran to represent Texas House District 60 in the 2020 Republican primary, was with the Oath Keepers’ founder, Stewart Rhodes, outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to The Washington Post.

In May, SoRelle told CNN she was cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice in the investigation, including handing over her cellphone to investigators. SoRelle does not represent any Oath Keepers in their criminal proceedings, CNN reported.

She is one of more than 70 Texans who have been charged for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a USA Today database. One Texan, who prosecutors said “lit the match” of the Jan. 6 insurrection, was sentenced to 7 1/4 years in prison last month, tied for the longest sentence of any rioter to date.

North Texas has been a focal area for the investigation into the riot, with more than a dozen area residents having been charged in the federal investigation.


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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/01/texas-oath-keepers-kellye-sorelle/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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