The Justice Department told a judge that the members of the militia group should not be allowed to blame Trump for their actions.
The US said in a filing Friday that Trump doesn't have the authority to order an attack on the US Capitol because he didn't have the authority to do so.
The US wants a court ruling to prevent lawyers for the founder of the Oath Keepers from using the defense in the upcoming trial.
James Bright didn't reply to a phone call seeking comment on the DOJ filing.
More than 100 police officers were injured in the attack and more than $1 million in damage was done. Before the assault, he held a fiery rally near the White House, encouraging a crowd of supporters to head towards the Capitol. Many of the people charged in the riot tried to argue that they were following the orders of the president. The US believes the defendants were aware of what was going on.
The US asked the judge to bar the defendants from arguing that any failure to act by law enforcement rendered their conduct legal, which would undermine a frequent argument by accused rioters that since some police didn't try to stop them, they had a green light to enter the capitol. There were a lot of police officers.
The members of the right-wing group lost their request for the charges to be dismissed. The judge decided against moving the trial from Washington to Alexandria because of jury bias.
There is a case in the District of Columbia.
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