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- Tucker Carlson has interviewed Thomas Caldwell three times since January 6.
- Caldwell has been indicted on charges of seditious conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison.
- Caldwell organized the Oath Keepers’ quick reaction force teams, according to an unsealed indictment.
Since the Capitol insurrection, Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson has repeatedly interviewed Thomas Caldwell, who was indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday on charges of seditious conspiracy for his role in coordinating the Oath Keepers’ attack, Media Matters reported.
Caldwell first joined “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in October 2021. During his appearance, he said he never entered the Capitol and was not part of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government paramilitary organization, according to Media Matters.
An FBI affidavit from January 2021 revealed the extent of Caldwell’s participation in the insurrection through records collected from his Facebook account.
“Us storming the castle. Please share. Sharon was right with me! I am such an instigator! She was ready for it man! Didn’t even mind the tear gas,” Caldwell said in a Facebook message on the evening of January 6. “We need to do this at the local level. Lets storm the capitol in Ohio. Tell me when!”
The affidavit also included several messages exchanged between Caldwell and two others accused of being his co-conspirators in the weeks leading up to January 6, including:
- “Driving in with my wife from Berryville VA but am soending night before at Comfort Inn Arlington/Ballston on Glebe Road. Meeting up with Oathkeepers from North Carolina and Patriot group from the Shenandoah Valley.”
- “This is a good location and would allow us to hunt at night if we wanted to. I don’t know if Stewie has even gotten out his call to arms but its a little friggin late. This is one we are doing on our own. We will link up with the north carolina crew.”
- “Paul has a room and is bringing someone. He will be the quick reaction force. Its going to be cold. We need a place to spend the night before minimum.”
In the following months, Carlson continued to push a “false flag” narrative about the insurrection and interviewed Caldwell twice more on his Fox shows, once in November and again this past Thursday, following Caldwell’s indictment by the FBI.
According to the indictment, Caldwell was one of the coordinators of the Oath Keepers’ quick reaction force teams on January 6, readying members to rapidly transport stockpiled firearms into Washington, DC, “in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power.”
The indictment said Caldwell sent a text message on January 2 seeking out boats to ferry weapons across the Potomac River.
“If we had someone standing by at a dock ramp (one near the Pentagon for sure) we could have our Quick Response Team with the heavy weapons standing by, quickly load them and ferry them across the river to our waiting arms,” Caldwell said, according to the indictment.
If convicted, Caldwell faces up to 20 years in prison under the charge of seditious conspiracy, the Department of Justice said in a press release.
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