FBI investigating meeting of far-right groups one day before Jan. 6: report

The FBI is investigating a Jan. 5, 2021, meeting between leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and other far-right figures. 

About six people reportedly gathered in a downtown Washington, D.C., garage, including Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio, according to Reuters.

Rhodes was been indicted on charges of “seditious conspiracy” after the insurrection. Tarrio was not at the Capitol at the time of the attack, as he left Washington after the meeting, according to Reuters.

Witnesses told Reuters that others present at the Jan. 5 meeting included Bianca Gracia, who leads Latinos for Trump and a PAC known as Latinos For America First, and Kellye SoRelle, an attorney for the Oath Keepers and Latinos for Trump.

SoRella told Reuters she did not discuss plans for the next day at the meeting but instead talked about criminal defense attorneys with Tarrio. 

Last June, Tarrio, who has denied the Proud Boys took part in planning the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, downplayed the meeting and said it was insignificant. 

“By coincidence, he was inside … that parking garage,” Tarrio said of Rhodes, according to the outlet.

“He’s here. I’m not going to not shake somebody’s hand,” he added.

An attorney for Rhodes also said that “there was no coordination” between the leaders, Reuters noted.

The Hill has reached out to the FBI for comment.

Both the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys are far-right groups that, along with Tarrio and Rhodes, have been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel. Eighteen members of the Oath Keepers have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the attack thus far, as have at least 34 people connected to the Proud Boys.