An accused Capitol rioter named as a member of the far-right Oath Keepers by the feds claims he doesn’t belong to the militia but has done work for the FBI. In a motion seeking his release, Thomas Caldwell’s attorney says his client, a Navy veteran, has had a top-secret security clearance since 1979 and ran a consulting firm that did classified work for government agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration. The lawyer also said Caldwell never entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection and is too disabled to have stormed the building. Prosecutors allege that the 66-year-old Virginia man organized Oath Keepers before the siege and received messages from them during the occupation about the location of lawmakers. The Associated Press says the FBI did not respond to an inquiry about Caldwell’s claim.
