Court orders Jan. 6 defense lawyer disbarred

A Virginia state court has disbarred Jonathon Moseley, an attorney who has represented a slew of high-profile Jan. 6 defendants, including a member of the Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy, as well as several targets of the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.

Most prominent among Moseley’s criminal clients is Kelly Meggs, an Oath Keeper from Florida who took on a leadership role for the group that breached the Capitol. Moseley also previously represented Zachary Rehl, one of the Proud Boys leaders charged with conspiring to obstruct Congress on Jan 6, 2021, though he withdrew from that case in December.

On Friday, after a two-day hearing in Prince William County Circuit Court, a three-judge panel ordered Moseley’s law license revoked, court records show.

Details of the bar discipline case against Moseley were not immediately available, but a summary posted on the Virginia State Bar website on Tuesday said the court found that he violated “professional rules that govern safekeeping property; meritorious claims and contentions; candor toward the tribunal; fairness to opposing party and counsel; unauthorized practice of law, multijurisdictional practice of law; bar admission and disciplinary matters … and misconduct.” The decision was effective on April 1.

Moseley plans to fight the disbarment and immediately filed an appeal. Reached by phone on Tuesday night and asked about the bar action, he was tight-lipped.

“Since it’s on appeal and otherwise confidential, I’ll have to wait on that. Thanks,” Moseley said, before hanging up.

Moseley’s troubles with the Virginia State Bar could imperil his ability to continue as an attorney for Meggs and in an array of other Jan. 6 litigation. Moseley is not a member of the District of Columbia Bar, but does belong to the bar of the federal court in D.C. handling those cases. Membership in that bar is contingent on bar membership in another state or locality.

The most immediate impact of Moseley’s disbarment may be in the upcoming trial of 11 Oath Keepers facing charges of seditious conspiracy for their role in the Capitol breach, including Meggs. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta has worked to keep the trial on track for July, while scheduling two other Oath Keepers trials for later in the year. But Moseley’s exit could complicate Meggs’ ability to prepare a defense.

Moseley has also represented several major witnesses facing subpoenas from the Jan. 6 select committee, including Meggs, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes — who was on the phone with Moseley when the FBI arrested him — and Stop the Steal founder Ali Alexander. Meggs and Alexander have both sued to block the select committee from obtaining their phone records.

Moseley is also listed as attorney for the Oath Keepers organization in a civil suit in which Democratic House members are seeking damages from former President Donald Trump, the Oath Keepers and various people charged in the storming of the Capitol.

Moseley’s involvement in these cases was marked by his unusual and rambling legal filings, which drew the ire of judges like U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the sprawling Oath Keepers conspiracy cases.

For example, Mehta chastised Moseley in December for joining with another attorney to seek the release of two Jan. 6 defendants who claimed they might be given Covid vaccine injections against their will. Mehta emphasized that there was “no evidence to support their fantastic fears.”

Moseley has argued repeatedly that the people who wanted Trump to remain president wouldn’t have stormed the Capitol to obstruct Congress because they needed lawmakers to remain in session to overturn the election. He also revealed the existence of a search warrant targeting a close friend of Rehl’s who was also affiliated with the Proud Boys.

When Moseley withdrew from Rehl’s case, he also issued head-scratching public filings describing his billing practices.

Moseley’s professional website, which had touted his expertise handling a variety of criminal cases, child custody disputes and debt collection, appears to have gone offline in recent weeks.

“Jonathon Moseley delivers the results you need at a price you can afford,” the site previously said. Moseley graduated from George Mason University Law School and passed the bar in Virginia in 1997, according to the site.

Moseley spent several years as a manager at the U.S. Department of Education, beginning in the Reagan Administration, and later worked for the conservative legal organization Judicial Watch, his website said.

Virginia bar records show he was suspended from legal practice for six months in 2009.