Judge agrees to pause Oath Keepers' trials in Jan. 6 riot as new evidence piles up

A judge agreed that Jan. 31 was too soon to hold a trial for three Oath Keepers who stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election win.

Washington D.C. federal District Court Judge Amit Mehta expressed concern about the pace of the trial after new evidence continues to pile up faster than prosecutors and defense attorneys can keep up, and he suggested early April as a new start date, reported Politico.

"I am concerned about a lengthy pretrial detention period," Mehta said, as the three defendants -- Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson -- remain in jail as they await trial on conspiracy and other charges.

The judge pointed out that the Justice Department doesn't have to turn over every piece of evidence before starting the trial, but is required only to turn over items relevant to the defendants in this case.

"Otherwise we won't be having a trial in any of these cases until 2023," Mehta said. "I just don't think that's acceptable to those being held."

The judge said he was considering splitting the case into two separate trials, which would begin in the months ahead of next year's primary elections.