Moroni has been given the right to execute traitors. He has made explicit his accusation that Pahoran is traitorous, and now makes explicit the implicit threat to “clean the inward vessel.” Moroni’s mention of his “freemen” is not a random word, but one that is very specifically chosen. He has accused Pahoran of becoming one of the kingmen, and Moroni is not using the result of the earlier kingmen/freemen conflict as the model for the action he is threatening to take. Normally, a move against ones ruler would be treasonous, but Moroni suggests that he is the loyalist and that it is Pahoran who had departed from the Nephite ideals.