A slate of Republican members of Congress is being outed by those who attended planning meetings for the protest that resulted in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a new report in Rolling Stone.
Two sources, according to their story, revealed that Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) were all present on “dozens” of calls with organizers of the group.
Trump aide Katrina Pierson was also named by them a “liaison” between the White House and the rally organizers. Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows was cited as someone who also aided the group.
“I remember Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically,” the organizer told Rolling Stone. “I remember talking to probably close to a dozen other members at one point or another or their staffs.”
The former president also spoke to the group, saying that they were going to march to the U.S. Capitol and tell the members of Congress that they needed to hand Trump the election. He promised that he would lead them and walk with them, but that never happened.
“These two sources also helped plan a series of demonstrations that took place in multiple states around the country in the weeks between the election and the storming of the Capitol,” said Rolling Stone. “According to these sources, multiple people associated with the March for Trump and Stop the Steal events that took place during this period communicated with members of Congress throughout this process.”
“We would talk to Boebert’s team, Cawthorn’s team, Gosar’s team like back to back to back to back,” the organizer recalled.
While there have been reports of officials being part of the planning, this is the first report from those involved on the inside, willing to go on the record with investigators and the press.
“Nick Dyer, who is Greene’s communications director, said she was solely involved in planning to object to the electoral certification on the House floor,” said the report. “Spokespeople for the other members of Congress, who the sources describe as involved in the planning for protests, did not respond to requests for comment.”
“Congresswoman Greene and her staff were focused on the Congressional election objection on the House floor and had nothing to do with planning of any protest,” Dyer said in an email.
“She objected just like Democrats who have objected to Republican presidential victories over the years,” Dyer wrote, which is incorrect. No Democrats have ever attempted to stop certification of election results. Greene’s office named a list of Democrats, falsely saying that they attempted to do exactly that when it came to President Donald Trump in 2017.
Dyer went on to say that no one in the U.S. cares about Jan. 6.
Ali Alexander, the original organizer of the event is now in hiding, but he’s already said in a since-deleted video that Gosar, Brooks, and Biggs all aided his efforts for the event.
“I was the person who came up with the Jan. 6 idea with Congressman Gosar, Congressman Mo Brooks, and Congressman Andy Biggs,” Alexander said in the video. “We four schemed up on putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting so that — who we couldn’t lobby — we could change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body hearing our loud roar from outside.”
When he organized an event in Phoenix, Gosar was the main speaker. Alexander even referred to him as “my captain” and called him “one of the other heroes has been Congressman Andy Biggs.”
“He just couldn’t help himself but go on his live [feed] and just talk about everything that he did and who he talked to,” one of the planners told Rolling Stone about Alexander. “So, he, like, really told on himself.”
“The breaking point for me [on Jan. 6 was when] Trump starts talking about walking to the Capitol,” said the organizer. “I was like. ‘Let’s get the f*ck out of here.'”
“I do kind of feel abandoned by Trump,” the planner added. “I’m actually pretty pissed about it, and I’m pissed at him. What the f*ck?”
“I have no problem openly testifying,” the planner also said.