Monday, October 25, 2021

Organizers Of January 6 Seditious Insurrection Say They Held "Dozens" Of Planning Meetings With Trump White House Staff & At Least A Dozen GOP Members Of Congress, All Of Whom Were Told They Would Receive A "Blanket Pardon" From Trump

Two organizers of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol have spoken at length with the House Select Committee investigating the pro-Trump attack, sharing detailed information about the planning of the attack, which involved members of the Trump White House, including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and at least a dozen members of Congress, including 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), according to an exclusive report from Rolling Stone.
For the sake of clarity, we will refer to one of the sources as a rally organizer and the other as a planner. Rolling Stone has confirmed that both sources were involved in organizing the main event aimed at objecting to the electoral certification, which took place at the White House Ellipse on Jan. 6. Trump spoke at that rally and encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol. Some members of the audience at the Ellipse began walking the mile and a half to the Capitol as Trump gave his speech. The barricades were stormed minutes before the former president concluded his remarks.

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. 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.

Along with Greene, the conspiratorial pro-Trump Republican from Georgia who took office earlier this year, the pair both say the members who participated in these conversations or had top staffers join in included .

"We would talk to Boebert's team, Cawthorn's team, Gosar's team like back to back to back to back," says the organizer. And Gosar, who has been one of the most prominent defenders of the Jan. 6 rioters, allegedly took things a step further. Both sources say he dangled the possibility of a "blanket pardon" in an unrelated ongoing investigation to encourage them to plan the protests.

"Our impression was that it was a done deal," the organizer says, "that he'd spoken to the president about it in the Oval . . . in a meeting about pardons and that our names came up. They were working on submitting the paperwork and getting members of the House Freedom Caucus to sign on as a show of support." . . .

Gosar's office did not respond to requests for comment on this story. Rolling Stone has separately obtained documentary evidence that both sources were in contact with Gosar and Boebert on Jan. 6. . . .

These specific members of Congress were involved in the pro-Trump activism around the election and the electoral certification on Jan. 6. Both Brooks and Cawthorn spoke with Trump at the Ellipse on Jan. 6. In his speech at that event, Brooks, who was reportedly wearing body armor, declared, "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass." Gosar, Greene, and Boebert were all billed as speakers at the "Wild Protest," which also took place on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. . . .

In another indication members of Congress may have been involved in planning the protests against the election, Ali Alexander, who helped organize the "Wild Protest," declared in a since-deleted livestream broadcast that Gosar, Brooks, and Biggs helped him formulate the strategy for that 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 at the time. "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."

Alexander led Stop the Steal, which was one of the main groups promoting efforts to dispute Trump's loss. In December, he organized a Stop the Steal event in Phoenix, where Gosar was one the main speakers. At that demonstration, Alexander referred to Gosar as "my captain" and declared "one of the other heroes has been Congressman Andy Biggs." . . .

While it was already clear members of Congress played some role in the Jan. 6 events and similar rallies that occurred in the lead-up to that day, the two sources say they can provide new details about the members' specific roles in these efforts. The sources plan to share that information with congressional investigators right away. While both sources say their communications with the House's Jan. 6 committee thus far have been informal, they are expecting to testify publicly.

"I have no problem openly testifying," the planner says. . . .
Much of this information confirms and/or adds to the already existing mountain of evidence unearthed and compiled by author Seth Abramson and presented at Proof. Abramson has been reporting on the insurrection since the day it happened and has been the only journalist to deeply investigate the attack. Some of Abramson's articles reveal:
the five Trump "War Rooms" that were used during the week leading up to January 6,

a secret Insurrection Eve conclave at Trump International Hotel,


Former Secretary of Defense Chris Miller lied to Congress about Trump's actions (and who he met with) during the afternoon and evening of January 5,


a leading Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia met with insurrectionists and discussed the possibility of Trump raising a personal army of more than a million combat veterans to retain control of the White House,


a possible seditious conspiracy involving the Secret Service and its role in the insurrection, and 

a comprehensive guide to the people responsible for the January 6 insurrection and a detailed explanation of how and why the attack occurred.
In addition to the members of Congress named by Rolling Stone, Abramson has been writing about these key people as well: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI).
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