2 Jan. 6 rally organizers say they will implicate GOP members of Congress in plot to overturn Trump's loss
Two people who helped plan the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that preceded the Capitol insurgency have begun sharing their knowledge with the House Jan. 6 committee, and they have "explosive allegations that multiple members of Congress were intimately involved in planning both [former President Donald] Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss and the Jan. 6 events that turned violent," Rolling Stone reported Sunday.
The two organizers described participating in dozens of planning briefings ahead of the Jan. 6 riot. "I remember Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically," one organizer told Rolling Stone. Along with Greene (R-Ga.), both planners said GOP Reps. Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), and Louie Gohmert (Texas) or their top staffers participated in the conversations.
"We would talk to Boebert's team, Cawthorn's team, Gosar's team like back to back to back to back," the organizer said. Rolling Stone said it "has separately obtained documentary evidence that both sources were in contact with Gosar and Boebert on Jan. 6." Greene "had nothing to do with planning of any protest," a spokesman said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The two Jan. 6 rally organizers told Rolling Stone there were tensions between their main rally near the White House, in which Trump spoke and urged his supporters to walk to the Capitol and "fight like hell," and a Jan. 6 "Wild Protest" on the Capitol lawn organized by "Stop the Steal" head Alexander Ali.
Ali said in a since-deleted livestream that he, Gosar, Brooks, and Biggs "schemed up" the "Wild" protest, and Gosar, Greene, and Boebert were listed as speakers at that Capitol protest. But the two organizers of the main protest said Alexander had agreed to call of his event, then reneged, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows declined to step in and stop that second, potentially explosive event. "They knew that they weren't there to sing 'Kumbaya' and, like, put up a peace sign," the second planner told Rolling Stone.
The established plan, they said, was for Trump and his allies to present evidence of election fraud while the GOP representatives objected to certifying President Biden's victory. "The Capitol was never in play," the planner told Rolling Stone. "The breaking point for me," the first organizer said, was when "Trump starts talking about walking to the Capitol."
Read more about the organizers' allegations, including Trump "blanket pardons" Gosar promised them, at Rolling Stone.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
6 charming homes for the whimsical
Feature Featuring a 1924 factory-turned-loft in San Francisco and a home with custom murals in Yucca Valley
By The Week Staff Published
-
Big tech's big pivot
Opinion How Silicon Valley's corporate titans learned to love Trump
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Stacy Horn's 6 favorite works that explore the spectrum of evil
Feature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anthony Doerr, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Trump starts term with spate of executive orders
Speed Read The president is rolling back many of Joe Biden's climate and immigration policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 rioters
Speed Read The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump declares 'golden age' at indoor inauguration
In the Spotlight Donald Trump has been inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'The death and destruction happening in Gaza still dominate our lives'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Silicon Valley: bending the knee to Donald Trump
Talking Point Mark Zuckerberg's dismantling of fact-checking and moderating safeguards on Meta ushers in a 'new era of lies'
By The Week UK Published
-
Will auto safety be diminished in Trump's second administration?
Today's Big Question The president-elect has reportedly considered scrapping a mandatory crash-reporting rule
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published