Two prominent organizers of the outdoor event in Washington, D.C., where then-President Donald Trump spoke on January 6 have now opted to share relevant information that’s in their possession with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. Despite attempts by Trump and others close to him to impede the riot investigation committee’s work, they’ve heard from over 300 witnesses so far, and these two organizers — Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lynn Lawrence — are scheduled to speak with the committee next week, after previously getting subpoenaed. The January 6 event didn’t include explicit plans for violence, but it provided a springboard for the riot — many people went from there to the Capitol, and that’s where Trump gave his incendiary speech that day.
For attempting to overthrow our democracy to install an autocrat, Mandel calls Flynn a ‘Patriot.’ For helping to preserve the Republic and hold Trump accountable, Kinzinger is a ‘traitor.’ This is the 2021 Republican Party. pic.twitter.com/eW1WUqbRi1
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 14, 2021
As explained by Rolling Stone, Stockton and Lawrence “will deliver testimony and turn over documents, including text messages, that indicate the extensive involvement members of Congress and the Trump administration had in planning the House challenge to certifying Biden’s election and [the] rally near the White House where Donald Trump spoke.” The materials that they’re set to turn over include “conversations they had with staffers and members of Congress as they planned the main rally that took place on the White House Ellipse that day.” Stockton characterized these interactions as “largely logistical and focused on planning the members’ participation in objections to the electoral certification on the House floor and various events that were staged to protest against the election.”
HAPPENING NOW: Rep. Cheney reading more texts from GOP lawmakers to Meadows on Jan. 6
"It is really bad up here on the hill."
"The president needs to stop this ASAP"
"Fix this now."
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 14, 2021
(All of that is in the description of Rolling Stone.) Stockton and Lawrence were among those who had been previously involved with an initiative called We Build the Wall, which collected donations from willing right-wingers that were meant for usage in constructing a wall along the southern border, as Trump long hoped to do. The problem is that leaders within the effort used donor money for themselves, and that list includes longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who was hit with fraud charges before receiving a pardon from then-President Trump as his tenure drew to a close.
Worth remembering that Trump famously doesn’t email or text. Which is why his own son (among others) texted Meadows to relay a message to his father.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) December 14, 2021
Neither Stockton nor Lawrence have faced any charges in connection to the We Build the Wall mess, but in December of 2020, as they worked on a pro-Trump bus tour, they claim to have gotten a call from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and his chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein. On the call, Van Flein claimed that he and Gosar had just been with Trump — and alleged that the then-president was contemplating the issuance of a “blanket pardon” to cover them in connection to We Build the Wall. Gosar, as summarized by Rolling Stone based on remarks from Stockton and Lawrence, “suggested the bus tour was helping [them] build support for a pardon from… Trump.” Gosar denies that he made these remarks, although they’re certainly believable. Even if not in this particular instance, Stockton and Lawrence have significant amounts of evidence to back themselves up overall. Read more on them at this link.
Bottom line: Text messages to Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows appears to show that GOP members of Congress and the Trump White House conspired to overthrow Biden’s election victory on Jan. 6
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 14, 2021
