In a Wednesday Twitter post, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) shamed Republican members of Congress including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) for their past promotion of conspiracy theories regarding Ray Epps, a Trump supporter who was present in D.C. around the time of last year’s attack on the Capitol. Epps has been alleged to have at least potentially been a covert government informant — he was captured on camera the day before the January 6 Capitol attack encouraging Trump supporters to enter the Capitol, and he was eventually removed from the list of people about whom feds were seeking information in connection to the riot without Epps facing any charges. But there’s no evidence he was an agent of the feds — he simply didn’t appear to commit any of the criminal offenses upon which prosecutors dealing with the riot have been focusing.
Asked if he thought Trump asking Putin to reveal dirt on Biden was appropriate, Thune said: “We have very little control over what the former president says, obviously.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 30, 2022
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rochlin recently revealed that she would be sharing a “disclosure” regarding Epps after individuals facing criminal charges in connection to the riot pushed for information about him. Again — there’s no apparently meaningful evidence of Epps being a government operative, and yet, even Donald Trump himself has promoted claims about him. The disclosure from Rochlin that she’d be providing details about Epps — which would presumably refute claims about his imaginary involvement with the government — led to Kinzinger’s remarks. The Congressman pointedly commented as follows:
‘Oh if I’m [Ted Cruz], [Marjorie Taylor Greene], or Tom Massie, I’d be hoping people forgot what i said… but we didn’t. We remember and I’ll remind people over and over.’
Oh if I’m @tedcruz, MTG, or Tom Massie, I’d be hoping people forgot what i said… but we didn’t. We remember and I’ll remind people over and over:
Feds prepare ‘disclosure’ on figure at heart of pro-Trump Jan. 6 conspiracy theory https://t.co/C12u17yziV via @politico
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) March 30, 2022
Kinzinger has previously spoken to the conspiracy theories surrounding Epps. Back in January, Kinzinger tweeted that Epps “has cooperated with the Jan 6 committee and we thank him… The narrative on Jan 6 has been that it’s first antifa, or patriots who love their country, maybe crisis actors, [definitely] false flag operatives, or now FBI agents. Take your pick. Truth is they were rioters incited by lies. And RAY is no fed. Just another misled man.” And yet, conspiracies have continued.
I’m no lawyer but I think Trump openly conspiring with Russia is gonna hurt his lawsuit against people who accused him of conspiring with Russia.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) March 29, 2022
Separately, a statement from the House committee investigating the Capitol riot added that panel investigators were “aware of unsupported claims that Ray Epps was an FBI informant based on the fact that he was on the FBI Wanted list and then was removed from that list without being charged. The Committee has interviewed Epps. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on Jan 5th or 6th or at any other time, & that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency.” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — forever in the throes of nonsense — summed up the pro-Trump view on the matter when he asserted this January that he doesn’t “believe that there would have been the same level of criminal acuity on January 6 of last year but for the involvement of the federal government.” There wasn’t federal involvement in the events of January 6 — there’s no meaningful evidence for what he’s saying, although asking Matt Gaetz to support his claims with evidence is certainly a tall order.
The Committee has interviewed Epps. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on Jan 5th or 6th or at any other time, & that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) January 11, 2022
