In the wake of a report by Rolling Stone tying Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) to the planning of events that led up to the Capitol riot on January 6, the North Carolina publication known as The News & Observer has called him out. In short, that report from Rolling Stone cites two people involved in the planning of the Women for America First rally on January 6 in D.C., which is where Trump spoke. Both of these individuals were also involved in the planning and carrying out of other post-election events on Trump’s behalf — and they say that amid the process of developing rally plans, they were in repeated contact with multiple Republican members of Congress and/or their staffs.
One of the questions stemming from this Rolling Stone report would be: did these Republican members of Congress know of the seemingly all-but-certain impending violence? Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who was named alongside Cawthorn in the report, wore body armor while speaking at the January 6 rally in D.C. What did he know? The Editorial Board of The News & Observer commented as follows:
‘Anyone who truly cares about democracy knows it is threatened by the authoritarian instincts of Trump and his followers, and by Republicans who are too timid to stand against that threat. Elected officials like Cawthorn are not simply zealots or cranks. They are the start of what could become an anti-democratic wave that would have a white and wealthy minority preside over the nation against the popular will. The Rolling Stone report adds new urgency to the work of the House select committee investigating who and what drove the events of Jan. 6, and what must be done to end the smoldering danger to our democracy.’
The paper added that the riot investigation committee “must uncover who those bad actors are — and how many of them are from North Carolina.” Predictably, the teams of the Republican House members named in that report have sought to distance themselves from what transpired, with Cawthorn spokesman Luke Ball insisting that “[neither] the congressman nor his staff had advance knowledge of what transpired at the Capitol on January 6th or participated in any alleged ‘planning process'” — but “advance knowledge” of the Capitol violence had not been directly alleged, and neither was participation in some vague “planning process” exactly what was alleged. Cawthorn was claimed to have ties to the planning for events leading up to the riot. Obfuscation doesn’t help his case.
Check out more from The News & Observer at this link.
