Roger Stone and Alex Jones, two peddlers of right-wing conspiracy theory and smut, have now been ensnared by the January 6th Committee after the panel on Monday issued a bevy of new subpoenas to individuals they say have information key to unpacking the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“We need to know who organized, planned, paid for, and received funds related to those events as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement accompanying the subpoenas Monday night.
Investigators say Jones helped organize the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6 with Women for America First officials Caroline Wren and Cindy Chafian. Both women have already been subpoenaed and are believed to be quietly cooperating with the probe.
Jones, the committee alleges, coordinated donations from Publix supermarket heiress Julie Fancelli to get the rally organized. And according to text messages obtained by the committee and previously reported on by ProPublica, Jones characterized Fancelli’s donations as 80% of the available funding for the event on Jan. 6.
Jones did not speak with Trump at the Ellipse that day, but instead, gave a speech just 24 hours before at the invitation of Cindy Chafian’s “Eighty Percent Coalition.”
Jones has previously said that the White House told him on or about Jan. 3 that after the rally at the Ellipse ended a few days later, he was to “lead a march to the Capitol where President Trump would meet the group.”
On Jan. 6, Jones did end up marching from the Ellipse to the Capitol, along with right-wing conspiracy theorist Ali Alexander and others. A brief history of Jones’ tweets in the run-up to the attack was also listed in the subpoena.
On Dec. 19 after Trump announced a “wild” and “big protest” to come on Jan. 6, Jones went on his bunk conspiracy show InfoWars and told viewers that “Trump has finally done the right thing…He is now calling on We the People to take action and to show our members… This is the most important call to action on domestic soil since Paul Revere and his ride in 1776.”
“The time for games is over. The time for action is now. Where were you when history was called?” Jones continued last December. Even a guest host who filled in for Jones on Dec. 31 repeated the zealous messages about the looming protest.
“We’re not going to be saved by anybody above us,” said Infowars guest host Matt Bracken. “We’re going to only be saved by millions of Americans moving to Washington, occupying the entire area, if necessary, storming right into the Capitol. We know the rules of engagement. If you have enough people, you can push down any kind of a fence or a wall. But if not enough patriots show up, then we’re just going to watch our freedom go down the drain.”
Jones’ deadline to submit records is Dec. 6 with a deposition requested for Dec. 18.
Roger Stone’s “credible involvement” with the planning of the attack on Jan. 6 triggered his subpoena on Monday, investigators said. Stone was in D.C. on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 and to bolster Trump’s bogus claims of election fraud, he spoke at events affiliated with the Eighty Percent Coalition and the Three Percenters. Stone also “solicited supporters to pay for security” at the events. While in Washington, Stone used members of the Oath Keepers as “personal security guards” including at least one of whom has been indicted.
In a statement Monday, Stone said that allegations of his involvement in the attack on the Capitol are “categorically false.”
“I have said time and again that I had no advance knowledge of the events that took place at the Capitol on that day. After the subpoena is served and after my counsel reviews the request, I will make the determination of how I will proceed,” Stone said.
Investigators have demanded Stone cooperate with their records request by Dec. 6 so that he can be deposed on Dec. 17.
A spokesperson for Alex Jones did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
In addition to Stone and Jones, lawmakers have subpoenaed Dustin Stockton, a Republican strategist and longtime associate of Steve Bannon. Last month, Stockton reportedly sat down with investigators for a closed-door interview just after Bannon was held in contempt of Congress. Bannon was held in contempt for his failure to comply with a records and deposition request and was subsequently indicted by the Justice Department. He pled not guilty.
As for Stockton, investigators say he and his wife Jennifer Lynn Lawrence—also subpoenaed Monday —were instrumental in getting the Women for America First rallies supporting Trump’s claims of election fraud off the ground. That includes the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6.
“You reportedly were concerned about plans by the Stop the Steal movement to organize an unpermitted march that would reach the steps of the Capitol as Congress gathered to certify the election results, so much so that you and others, including Amy Kremer, Women for America First’s chair, ‘felt they needed to urgently warn the White House of the possible danger,” the subpoena notice to Stockton states. “You reportedly were of the view that a ‘last-minute march without a permit, without all the metro police that’d usually be there to fortify the perimeter, felt unsafe.”
Stockton, investigators allege, shared that information with Katrina Pierson, the White House liaison between Women for America First and the administration.
Lawmakers allege Pierson also agreed with Stockton’s suggestion that things may be “unsafe” in Washington on Jan. 6.
Taylor Budowich, the current spokesman for former President Donald Trump, is believed to have secretly directed $200,000 “from a source or sources” to pay for an advertising campaign boosting Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud ahead of the Capitol attack.
Caroline Wren, a Trump fundraiser who was listed as the “VIP advisor” in a National Park Service permit for Jan. 6 at the Ellipse, may have also been a part of that effort with Budowich, the committee said in its letter Monday.
“We need to know who organized, planned, paid for, and received funds related to those events as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement accompanying the subpoenas Monday night.
Investigators say Jones helped organize the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6 with Women for America First officials Caroline Wren and Cindy Chafian. Both women have already been subpoenaed and are believed to be quietly cooperating with the probe.
Jones, the committee alleges, coordinated donations from Publix supermarket heiress Julie Fancelli to get the rally organized. And according to text messages obtained by the committee and previously reported on by ProPublica, Jones characterized Fancelli’s donations as 80% of the available funding for the event on Jan. 6.
Jones did not speak with Trump at the Ellipse that day, but instead, gave a speech just 24 hours before at the invitation of Cindy Chafian’s “Eighty Percent Coalition.”
Jones has previously said that the White House told him on or about Jan. 3 that after the rally at the Ellipse ended a few days later, he was to “lead a march to the Capitol where President Trump would meet the group.”
On Jan. 6, Jones did end up marching from the Ellipse to the Capitol, along with right-wing conspiracy theorist Ali Alexander and others. A brief history of Jones’ tweets in the run-up to the attack was also listed in the subpoena.
On Dec. 19 after Trump announced a “wild” and “big protest” to come on Jan. 6, Jones went on his bunk conspiracy show InfoWars and told viewers that “Trump has finally done the right thing…He is now calling on We the People to take action and to show our members… This is the most important call to action on domestic soil since Paul Revere and his ride in 1776.”
“The time for games is over. The time for action is now. Where were you when history was called?” Jones continued last December. Even a guest host who filled in for Jones on Dec. 31 repeated the zealous messages about the looming protest.
“We’re not going to be saved by anybody above us,” said Infowars guest host Matt Bracken. “We’re going to only be saved by millions of Americans moving to Washington, occupying the entire area, if necessary, storming right into the Capitol. We know the rules of engagement. If you have enough people, you can push down any kind of a fence or a wall. But if not enough patriots show up, then we’re just going to watch our freedom go down the drain.”
Jones’ deadline to submit records is Dec. 6 with a deposition requested for Dec. 18.
Roger Stone’s “credible involvement” with the planning of the attack on Jan. 6 triggered his subpoena on Monday, investigators said. Stone was in D.C. on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 and to bolster Trump’s bogus claims of election fraud, he spoke at events affiliated with the Eighty Percent Coalition and the Three Percenters. Stone also “solicited supporters to pay for security” at the events. While in Washington, Stone used members of the Oath Keepers as “personal security guards” including at least one of whom has been indicted.
In a statement Monday, Stone said that allegations of his involvement in the attack on the Capitol are “categorically false.”
“I have said time and again that I had no advance knowledge of the events that took place at the Capitol on that day. After the subpoena is served and after my counsel reviews the request, I will make the determination of how I will proceed,” Stone said.
Investigators have demanded Stone cooperate with their records request by Dec. 6 so that he can be deposed on Dec. 17.
A spokesperson for Alex Jones did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
In addition to Stone and Jones, lawmakers have subpoenaed Dustin Stockton, a Republican strategist and longtime associate of Steve Bannon. Last month, Stockton reportedly sat down with investigators for a closed-door interview just after Bannon was held in contempt of Congress. Bannon was held in contempt for his failure to comply with a records and deposition request and was subsequently indicted by the Justice Department. He pled not guilty.
As for Stockton, investigators say he and his wife Jennifer Lynn Lawrence—also subpoenaed Monday —were instrumental in getting the Women for America First rallies supporting Trump’s claims of election fraud off the ground. That includes the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6.
“You reportedly were concerned about plans by the Stop the Steal movement to organize an unpermitted march that would reach the steps of the Capitol as Congress gathered to certify the election results, so much so that you and others, including Amy Kremer, Women for America First’s chair, ‘felt they needed to urgently warn the White House of the possible danger,” the subpoena notice to Stockton states. “You reportedly were of the view that a ‘last-minute march without a permit, without all the metro police that’d usually be there to fortify the perimeter, felt unsafe.”
Stockton, investigators allege, shared that information with Katrina Pierson, the White House liaison between Women for America First and the administration.
Lawmakers allege Pierson also agreed with Stockton’s suggestion that things may be “unsafe” in Washington on Jan. 6.
Taylor Budowich, the current spokesman for former President Donald Trump, is believed to have secretly directed $200,000 “from a source or sources” to pay for an advertising campaign boosting Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud ahead of the Capitol attack.
Caroline Wren, a Trump fundraiser who was listed as the “VIP advisor” in a National Park Service permit for Jan. 6 at the Ellipse, may have also been a part of that effort with Budowich, the committee said in its letter Monday.