A new scoop at Rolling Stone adds to what we know about coordination between Jan. 6 "rally" organizers and the Trump White House—and it might be a very big deal. Hunter Walker reports that "March for Trump" planners purchased and used so-called "burner phones" to communicate with those close to Trump just days before Jan. 6; those contacted include Eric Trump, Laura Trump, Katrina Pierson, and, significantly, Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Organizers Kylie Kremer, Amy Kremer, and an unknown third person received the phones, and they were specifically purchased "to communicate with high-level people," according to an anonymous March for Trump team member: "Any conversation [Kylie] had with the White House or Trump family took place on those phones."
The link between the Trump White House and organizers of the Jan. 6 rally that led to a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in the precise minutes lawmakers were assembled to formally recognize Donald Trump's election loss is one of the most significant points of inquiry for the House select committee investigating the attempted coup. We already know, as fact, that Donald Trump aggressively promoted the rally, calling it a "march." We know as fact that it was planned to exactly coincide with the joint session of Congress' formal counting of the electoral votes, and that the speaking program on the day was timed, almost to the minute, in such a way as to allow those assembled to demand nullification of Trump's election loss to arrive at the Capitol immediately before the process began.
We know as fact that Trump himself specifically told the assembled crowd to "march" on the Capitol, and that when the violent attack was underway, Trump watched it on television but did nothing, despite pleas from staff and those inside the building to stop it.
What is still unknown is the extent to which the members of the Trump White House, including Meadows, were themselves involved in gathering up a crowd that day and setting it loose on the Capitol, but this new evidence adds to a significant pile suggesting that Trump's staff played an active role in planning the event so it would provide a crowd of bodies at the precise hour and place needed to threaten lawmakers directly. All evidence suggests that Trump himself saw the crowd as a militia, and that he promoted the gathering and rallied the crowd for the explicit purpose of intimidating or outright threatening the gathered lawmakers.
Even if he did not directly plan violence, in gathering up the crowd of far-right militia members, hoax-believers, and other supporters willing to directly challenge the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, he had already confronted multiple state officials with demands that they alter vote totals on his behalf and, clearly, sought to use the gathered crowd to intimidate national lawmakers into doing the same.
Trump intended the event as the gathering point for a coup. He truly intended to topple government with a show of force meant to suggest that the people would not tolerate a vote to remove him from power. One of the most pressing questions for the House select committee is pinning down who, among his advisers and top members of his administration, assisted that effort.
We now know that Meadows was in communication with "rally" organizers in the days before the violence. There is no privilege claim that can shield him from testifying as to what conversations he had with political operatives planning a pro-Trump event, and attempts to claim so would be asinine. He can, however, invoke his Fifth Amendment rights if he sees fit. The same goes for Trump's family members. The same goes for Steve Bannon, who was promoting the day as something that could successfully alter the election's result.
Which of these figures assisted Trump in gathering a crowd specifically for the purpose of interfering with the peaceful transfer of power between administrations? It was a crowd radicalized by election hoaxes spread by the Trump White House, Trump allies, the Republican Party, and many of the specific Republican lawmakers assembled that day—lawmakers who themselves told crowds that the election should be challenged.
This was an attempt to topple our government. It was violent, it led to deaths, and numerous political figures spent influence and millions of dollars to gather a crowd that could be set loose at exactly the right moment.
Some may have been gullible. Others appear to have gathered the crowd specifically as weapon in a would-be political coup. It is an unforgivable betrayal, and those figures should be exposed and punished not as bad political actors but as seditionists—to be held responsible for every death.
Organizers Kylie Kremer, Amy Kremer, and an unknown third person received the phones, and they were specifically purchased "to communicate with high-level people," according to an anonymous March for Trump team member: "Any conversation [Kylie] had with the White House or Trump family took place on those phones."
The link between the Trump White House and organizers of the Jan. 6 rally that led to a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in the precise minutes lawmakers were assembled to formally recognize Donald Trump's election loss is one of the most significant points of inquiry for the House select committee investigating the attempted coup. We already know, as fact, that Donald Trump aggressively promoted the rally, calling it a "march." We know as fact that it was planned to exactly coincide with the joint session of Congress' formal counting of the electoral votes, and that the speaking program on the day was timed, almost to the minute, in such a way as to allow those assembled to demand nullification of Trump's election loss to arrive at the Capitol immediately before the process began.
We know as fact that Trump himself specifically told the assembled crowd to "march" on the Capitol, and that when the violent attack was underway, Trump watched it on television but did nothing, despite pleas from staff and those inside the building to stop it.
What is still unknown is the extent to which the members of the Trump White House, including Meadows, were themselves involved in gathering up a crowd that day and setting it loose on the Capitol, but this new evidence adds to a significant pile suggesting that Trump's staff played an active role in planning the event so it would provide a crowd of bodies at the precise hour and place needed to threaten lawmakers directly. All evidence suggests that Trump himself saw the crowd as a militia, and that he promoted the gathering and rallied the crowd for the explicit purpose of intimidating or outright threatening the gathered lawmakers.
Even if he did not directly plan violence, in gathering up the crowd of far-right militia members, hoax-believers, and other supporters willing to directly challenge the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, he had already confronted multiple state officials with demands that they alter vote totals on his behalf and, clearly, sought to use the gathered crowd to intimidate national lawmakers into doing the same.
Trump intended the event as the gathering point for a coup. He truly intended to topple government with a show of force meant to suggest that the people would not tolerate a vote to remove him from power. One of the most pressing questions for the House select committee is pinning down who, among his advisers and top members of his administration, assisted that effort.
We now know that Meadows was in communication with "rally" organizers in the days before the violence. There is no privilege claim that can shield him from testifying as to what conversations he had with political operatives planning a pro-Trump event, and attempts to claim so would be asinine. He can, however, invoke his Fifth Amendment rights if he sees fit. The same goes for Trump's family members. The same goes for Steve Bannon, who was promoting the day as something that could successfully alter the election's result.
Which of these figures assisted Trump in gathering a crowd specifically for the purpose of interfering with the peaceful transfer of power between administrations? It was a crowd radicalized by election hoaxes spread by the Trump White House, Trump allies, the Republican Party, and many of the specific Republican lawmakers assembled that day—lawmakers who themselves told crowds that the election should be challenged.
This was an attempt to topple our government. It was violent, it led to deaths, and numerous political figures spent influence and millions of dollars to gather a crowd that could be set loose at exactly the right moment.
Some may have been gullible. Others appear to have gathered the crowd specifically as weapon in a would-be political coup. It is an unforgivable betrayal, and those figures should be exposed and punished not as bad political actors but as seditionists—to be held responsible for every death.