Politics

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Pathetic Piece Of Trash’: House Republicans Respond To Rolling Stone Piece Alleging Capitol Riot Coordination

(Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) (Jonathan Ernst-Pool AFP/Getty Images) (Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images)

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Multiple Republican members of Congress are pushing back against allegations that they or their staff helped plan the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that devolved into the Capitol riot.

An article published Sunday by left-wing magazine Rolling Stone claimed that two individuals involved with planning the “Stop the Steal” rally met with “close to a dozen other members at one point or another or their staffs.”

The Rolling Stone article does not accuse the members of meeting with individuals who planned to enter the Capitol during the riot. Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks and North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn both spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally. Greene, Boebert and Gosar were billed as speakers at another protest on Jan. 6, according to the article, although they ultimately did attend.

House Democrats previously accused GOP members of leading what New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill called “reconnaissance” tours in the days before the Capitol riot. Two Democrats later named Boebert as one of the lawmakers in question. Boebert denied any wrongdoing, saying that she was giving a tour to family members. Complaints filed by Democrats accusing Boebert, Brooks, and Gosar of instigating the Capitol riot were dropped by the House Ethics Committee in June.

Both individuals are cooperating with the House Select Committee investigating the riot, according to the report. The planners claimed to have met with six House members or their staff.

“I remember [Georgia Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically,” one of the planners reportedly said.

Greene denied meeting with any rally organizers, calling the allegations “ridiculous” and Rolling Stone a “pathetic piece of trash” for publishing them.

“They’re talking about their sources and sources and quoting sources, but not giving names, so that just reminds me of the whole Russian collusion lie, and the type of language that Adam Schiff uses when he’s talking about sources,” she told the Daily Caller.

“The whole thing is their same playbook,” Greene continued. “Make up a story, publish it, then all the other outlets rinse and repeat.”

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 27: (L-R) Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) hold a news conference outside the U.S. Department of Justice on July 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

One of the individuals cited by Rolling Stone claimed to have met with “teams” for Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar “like back to back to back to back.”

A spokesperson for Cawthorn also denied the allegations.

“These anonymous accusations are complete garbage. Neither the congressman nor his staff had advance knowledge of what transpired at the Capitol on Jan. 6 or participated in any alleged ‘planning process.’ Unhinged Democrats are trying to impeach President Trump a third time by going after his defenders in the Congress, and apparently only Rolling Stones would stoop low enough to accept their narrative built on anonymous sources. We see through their BS,” the spokesperson said.

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs also denied through a spokesperson allegations that he and his staff were involved in planning the rally.

“Rep. Biggs has addressed the events of Jan. 6th several times and has made his lack of involvement abundantly clear. It should come as no surprise that baseless claims by ‘anonymous sources’ were given a public platform by a fake news tabloid such as Rolling Stone. The Far Left is terrified that the American people hold Biden and the Democrats accountable for their failing socialist agenda, and are attempting to deflect,” the spokesperson told the Daily Caller.

One of the individuals also claimed that Gosar spoke with then-President Donald Trump about a “blanket pardon” for any people involved with the rally. Gosar’s chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein, was named by the Select Committee in a Sept. 30 records request to the National Archives.

Both individuals cited in the Rolling Stone article claimed to be in contact with Boebert and Gosar on Jan. 6.

“Let me be clear. I had no role in the planning or execution of any event that took place at the Capitol or anywhere in Washington, DC on January 6th. With the help of my staff, I accepted an invitation to speak at one event but ultimately I did not speak at any events on January 6th. Once again, the media is acting as a messaging tool for the radical left,” Boebert told the Caller. “The left falsely accused me of giving a reconnaissance tour. In reality, I was visiting the Capitol with my family. They lied claiming my mother was the ‘bull horn lady.’ She was not. They filed an ethics complaint against me for alleged involvement in January 6th activities, but the complaint was dismissed because it simply was not true. Now, grasping at straws, Rolling Stone is using anonymous sources and shoddy reporting to attack me. Thank you, next.”

“The Rolling Stone ‘story’ is categorically false and defamatory,” Gosar told the Caller.

The House Select Committee is expected to request the telecommunications records of eleven House Republicans believed to be involved with planning the rally, CNN reported in August. Biggs, Boebert, Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, Cawthorn, Greene, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, and Gosar were named in both the Rolling Stone report and the CNN report. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Two Republicans Say They Have Not Received Phone Record Subpoena Alerts)

“No one in my office, including me, participated in the planning of the rally or in any criminal activity on January 6. We did not attend or participate at all. However, I am extremely interested to find out who, besides the FBI operatives, did plan the events on January 6. For the purpose of a potential defamation lawsuit against those making baseless accusations of a crime, I need to know who these persons are who are alleging that I helped,” Gohmert told the Caller.

Brooks did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

The Select Committee also requested in August that National Archivist David Ferriero provide communications between the Trump White House and all members of Congress. It is continuing to subpoena former Trump administration officials and collect testimony.