CNN | One week after the deadly insurrection at the Capitol, there are still more questions than answers on whether any lawmakers or police assisted the pro-Trump rioters.
The
idea of an insurrection is unheard of in modern US history, and the
possibility that lawmakers or allies inside the Capitol were helping
only contributes to the uncertainty and worry about the event and what's
to come.
At
least one protest organizer said he coordinated with three House
Republicans. There are unverified accusations of a "reconnaissance"
mission one day before the attack. And more than a dozen US Capitol
Police officers are under internal investigation for allegedly helping rioters.
While
President Donald Trump's role in inciting the violence is clear, there
are some early indications and accusations that other insiders may have
more actively aided the mob.
House Republicans under scrutiny
Ali Alexander, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who led one of the "Stop The Steal" groups, claimed in a livestream video that
he planned the rally that preceded the riot with three GOP lawmakers:
Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Rep. Mo Brooks of
Alabama.
Brooks spoke at the rally before Trump took the stage, and urged the crowd to "start taking down names and kicking ass." In a 2,800-word statement about
his involvement, Brooks said he was only telling the crowd to fight
back at the ballot box. (Brooks also revealed that a White House
official called him one day earlier and invited him to speak at the
rally.)
CNN
previously reported that Gosar associated himself with Alexander's
group in recent months. A spokesman for Biggs told CNN that he hasn't
ever met or worked with Alexander.
Alexander
said he hoped his "mob" would pressure lawmakers to block
President-elect Joe Biden's victory through the Electoral College. After
the riot was quelled, the three lawmakers voted to throw out Biden's
electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Their effort failed.
"Those
three members of Congress are going to need to lawyer up, very fast,"
former GOP Rep. Charlie Dent, a CNN contributor, told CNN's Erin Burnett
on Wednesday, adding that he thinks the lawmakers will face scrutiny
from federal prosecutors and the House Ethics Committee.
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