You Want Names? These Were The Names Behind Trump's Failed Coup Attempt

Yesterday we noted how Arizona far right congressman Paul Gosar's brothers and sister are calling him out for the role he played in the violent insurrection. "There is no one member of Congress more responsible for the attack on the Capitol than Congressman Paul Gosar... He should be held accountable for all the lies he told that led to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th." He is dripping with guilt... but hardly alone among congressional Trumpists.

On Saturday, Seth Abramson created a comprehensive guide to those responsible for the January 6 insurrection. By all means click on the link and read the whole report, which features some well known criminals like Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, Jr., Ali Alexander, Enrique Tarrio, Michael Flynn, Alex Jones, Sidney Powell, Charlie Kirk, Lindsey Graham, Lin Wood, Nick Fuentes. I'm just going to call your attention to the section on Members of Congress.

"Trump’s GOP allies in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives," wrote Abramson, "did not directly participate in the January 6 insurrection, but nevertheless issued public rhetoric and engaged in actions in their official capacity as members of Congress that helped inspire the false belief that the 2020 election had been stolen-- and that with sufficient pressure on Congress on and before January 6, the election result might be overturned. These individuals repeatedly gave aid and comfort to insurrectionists in both word and deed. It remains under federal investigation whether these deeds extended to actually helping insurrectionists conduct reconnaissance tours of the U.S. Capitol before it was attacked. Many individuals listed below attended pre-January 6 strategy sessions with the president and his top advisers, while other spoke at Stop the Steal events and (in a few rare instances) arguably directly incited violence with their irresponsible rhetoric. While one could surely add to the list below the approximately 150 House Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and all of the small cadre of GOP senators who did so, for the purposes of this summation of the insurrection only those members of Congress currently known to have actively-- with more than their votes-- helped in the planning and orchestration of the January 6 insurrection are listed here.

Members of Congress: Key Names

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ); Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ); Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL); Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC); Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO); Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA); Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Rep. Jody Hice (R-SC); Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX); Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX); Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO); Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL); and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI).

Members of Congress: Ten Key Contacts and Associations

Ali Alexander has called Paul Gosar a friend, an ally, and the “spirit animal” of the Stop the Steal “movement.” Alexander also declared, in a video, that he had “plotted” the events of January 6 in advance with the assistance of Gosar, Andy Biggs, and Mo Brooks.

Mo Brooks and Madison Cawthorn spoke shortly before then-president Trump at the January 6 Stop the Steal event at the White House Ellipse. Mo Brooks’ speech is considered by many to have been an act of criminal incitement.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, Jody Hice, and several others listed above attended the December 21, 2020 meeting at the White House with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence (see below).

Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump both attempted to contact Tommy Tuberville during the insurrection-- accidentally getting Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, instead-- trying to convince him to fraudulently contest four more states than the six states Trump’s Congressional ally Mo Brooks had already committed to contesting. {Note: Giuliani and Trump knew that approximately three hours total of debate and administrative wrangling is attached-- by rule-- to each objection, so ten objections would be needed to ensure that Congress could not finish its joint session on January 6, but would instead have to adjourn. This might’ve allowed for the “ten-day” investigation of 2020 ballots that Trump, Giuliani, and the Stop the Steal movement were all seeking.}

Josh Hawley gave a “thumbs up” of encouragement to a crowd of soon-to-be insurrectionists outside the U.S. Capitol as he made his way into the building.

Donald Trump now appears to be backing Mo Brooks’ plan to run for the open United States Senate seat in Alabama.

Tommy Tuberville was at the January 5 Trump International Hotel meeting, but has provably lied about every component of the meeting and his attendance at it.

All of the senators above have pushed the “Big Lie” that Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, and Lauren Boebert are under investigation by two Congressional committees to determine if they gave illicit pre-insurrection tours that acted as reconnaissance missions for intended insurrectionists.

Per Daniel Beck, at least two other-- as yet unnamed-- U.S. senators attended the January 5 meeting in Trump’s “private residence” at Trump International Hotel.

Abramson concludes that "all the evidence we now have confirms a relatively simple narrative: even as paramilitary operators, in communication with grassroots organizers, were plotting an assault on the U.S. Capitol, those same grassroots organizers were in touch with the White House. Trump and his team spent the weeks pre-insurrection doing two things: (1) coordinating Congressional attempts to overturn the election, and (2) using Trump’s agents to wrestle planning and orchestration of January 6 from grassroots organizers-- in every case, in ways that ensured that January 6 would turn both chaotic and violent."

Was Gaetz too busy pimpin' to take part in the coup?