On Sunday, Rolling Stone published a bombshell report in which several people who participated in the January 6th protests at the Capitol admitted they participated in “dozens” of meetings with members of Congress and White House staffers, who promised them that then-president Donald Trump could issue them a “blanket pardon” should they get into any trouble with authorities. Unsurprisingly, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert were among the officials cited with being a part of these pre-coup briefings, along with Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks. Now, as Raw Story notes, Brooks—taking a page from Trump’s book—is denying that he had anything to do with the events of January 6th or any planning leading up to them… though he couldn’t say that his staffers were totally innocent.
In a since-deleted video posted by Ali Alexander, Raw Story noted that the noted far-right activist and ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer admitted that: “I was the person who came up with the Jan. 6 idea with Congressman Gosar, Congressman Mo Brooks, and Congressman Andy Biggs. We four schemed up on putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting so that—who we couldn’t lobby—we could change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body hearing our loud roar from outside.”
On Monday, CNN’s Melanie Zanona spoke with Brooks, who claimed that he had “no involvement” in the events of January 6th, but wouldn’t swear that others in his office might not have played a role. “I don’t know if my staff did,” he added, “but if they did I’d be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the ellipse to protest voter fraud & election theft.”
Rep. Mo Brooks told me he had "no involvement” in planning the Jan 6 rally but said:
“I don’t know if my staff did.. but if they did I’d be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the ellipse to protest voter fraud & election theft."
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) October 26, 2021
Way to throw your staff under the bus with a smile! What makes the whole ‘I didn’t know anything but members of my staff might have, and if they did, then good for them’ rhetoric slightly less believable is the fact that Brooks opted to wear full body armor when he spoke at Trump’s rally just ahead of the insurrection of January 6th.
(Via Raw Story)