Questions swirl around possible internal help for Capitol attack

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The idea of ​​an insurgency is unknown in modern U.S. history, and the possibility of lawmakers or allies inside Capitol Hill helping only adds to the uncertainty and concern over the event and what will happen.

At least one organizer of the protest said he coordinated with three House Republicans. There are unverified charges of a “reconnaissance” mission a day before the attack. And more than a dozen U.S. Capitol police officers are under internal investigation for allegedly aiding rioters.

While President Donald Trump’s role in inciting violence is clear, there are some early indications and accusations that other insiders may have more actively aided the mob.

Ali Alexander, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who led one of the “Stop The Steal” groups, claimed in a live video that he had planned the rally that preceded the riot with three GOP MPs: the Representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs from Arizona, and Rep. Mo Brooks from Alabama.
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Brooks spoke at the rally before Trump took the stage and urged the crowd to “start taking names and kicking ass.” In a 2,800-word statement about his involvement, Brooks said he only told the crowd to fight at the polls. (Brooks also revealed that a White House official had called him a day earlier and invited him to speak at the rally.)

CNN previously reported that Gosar had partnered with Alexander’s group in recent months. A spokesperson for Biggs told CNN he had never 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, all three lawmakers voted to reject Biden’s electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Their effort failed.

“These three members of Congress are going to need counsel, very quickly,” former GOP Representative Charlie Dent, a CNN contributor, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday, adding that he believed lawmakers would be submissive. for review by federal prosecutors and the House Ethics Committee.

Presumed “ reconnaissance ” mission

Representative Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey, made waves on Tuesday night when she accused anonymous Republican lawmakers aiding the rioters by bringing them to Capitol Hill a day earlier for a “reconnaissance” mission. CNN has yet to verify these claims.

Sherrill said there were “members of Congress who had groups crossing Capitol Hill that I saw on January 5 for recognition for the next day.” CNN has repeatedly asked Sherrill’s office for details of his charge, but they provided no further information.

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She is a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, and is seen as a moderate member of the Democratic caucus, not a hitman who would lay baseless charges. She said on Wednesday she was “asking for an investigation” from “certain agencies”, presumably to examine possible coordination between Republican lawmakers and rioters.

Separately, Republican Lauren Boebert of Colorado has come under fire for tweeting about the whereabouts of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the attack unfolded. Boebert, who is affiliated with the QAnon movement and regularly spreads right-wing conspiracy theories, tweeted that Pelosi was “kicked out of the rooms (of the House)” while the rioters were still in the building.

Prosecutors investigate conspiracy charges

More than 70 people have already been charged with federal crimes related to the attack. Most of the publicly disclosed cases involve people who fought with police inside the Capitol, made violent threats against Democrats, or were found near the compound with guns or bombs.

Prosecutors have yet to accuse any of those Trump supporters of coordinating with Republican lawmakers or sympathetic police, but the massive investigation is still in its infancy.
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“We are examining significant crime cases related to sedition and conspiracy,” Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney for Washington, DC, told reporters Tuesday, without specifically specifying whether lawmakers or members of the order were under investigation.

But Sherwin added, “Our office organized a strike force made up of very senior national security prosecutors and corruption prosecutors. Their only marching orders from me are to bring seditious and conspiratorial charges related to the most heinous acts that have taken place in the Capitol.

Internal police and military assistance

At least two U.S. Capitol Police officers have already been suspended, and at least 10 others are under investigation, for allegedly playing a role in the insurgency, CNN reported.
There was immediate speculation after the attack that sympathetic police could have helped the rioters, as the loud and sometimes violent crowd appeared to move around the Capitol complex with little resistance. A rioter even posed for a selfie with a cop.
Current and former US military personnel also participated in the insurgency, according to information and court records. One of the men who infiltrated the Senate in the attack is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and the military is reportedly investigating a psychological operations officer who led a group of North Carolinians at the Trump rally before the attack.
Ashli ​​Babbitt, the 35-year-old woman who was fatally shot by police as she attempted to enter the Chamber’s bedroom, was an Air Force veteran who was later consumed by the conspiracy theories.

CNN’s Daniella Diaz and Annie Grayer contributed to this story.



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