Rally Planner With Ties to G.O.P. Is Cooperating in Jan. 6 Inquiry

Ali Alexander, a salient organizer of Stop the Steal rallies with ties to far-right members of Congress who sought to invalidate the 2020 predetermination results, is cooperating with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, pledging to present a trove of documents that could shed airy connected the activities that preceded the attack.

The information of Mr. Alexander, who is scheduled to beryllium deposed by the sheet connected Thursday, could supply penetration into the quality and grade of the readying by President Donald J. Trump and his Republican allies successful Congress for their bid to overturn the predetermination connected Jan. 6. It could besides assistance clarify whether and to what grade the imaginable of unit was discussed oregon contemplated earlier oregon during the rampage.

Members of the sheet said they wanted to excavation into Mr. Alexander’s communications with Republican members of Congress and White House officials.

Mr. Alexander, a provocateur who roseate successful right-wing circles successful the chaotic aftermath of the 2020 statesmanlike election, was 1 of a fistful of planners who enactment unneurotic marches and rallies astir the state protesting the outcome. The events culminated with the 1 successful Washington connected Jan. 6 that brought unneurotic throngs of attendees who went connected to tempest the Capitol.

He attended Mr. Trump’s incendiary code astatine the Ellipse adjacent the White House that day, past marched with the assemblage toward the Capitol, on with the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of Infowars. Mr. Alexander arrived, arsenic helium enactment it successful his prepared remarks to the panel, “in the aboriginal stages of the lawbreaking.”

Mr. Alexander, who has been banned from Twitter for spreading mendacious statements astir the election, denies helium was to blasted for the violence.

“Anyone who suggests I had thing to bash with the unlawful activities connected Jan. 6 is wrong,” Mr. Alexander wrote successful a memo to the committee. “They’re either mistaken oregon lying.”

Late past month, the House committee issued subpoenas for some Mr. Alexander and Mr. Jones, suggesting that they mightiness person cognition of however the Stop the Steal rallies connected Jan. 6 came together.

“We request to cognize who organized, planned, paid for and received funds related to those events, arsenic good arsenic what communications organizers had with officials successful the White House and Congress,” Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the committee chairman, said astatine the time.

Mr. Alexander planned to usage his deposition connected Thursday to proclaim his innocence, telling the prime committee that helium had “nothing to bash with immoderate unit oregon lawbreaking” that time and accusing different rally organizers of having done small oregon thing arsenic the mob stormed the Capitol, according to a transcript of his opening statement obtained by The New York Times.

He besides accused them of removing from an lawsuit programme important instructions for wherever the assemblage was to spell and partying successful an upscale Washington edifice during the violence.

“While I was actively trying to de-escalate events astatine the Capitol and extremity the unit and lawlessness, it’s important to enactment that definite radical were obscurity to beryllium found,” Mr. Alexander planned to archer investigators, promising to crook implicit documents to respond to a legislature subpoena. “Press reports suggest they whitethorn person had their feet up drinking donor-funded champagne successful a warfare country successful the Willard. I don’t cognize wherever they were. But they weren’t moving with constabulary trying to de-escalate the chaos similar I was.”

It is not wide wherever Mr. Alexander was oregon what helium was doing during the riot. But successful the weeks earlier the attack, Mr. Alexander repeatedly referred during Stop the Steal events to the imaginable usage of unit to execute his organization’s goals. He claimed to person been successful connection with the White House and members of Congress astir events planned to undermine Congress’s authoritative number of the Electoral College results, the committee said.

Mr. Alexander has said that he, on with Representatives Mo Brooks of Alabama, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Andy Biggs of Arizona, each Republicans, acceptable the events of Jan. 6 successful motion.

“We 4 schemed up of putting maximum unit connected Congress portion they were voting,” Mr. Alexander said successful a since-deleted video posted online, “so that who we couldn’t lobby, we could alteration the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were successful that body, proceeding our large roar from outside.”

Mr. Brooks, who wore assemblage armor onstage connected Jan. 6 arsenic helium told the assemblage to “start taking down names and kicking ass,” and Mr. Biggs, who provided a video connection for Mr. Alexander to play astatine a Dec. 19 rally, person denied coordinating lawsuit readying with Mr. Alexander.

Mr. Gosar’s main of unit called Mr. Alexander “a coagulated organizer,” but said his bureau simply promoted Stop the Steal events and was not progressive successful readying them.

In his opening connection to the committee, Mr. Alexander planned to springiness a spirit of his idiosyncratic biography — his parent was Black and lived successful nationalist housing; his father, an Arab, disappeared from his beingness astatine a young property — and to suggest that helium had go a people for those looking to blasted the unit of Jan. 6 connected someone.

Understand the Claim of Executive Privilege successful the Jan. 6. Inquiry

“It is not uncommon successful the aftermath of historical chaos and disruption to look for a boogeyman,” his opening connection says. “After all, idiosyncratic indispensable beryllium held accountable, right?”

Mr. Alexander besides intended to picture immoderate of the bitter rivalries that divided the tiny radical of planners that enactment unneurotic ample pro-Trump events successful Washington past November, December and January. According to the prepared statement, helium planned to responsibility Amy Kremer and her girl Kylie Kremer, who ran a radical called Women for America First that helped to signifier the Jan. 6 events.

He said the leaders of the lawsuit astatine the Ellipse removed instructions from the programme telling attendees precisely wherever to spell and what to bash aft the lawsuit concluded.

And Mr. Alexander said the lawsuit that helium scheduled ne'er took place, due to the fact that the assemblage from the Ellipse had already turned into a mob.

“The ‘One Nation Under God’ lawsuit that Stop the Steal was a portion of did not commencement the chaos,” helium said.

A spokesperson representing Women for America First did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

In the past fewer weeks, Mr. Alexander claims to person spent much than 100 hours searching his archives for “relevant and responsive documentation to this committee’s requests,” according to his statement. He says that helium has hired “attorneys and machine consultants to beryllium arsenic responsive arsenic possible.”

Mr. Alexander’s practice comes arsenic the committee is moving guardant a transgression contempt of Congress referral against a 3rd recalcitrant witness, Mark Meadows, who served arsenic Mr. Trump’s White House main of staff.

The committee has present interviewed much than 275 witnesses, obtained tens of thousands of documents and is receiving practice from immoderate members of erstwhile Vice President Mike Pence’s interior circle, including Marc Short, his erstwhile main of staff.

But respective high-profile witnesses are stonewalling the panel, successful enactment with a directive from Mr. Trump. The erstwhile president is battling successful tribunal to artifact the merchandise of documents requested by the committee that helium says are taxable to enforcement privilege, though the Biden medication has refused to asseverate the claim.