On January 6 of this year, a mob of pro-Trump extremists, prompted by former President Donald Trump's lies that the 2020 election was "stolen" by Democrats, stormed the United States Capitol in a deadly failed insurrection.
Many—including the impeachment managers for Trump's second Senate trial—have noted the rhetoric that inspired the insurrection was broadcast not only by Trump, but by Republican members of Congress who supported him, embracing the lie that the results of the 2020 election were illegitimate.
Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California made waves this past March when her staff compiled a nearly 2,000 page report documenting the public social media posts of Republican lawmakers embracing Trump's election lies and promoting veiled calls for violence.
These lawmakers have disavowed the report and absolved themselves of any accountability for the role their militant rhetoric played in inciting the riots.
Ali Alexander—a chief organizer of the Stop the Steal Movement—said back in January that three GOP congressmen helped him plan the Save America rally, where thousands of Trump supporters gathered to hear then-President Trump and other far-right personalities speak. At Trump's direction, they would march to the Capitol shortly before the riots began.
The video of Alexander admitting this recently resurfaced online.
The Congressmen were Representatives Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Paul Gosar of Arizona.
Alexander said in the days following the riots:
"We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting."
With news that the FBI reported the Capitol Riots weren't pre-planned on a massive scale, Alexander's January admission unleashed a new wave of reactions.
Social media users inundated the representatives with the receipts.
The House Select Committee is still investigating the origins of the riots.
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