Republican AGs group sent robocalls urging protesters to the Capitol. GOP officials now insist they didn’t know about it.
After the tried rebel on Wednesday left a police officer and 4 others lifeless, a number of GOP attorneys normal have distanced themselves from the robocalls, insisting they didn’t know about the marketing campaign. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the nonprofit that sent out the calls, blamed the group’s staffers.
“I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally,” he mentioned in a press release to the Montgomery Advertiser. “It is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of the matter.”
Those claims fell brief for Marshall’s Democratic counterparts, who pointed to the variety of GOP officials who’ve repeated the president’s unfounded election fraud claims.
“RLDF — and the Republican [attorneys general] who blindly take their support — have no legal or moral ground on which to stand here,” mentioned a press release issued from the Democratic Attorneys General Association’s co-chairs, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.
The calls have been sent out by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, that are often called a “dark money groups” by critics as a result of they should not required to reveal donors. The group works to elect GOP attorneys normal, Documented reported.
It is unclear how many individuals obtained the Tuesday robocall from the Republican group. The recording opened with the operator noting she was leaving “an important message” on behalf of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, Documented reported, earlier than urging marchers to present up to D.C. on Jan. 6 to march on the Capitol.
Following Documented’s reporting, Adam Piper, the govt director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, denied the group had been concerned in planning the march to the Capitol. The teams, he mentioned in a press release on Friday, “had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization of yesterday’s rally. No Republican A.G. authorized the staff’s decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the rally.”
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, the former chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, additionally mentioned on Friday that he had no involvement with the protests or the violence that adopted.
“A.G. Reyes was not involved in organizing the rally in Washington, D.C.” his workplace mentioned in a statement. “He supports everyone’s rights to peacefully protest and, as stated previously, condemns in the strongest possible terms, all acts of lawlessness and violence at the Capitol Building last week.”
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the vice chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, additionally denied understanding about the calls on Saturday.
“Attorney General Schmitt absolutely had no knowledge of or involvement in the robocall, and condemns the violence that took place on Wednesday in the strongest possible terms, period,” his spokesperson instructed the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Despite claims from the attorneys normal that the nonprofit performed no function in organizing the rally, Documented reported that the web site selling the “March to Save America,” rally, which was down as of early Monday morning, confirmed the Rule of Law Defense Fund amongst the organizations listed as members.
Democratic attorneys normal additionally famous that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who furthered Trump’s baseless fraud claims in a failed lawsuit, spoke at the rally and that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a former legal professional normal, led the transfer to object to President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
“Its former chair spoke at the rally that incited the mob,” the group’s assertion mentioned, referring to Paxton. “And former GOP A.G. Josh Hawley led the effort in Congress to undermine the election.”
