“I was at the doors on January 6, face to face with protestors, and I know firsthand there was NO INSURRECTION,” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) Tuesday on social media.
He was announcing his support of former President Donald Trump in a Colorado lawsuit that has gone to trial. However, other posts from the not-so-distant past soon came back to haunt the Lone Star State lawmaker.
“What I’m witnessing inside the US Capitol is disgusting. Violent extremists stormed the Capitol and were breaching doors and breaking glass in the entrance to the House floor. Shots were fired,” he said in a Jan. 6, 2021 Facebook post. “It came to the point Capitol Police had weapons drawn and we had to barricade the doors shut. I stood at the door shoulder to shoulder with Capitol Police attempting to calm the protestors talking to them through the glass. This is America, the greatest country in the world. We are better than this. We can disagree and protest but violence is NEVER the answer and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Social media users posted screenshots of the 2021 post shortly after Nehl’s announcement.
“When you were scared to death of losing your life on January 6, you sure were not saying the insurrection was a sham,” said former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who resigned after being injured during the Capitol riot, according to Newsweek.
Even though he posted a damning assessment of the deadly riot, Nehls was also one of the 147 House Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to Newsweek. Trump lost the election to current President Joe Biden.
Last December the Jan. 6 investigation committee recommended that criminal charges be brought against Trump for his involvement in the riot. He held a rally in Washington D.C. the same day where he made unfounded claims about voter fraud.
This September, a lawsuit filed today by six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the firms Tierney Lawrence Stiles LLC, KBN Law, LLC and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC, argued that Trump should not appear on the 2024 ballot due to violations of the 14th amendment. Trump is currently the frontrunner to be the GOP candidate in the 2024 election even as he faces a mountain of challenges, including others related to the riot.
“After losing the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump violated that oath by recruiting, inciting and encouraging a violent mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a futile attempt to remain in office,” said a press release regarding the suit.
It’s the same case that Nehls agreed to be a fact witness for in his social media posts this week.
“I’m honored to announce I will be serving as a fact witness for President Trump's defense in the 14th Amendment removal sham trial in Colorado,” he said. Newsweek said that it reached out to the representative’s office for comment.
Nehls posted another message about Trump on social media this week, featuring a video of the former president talking about how he kept America safe while he was in office.
“Do you miss him yet?” Nehls asked.
Although Trump’s team attempted to shut down the suit in Colorado, a judge in the state rejected that bid Wednesday. Per CNN, Denver District Court Judge Sarah Wallace said “she wanted to let the proceedings move forward and hear more evidence, including on how the First Amendment might protect Trump’s incendiary speech on January 6, 2021.”
So, Trump began his defense case. Thus far, it has included testimony from former Pentagon official Kash Patel and former Trump campaign adviser Katrina Pierson, who CNN said helped organize the January 6 rally.