Report: Members of Congress may have played a part in Jan. 6 riots, sources say

Jan. 6 riots.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. - Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. Photo credit Brent Stirton/Getty Images

With a house select committee investigating what exactly happened on Jan. 6 in the nation's capital, an article has been published by Rolling Stones depicting two individuals who saw the riots first hand.

Hunter Walker, a reporter for Rolling Stone who wrote the article, spoke with News Talk 830 WCCO's Chad Hartman about what he learned while writing about the insurrection.

Walker spoke with two sources who helped plan the actual event on the steps of the Capitol and efforts to overturn the election across the country.

One of the most interesting things that he found out while interviewing the two sources was that a congressman, Arizona Representative Paul Gosar, who Walker says has been a "staunch defender of the rioters," played an interesting part on Jan. 6.

Walker shared that Gosar had told the two sources that they would be pardoned for a different ongoing investigation for their involvement with the rallies.

"They actually said that he told them that he'd met with Trump in the Oval office about securing this pardon for him," Walker said. "One of the organizers told me 'our impression was that it was a done deal that he had spoken to the president about it in the Oval [Office] in a meeting about pardons and our names had come up.'"

Walker shared that his story is a good sign for those involved in speaking up and cooperating with law enforcement. He shared that this is the first indication that the house select committee investigating the attack has received "major new revelations from cooperating witnesses."

While he can not give much information on his two sources as they have been granted anonymity, he did share that he confirmed they are working with the house select committee. However, they still support the former president and his agenda.

"These are people who even now stand by President Trump's agenda. They call it the 'America First' agenda," Walker said. "They passionately believed in this stuff; they continually believe there were some issues with the way the election was conducted.

"But at the same time, they say they really feel there were certain bad actors who took what was supposed to be a series of protests and helped it make a turn for the worse."

If the house select committee decides it wants Walker's sources to testify, both of them have shared with him that they are willing to do so and expect to do so.

"Assuming that the house select committee finds some of their allegations credible, I think America will be learning a lot more about these people in the coming weeks," Walker said.

Walker shared that there is evidence pointing to members of Congress, like Rep. Gosar and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, being involved in the Jan. 6 events. He said that they had spoken with his sources on the day and been present at "Stop the Steal" rallies across the country.

When it comes to what the house select committee will find, Walker thinks it will be eye-opening to many how much communication had gone on between members of Congress leading up to and on Jan. 6.

"We know the committee has been interested in some of these figures, and now we know the committee is receiving these shocking allegations from people who were involved in the planning," he said.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Brent Stirton/Getty Images