The Jan. 6 Committee issued its third round of subpoenas on Thursday, adding two people and a company to its list of demands for documents and testimony.
In this case, the panel wants information about a Stop the Steal rally that was scheduled to be held outside the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
The rally — organized by right-wing activist Ali Alexander and a group called “One Nation Under God” — was overshadowed both by the rally on the ellipse outside the White House and by the insurrection that took place that day.
But the existence of a rally outside the Capitol that day devoted to, as its permit application said, “election fraud in the swing states” has struck investigators’ interest.
“The rally on the Capitol grounds on January 6th, like the rally near the White House that day, immediately preceded the violent attack on the seat of our democracy,” Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MI) said in a statement. “The Select Committee needs to understand all the details about the events that came before the attack, including who was involved in planning and funding them.”
The Jan. 6 Committee issued subpoenas last week to organizers and vendors of the rally on the ellipse, and subpoenaed associates of Trump’s the week before.
Ali Alexander
Who is he?
Ali Alexander is a right-wing activist. Alexander, who also goes by Ali Akbar, is known for promoting outlandish conspiracy theories, and has reportedly worked with the similar provocateur Jacob Wohl.
What was he doing on Jan. 6?
Alexander spoke at a rally on Jan. 5 in D.C.’s Freedom Plaza, and has claimed to have spoken with unnamed Trump White House officials and three members of Congress — Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Mo Brooks (R-AL) — in the run-up to the rally.
Alexander has said that the rally at the ellipse intended for people to go to his rally by the Capitol, though the permit stated that his Capitol rally expected only 50 people to show.
What does the panel want to know?
The panel is interested in how the Jan. 6 rallies were organized, and in Alexander’s purported communications with members of Congress and the White House. Alexander also referred to potential acts of violence in the weeks before Jan. 6, and the panel wants information about that.
Nathan Martin
Who is he?
Martin is a member of the Shelby, Ohio city council and an Iraq War vet. He confirmed to Buzzfeed this year that he is affiliated with Stop the Steal and One Nation Under God, but declined to explain anything else. Martin lost a bid in the Republican primary for an Ohio state House district in 2019.
What was he doing on Jan. 6?
Martin’s name and contact information appears on permits for the rally by the Capitol, and the Committee alleges that he claimed to be speaking to vendors on behalf of Stop the Steal. Notes taken by a Capitol Police officer before the event and cited by the Committee in the subpoena say that Martin claimed not to have any information about the then-upcoming event when contacted by the officer, and directed the officer to speak with a vendor. That, the committee said, “shocked” the vendor, who told police he was in “daily communication” with Martin about the event.
What does the panel want to know?
The panel wants to know how the rally at the Capitol was organized, and who else may have been involved in arranging it and financing it.
Stop the Steal, LLC
What is it?
A firm that was registered in November 2020 in Montgomery, Alabama, by a law firm that the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as associated with the “far-right fringe.” Alexander has described himself as the LLC’s “national organizer,” and noted on the firm’s website — stopthesteal.us — that it is “the home of the rebellion against an illegitimate government.”
What role did it play on Jan. 6?
Alexander claimed that Stop the Steal held the permit for the rally outside the Capitol.
What information does the panel want?
The panel’s subpoena says that it wants to know how the permit for the protest was prepared, and about the firm’s involvement in other Stop the Steal protests around the country before Jan. 6. The firm appears to connect Martin and Alexander, and the panel wants information about those connections.
