The White House switchboard dialled a phone associated with a January 6 rioter after it was clear the deadly Capitol attack had failed to prevent the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, according to a new book.
The book from the former Republican congressman and House January 6 select committee adviser Denver Riggleman says the connection was an outgoing call routed through the switchboard at 4.34pm, and it was answered by an unnamed rioter who allegedly has since been charged by the justice department with a role in the storming of the Capitol.
Riggleman’s book, titled The Breach, was reviewed by the Guardian in advance of its scheduled publication on Tuesday, and it has already become controversial after the select committee decried the work as an incomplete account that lacked information to which he was not privy once he left the panel’s inquiry in April.
But in describing his work for the investigation and how he led a team analyzing call detail records, Riggleman offers previously unreported details about the White House calls around January 6 as well as the contacts around Trump’s political operatives, including Roger Stone and Alex Jones.
The White House switchboard call was identified because call detail records give information about “seizure times” that indicate whether a call is answered, the book explains. In this case, the book says, there was a seizure time, indicating the call was completed.
Riggleman also details other instances of connections between the White House and people connected to the Capitol attack, writing that before January 6, the president of an organization known as Latinos for Trump – closely connected to the Proud Boys group – also received a call from the White House.
The Latinos for Trump president, Bianca Gracia, had a total of five connections with White House root numbers starting 202-881 or 202-456, the book said: she placed four outgoing calls and received one incoming call.
Stone says possession is "nine-tenths of the law" -- not a fact, but whatever -- and goes on to act out a near-future scenario where he's telling opponents Trump actually won -- with some colorful language to boot.
Like we said, this clip (and others apparently) were handed over to Congress ... and this stuff might well be discussed during the final public Jan. 6 hearing on Wednesday.
One line from him is telling ... "F*** the voting, let's get right to the violence." He goes on to say they should "shoot to kill" if they see Antifa members. This was reportedly recorded the day before the election in November, and it's part of a movie called 'A Storm Foretold.'
Another clip shows Stone talking to 2 guys and saying he suspects the election results will be "up in the air," and then says regardless of who wins ... they should declare victory early, even if it's not true. He's obviously talking about his longtime pal, Trump.
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