The Big History Behind January 6th, Part 6: The Bet
By: Dave Troy
Tags: Ccp, January 6 2021, Gold, Election 2020, Cryptocurrency

Meanwhile, leading CNP figures had begun to realize that they would need to deploy their full range of capabilities to retain control of power—or, crucially, to forcefully seize it in the event of an election loss. Advisors began exploring strategies they could use in the event of the loss of either the popular vote or the Electoral College, or both.

Also in February 2020, CNP member Lisa Nelson, the CEO of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), launched a strategic push to ensure state legislatures knew they would be part of any strategy to challenge the electoral vote, and that they planned to challenge individual secretaries of state and inquire “what really did happen that night?” (Ultimately, they set out to physically intervene in the states’ certification, and reportedly aimed to intercept the electoral ballots themselves.)

The Base

The network behind January 6th had been coalescing in 2018–2019 in meetings of CNP and the Schlafly Eagles. On September 14, 2018 at the Schlafly Eagles annual conference in St. Louis, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn was awarded the inaugural “Jack Singlaub Award.” Presented by Ed Martin of the Schlafly Eagles and also of Singlaub’s own group, America’s Future, Flynn graciously accepted the award. Many people involved in promoting aspects of the operation were present, including Jack Posobiec, Cassandra Fairbanks, Mike Cernovich, Jim Hoft, and of course, Michael Flynn, his brother Joe, and his son Michael.

The 2018 Schlafly Eagle Forum Award Dinner, September 14, 2018. (Twitter)

In 2019, the same gathering included even more characters who would go on to become involved in the lead up to and events of January 6th, including Scott Presler, Ali Alexander, Brandon Straka (Walkaway), Jack Posobiec, Logan Cook (Carpe Donktum), and Tony “Spooky” Shaffer. Steve Bannon, who would later go on to say on January 5th, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” also spoke at the Schlafly Eagle Forum in 2019.

2019 Schlafly Eagle Forum, September 14, 2019. (Twitter)

Stop The Steal 2020

Jack Posobiec first signaled the intention to pursue a 2020 #StopTheSteal strategy via Twitter, on September 7, 2020.

Two months later, when the election was called for Joe Biden on Saturday, November 7, 2020 (a moment I remember well, as I was standing on the Ellipse at the White House that morning—the same site where the January 6th rally would be organized by CNP member Kylie Kremer just two months later), the CNP network and all its allies were fully activated. This was war.

Cohen-Watnick, Patel, Tata, and Ellis (New York Times)

The New York Times, November 11, 2020.

On November 10, Trump installed a clique of four loyalists at the Pentagon and NSA, several notches above their normal pay-grade. He placed Ezra Cohen-Watnick (a former aide to Michael Flynn) as Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security; Anthony Tata as Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Kash Patel as Chief of staff, Defense Department; and Michael Ellis as General Counsel at NSA. This seemed to be a strategic move, but it wasn’t entirely clear why at the time.

Powell, Flynn, Trump Jr. in “The Plot Against the President.” (Amanda Milius, 2020)

Several co-conspirators, including Patel, Stone, Flynn attorney Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Jack Posobiec, and many others, also appeared in the propaganda film, “The Plot Against the President,” available free on Amazon Prime. The film suggests that Trump was framed in an attempted deep state “coup” during the 2016 transition period—a projection of what was actually happening in 2020.

Parler, a conservative clone of Twitter (created in 2018, following the suggestion by Konstantin Malofeev), had seen a massive uptick in downloads in the days following the election and was being used to attract an audience for planned Stop The Steal rallies. On November 13, I exposed details that raised questions about Parler’s possible links to Russia and to Rebekah Mercer.

Rallies in DC on November 14 and December 12; Alexander and Jones at the Georgia capitol, November 18. (NPR, Reuters, @bgonthescene)

On November 14, the date of the first Stop The Steal Rally in Washington, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Parler was owned by an opaque shell corporation said to be funded primarily by Rebekah Mercer. (In January, she would fire CEO John Matze, replacing him with CNP member and founder of Tea Party Patriots, Mark Meckler. Parler is now the subject of an inquiry by the House Oversight committee.)

Alexander and Alex Jones did a dry run at the Georgia capitol on November 18. A second stop the steal rally was organized for December 12. Jones, Flynn, Stone, and Alexander were speakers at all three main events on November 14, December 12, and January 5–6.

Michael Flynn was pardoned by the president and by William Barr on November 30, 2020. He and his attorney Sidney Powell met with the president on December 18 to convince him to declare martial law. White House Counsel Pat Cipillone is said to have talked him out of it.

The danger was palpable. On Sunday, January 3, anticipating what appeared to be brewing within the defense and intelligence community, all ten living former Secretaries of Defense issued a joint letter, stating: “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

For a full account of the lead-up, see this exhaustive play-by-play going back to September from The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Lab.

A Disaster Unfolds

Roger Stone, former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, is flanked by security during a rally at Freedom Plaza, ahead of the U.S. Congress certification of the November 2020 election results, during protests in Washington, U.S., January 5, 2021. (CNN)

By January 5, the chief conspirators were chanting in unison. From a later CNN report (“How Trump allies stoked the flames ahead of Capitol riot”) about that day:

Steve Bannon evoked the beaches of Normandy. Michael Flynn drew comparisons to Civil War battlefields and spoke of Americans who died for their country. Roger Stone called it a struggle “between the godly and the godless, between good and evil.” Rudy Giuliani called for “trial by combat.” Ali Alexander said it would be a “knife fight.”

CNP members were key players in the preparation and execution of the failed coup. Author Anne Nelson has documented CNP’s extensive involvement in her excellent piece published February 22. Dr. Simone Gold pushed COVID disinformation, and was inside the Capitol on January 6th. Sidney Powell worked with Flynn and lawyer Lin Wood on ludicrous legal strategies and typo-laden lawsuits. Cleta Mitchell pleaded, with Trump, to Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger for 11,781 votes. Dr. Scott Magill, of Veterans in Defense of Liberty, summoned veterans and bikers to participate, saying “our battle cry shall be, ‘We will not concede!’”

CNP heavyweight Ginni Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas, enthusiastically supported the January 6th coup; she recanted weeks later. Charlie Kirk helped coordinate transportation to the rally. Brent Bozell IV, son of CNP 30-year executive committee veteran Brent Bozell III, entered the Senate chamber and directed C-SPAN’s camera at the floor.