In a brutal report for the disgraced, scandal-ridden ex-president, the New York Times claims that Justice Department prosecutors, as well as congressional investigators, have now set their sights on one particular piece of evidence in the criminal conspiracy case they’re building against Donald Trump. According to the report, prosecutors and investigators have reignited their focus on a specific December tweet from now-former President Trump, before he was indefinitely banned from the social media platform, that officials feel served as one of the main catalysts to set the stage for the infamous, violent, and deadly January 6th attack against the Capitol.
“Be there, will be wild!” Donald Trump wrote on his Twitter account on Dec. 19, 2020. The report notes that the then-outgoing-president was referencing the “Stop The Steal” rally that Trump held right outside the Capitol building on January 6th, where Congress was working to certify the Electoral College votes in now-President Biden’s favor, just a few short hours before Trump’s own supporters would go on to violently storm and siege the building with Congress and Donald’s own vice president inside. The Times reports that this very tweet has become central to prosecutors and investigators as they make their case for criminal conspiracy against Donald Trump.
“Federal prosecutors and congressional investigators have gathered growing evidence of how a tweet by President Donald J. Trump less than three weeks before Jan. 6, 2021, served as a crucial call to action for extremist groups that played a central role in storming the Capitol,” the NYT reports before going on to add that Trump’s rally speech “was a powerful catalyst, particularly for far-right militants who believed he was facing his final chance to reverse defeat and whose role in fomenting the violence has come under intense scrutiny.”
According to the report, recent filings from the January 6th House Select Committee that is currently investigating the Capitol insurrection indicate “Extremists began to set up encrypted communications channels, acquire protective gear and, in one case, prepare heavily armed ‘quick reaction forces’ to be staged outside Washington.”
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“Directly after Mr. Trump’s tweet was posted, the Capitol Police began to see a spike in right-wing threats against members of Congress,” the Times reports. “The House committee has also sharpened its focus on how the tweet set off a chain reaction that galvanized Mr. Trump’s supporters to begin military-style planning for Jan. 6. As part of the congressional inquiry, investigators are trying to establish whether there was any coordination beyond the post that ties Mr. Trump’s inner circle to the militants and whether the groups plotted together.”
Democratic California House Rep. Pete Aguilar, who serves on the January 6th Committee, said, “It’s definitely something we’re asking questions about through our discussions with witnesses. We want to know whether the president’s tweets inflamed and mobilized individuals to take action.”
You can read the full report from the New York Times here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
