Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar implicated by activist in Capitol insurrection

Opinion: Activist Ali Alexander claims that he and the two Arizona congressman, and Mo Brooks from Alabama, 'schemed up putting maximum pressure on congress while they were voting …'

EJ Montini
Arizona Republic
Rep. Paul Gosar and Rep. Andy Biggs.

There is more than a little irony in a situation when a couple of guys who spread conspiracy theories about election fraud are implicated in what they’ll call a conspiracy theory.

A little bit of “you reap what you sow.”

A little bit of “what goes around comes around.”

A little bit of “karma is a b****.”

The right-wing political activist Ali Alexander says that Arizona Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs worked with him to plan pro-Trump rallies, including the one that ended with an attack on the Capitol.

At the time the mob was making its move on Wednesday, Alexander, a national “Stop the Steal” organizer, posted a video of himself saying, “I don't disavow this. I do not denounce this.”

'Change hearts and minds'

A CNN investigative team that includes former Arizona Republic reporter Bob Ortega pointed out that in late December Alexander told followers on Periscope that he, Biggs, Gosar and Mo Brooks of Alabama, three Republican members of Congress, were planning something big.

The CNN article noted that while Alexander did not call for violence, he said, “It was to build momentum and pressure and then on the day change hearts and minds of Congress peoples who weren’t yet decided or who saw everyone outside and said, ‘I can't be on the other side of that mob.’ ”

Investigative reporter Jason Paladino noted the same thing about Alexander and the congressmen on Twitter, writing:

Organizer @ali claims he organized the insurrection “with congressman @RepGosar @RepMoBrooks and @RepAndyBiggsAZ. We four schemed up putting maximum pressure on congress while they were voting ...”

Paladino also pointed out that Gosar called Alexander “a true patriot.”

Biggs responded to the CNN article, saying through a spokesperson, “Congressman Biggs is not aware of hearing of or meeting Mr. Alexander at any point – let alone working with him to organize some part of a planned protest. He did not have any contact with protestors or rioters, nor did he ever encourage or foster the rally or protests.”

He didn’t?

Biggs and Gosar have been squawking about bogus election fraud since the election.

The two of them, along with Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko, voted against certifying Arizona’s Electoral College votes, meaning three Arizona Republican members of Congress were prepared to disenfranchise millions of Arizona voters in order to serve the delusion that the election was stolen from Donald Trump.

Biggs and Gosar constantly called into question the integrity of the election, in spite of the evidence, in spite of the affirmations by election officials from both parties, in spite of the certification of ballots by all 15 Arizona counties.

On toning down the rhetoric

Did they not think that their words might have consequences?

Biggs was among the hardcore Trump loyalists who met with the president prior to Jan. 6 to talk about challenging the Electoral College.

In mid-December I wrote a column under the headline: “Will Republicans help to heal America before people get killed?”

In it, I noted how President-elect Joe Biden had been asking that the rhetoric about election conspiracies get toned down. I spoke about a video featuring Gabriel Sterling, a lifelong Republican and an elections official with the Georgia secretary of state’s office, in which he laments the threats aimed at election workers simply for doing their jobs.

“Someone's going to get hurt, someone's going to get shot, someone's going to get killed,” he said. “It’s not right.”

No, it’s not.

It wasn’t right then.

It wasn’t right on Jan. 6, when what Sterling tried to warn us about … happened.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.