19 of the most astonishing tweets posted by House Republicans before and on January 6th
The House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol has a trove of public information on efforts by some of their GOP colleagues to encourage the attempted coup.
Here is how the calls to violently overturn the election results escalated in the week leading up to the attack.
On New Year's Eve, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) posted a video vowing to overturn the election and falsely claiming, "voter fraud is common in America. Those who are telling you otherwise are lying."
"Congress can and should eject a state's electors when elections are not held in accordance with state law or when election results are corrupted," he said. "If we don't act now, our votes will become meaningless, our republic will crumble and the America that we know and love will be forever lost."
"Do not let your voice be canceled by these b*stards," he instructed.
Four days before the insurrection, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) publicly pressured Vice President Mike Pence to join the scheme to overturn the election.
"VP Pence needs to be Thomas Jefferson in this moment. We have your back if you’ve got ours," she posted, tagging his official Twitter account.
Two days before the insurrection, Boebert linked efforts to overturn the election to the American Revolutionary War.
"The Founding Fathers didn’t back down when people told them what they could and could not do. With that in mind, I won’t be backing down from this election integrity fight," she posted to Twitter.
She also complained about the deployment of the National Guard.
"The Mayor of DC, who was oddly granted floor privileges in the new Rules Package, has called in the National Guard for the election integrity rally in DC tomorrow and Wednesday. Where was the National Guard when ANTIFA and BLM terrorized the streets all summer?" she wrote.
Two days before the attack and one day after being sworn in, Cawthorn was hyping the day.
"January 6th is fast approaching, the future of this Republic hinges on the actions of a solitary few," he wrote. "It's time to fight.
The night before the insurrection, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was asked by Laurel Ingraham about his plan being described as asserting "Congress has the authority to overturn elections and overrule state and federal courts."
Jordan took to the floor that same evening where he pushed conspiracy theories about the election.
Boebert then linked overturning the election to the Second Amendment in a fundraising appeal sent the night before the insurrection.
Boebert then said that what was coming would be historic. "Remember these next 48 hours. These are some of the most important days in American history," she wrote. Less than four hours later she repeated a similar message: "The next 48 hours are going to be among the most important in American history."
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) demanded that Biden concede as the crowd gathered on the morning of the insurrection. "Biden should concede. I want his concession on my desk tomorrow morning. Don’t make me come over there," he threatened. He tagged "Stop the Steal" organizer Ali Alexander in his tweet.
The morning of the attack, Jordan said, "It's about the Constitution."
The next message from Boebert was about 1776, the year the colonies declared independence from England.
Boebert then vowed she would fight. "America is depending on all of us today. This is something I don’t take lightly. I will fight with everything I have to ensure the fairness of the election," she promised.
Brooks described the first objection being filed as a "battle" and "fight." "BREAKING FROM HOUSE FLOOR! Congressman Paul Gosar (R, AZ) & Sen. Ted Cruz (R, TX) join to object to the electoral college submission of Arizona. BATTLE IS JOINED!" he wrote.
"Now we will find who supports, and who fights, voter fraud & election theft!" he continued. "FIGHT FOR AMERICA’S REPUBLIC IS ON!"
As the chaos was unfolding, Jordan posted a video of his floor speech pushing conspiracy theories about the election.
As the House was being evacuated, Brooks was posting unfounded rumors.
"HOUSE RECESSSED UNTIL ORDER & SAFETY CAN BE ASSURED. Rumor: ANTIFA fascists in backwards MAGA hats. Time will tell what truth is," he wrote.
Not long after Capitol Police cleared the building of rioters, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was attempting to blame Antifa.
The day following the attack, Brooks again attempted to blame Antifa. "Evidence growing that fascist ANTIFA orchestrated Capitol attack with clever mob control tactics," he wrote.
