“A Traitor” — DiSanto and Stahl Condemn Gosar After New January 6 Accusations

Rolling Stone documents meetings between the organizers of the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack on Congress and Republican members (and their staffs) of the House of Representatives and the White House.

Among the usual fringe suspects cited in the October 24, 2021 article who helped plan the events of January 6 are White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks (the one that said at the rally before the attack that “it was time to start taking names and kicking ass,”) Louie Gohmert, Madison Cawthorn, Paul Gosar, and Andy Biggs.

With regard to Gosar, Rolling Stone asserts organizers met with him and his Chief of Staff Thomas Van Flein, and discussed the idea of Donald Trump issuing a blanket pardon to everyone involved with the planning of January 6, 2021.

The passage states:

“And Gosar, who has been one of the most prominent defenders of the Jan. 6 rioters, allegedly took things a step further. Both sources say he dangled the possibility of a “blanket pardon” in an unrelated ongoing investigation to encourage them to plan the protests.

“Our impression was that it was a done deal,” the organizer says, “that he’d spoken to the president about it in the Oval … in a meeting about pardons and that our names came up. They were working on submitting the paperwork and getting members of the House Freedom Caucus to sign on as a show of support.” “I was just going over the list of pardons and we just wanted to tell you guys how much we appreciate all the hard work you’ve been doing,” Gosar said, according to the organizer.

The rally planner describes the pardon as being offered while “encouraging” the staging of protests against the election. While the organizer says they did not get involved in planning the rallies solely due to the pardon, they were upset that it ultimately did not materialize.

“I would have done it either way with or without the pardon,” the organizer says. “I do truly believe in this country, but to use something like that and put that out on the table when someone is so desperate, it’s really not good business.”

Gosar’s office did not respond to requests for comment on this story. Rolling Stone has separately obtained documentary evidence that both sources were in contact with Gosar and Boebert on Jan. 6. We are not describing the nature of that evidence to preserve their anonymity. The House select committee investigating the attack also has an interest in Gosar’s office. Gosar’s chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein, was among the people who were named in the committee’s “sweeping” requests to executive-branch agencies seeking documents and communications from within the Trump administration. Both sources claim Van Flein was personally involved in the conversations about the “blanket pardon” and other discussions about pro-Trump efforts to dispute the election. Van Flein did not respond to a request for comment.”

The two Democrats running to unseat Paul Gosar in 2022 offered their perspective on the latest accusations against the Arizona Congressional District (CD) Four Representative.

The 2020 Democratic Nominee for CD Four, Delina DiSanto, offered:

“When you have organizers of the Jan 6th Capitol insurrection stating that Rep. Paul Gosar offered them “Blanket Pardons” and you have Gosar asking Trump for a personal pardon, then Gosar knows he and others could be convicted for his involvement and actions of Jan 6th. No one asks for a pardon if they believe these actions were peaceful. He knows what he did. He knows who he palled around with before Jan 6th; white supremacists, far-right extremists. He saw the pictures and videos of that day. He was at the Capitol under lockdown. He knows he incited those domestic terrorists. He won’t be able to hide behind his lies for very long. Justice must be served. I don’t believe 2/3rd of the members of Congress will expel him, but I for sure am running to replace him and let justice run its course after I defeat him in 2022. Paul Gosar is a traitor and should be punished accordingly.”

Judy Stahl, the other Democrat vying for a chance to run against Gosar, commented:

“Gosar’s request for pardons for himself and his fellow insurrectionists is a clear admission of guilt. He knows he incited and participated in domestic terrorism, and he needs to be held accountable in every way possible. I hope members of Congress will do the right thing and expel him. In the meantime, I am filling the gap in leadership in this district, by traveling across CD-4, engaging with voters, and creating solutions to the problems they are most concerned with solving. This is personal for me because the struggles I hear about from voters are struggles my family and I experienced ourselves after living in this community for 30 years.”

Both DiSanto and Stahl are right.

If Gosar and his confederates felt they were in the right, why would they need to ask Donald Trump for a blanket pardon?

Mr. Gosar, in a statement released by his office, said there is nothing accurate in the Rolling Stone article and called its contents “defamatory.”

This is a matter for the January 6 2021  House Select Committee to probe and find out if the accusations outlined in the Rolling Stone piece have merit and should be referred to the Justice Department for additional scrutiny and actions.