Lawrence O’Donnell had Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar’s brother on tonight, who called for the expulsion of his brother from Congress for helping to plan the Jan. 6 insurrection. That’s nothing new for the family. Since Paul Gosar entered Congress in 2010 on the Tea Party wave, Tim Gosar and his siblings have appeared in campaign ads for their brother’s opponents, because they know, and say, that he’s a dangerous white supremacist.
Go to a Proud Boy, Oath Keeper, or border militia rally here and you’ll probably run into Paul Gosar. He helped plan Arizona’s first “Stop the Steal” protest on Dec. 19, he’s been spewing the big lie about Trump’s landslide since the election (he said it again last Wednesday while objecting to his state’s electoral count, minutes before the terrorists broke in), and leading up to the Jan. 6 riot, he tweeted or retweeted dozens of messages about the big day. Oh, one of the extremist organizers said in a Twitter video that Rep. Paul Gosar was a major cog in the planning.
In the same video Ali Alexander, a right-wing operator and felon, also said Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs helped “scheme up” the rebellion, calling him a “hero” (yeah, he really won a $10 million sweepstakes). Biggs phoned in to the stage that day, and urged the seething crowd to “fight” (I quit counting the number of times I heard that word). Rep. Biggs denies any role in planning the event, and said he doesn't know Ali Alexander, although videos show he was part of Arizona’s “Stop the Steal” movement with Alexander. And, like Paul Gosar and Rep. Mo Brooks, who is also implicated in Alexander’s statement, Andy Biggs was onstage Jan. 6.
Just how involved in the planning were these peckerheads? It sounds like Tim Gosar thinks his brother is not beyond aiding the seditionists. After all, during the 2014 Cliven Bundy militia standoff in Nevada, Gosar drove to the rancher’s compound to stand with the lawbreakers and against the government. The new Q loose-ends in Congress have a friend.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Gosar or Biggs are on security tapes showing guests around the Capitol on Jan. 5. New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill says she saw “unusually large groups” in the building the day before the attack; because visitors aren’t permitted except when accompanied by a member or staff, Rep. Sherrill was so suspicious that she contacted the Sergeant at Arms. I’d imagine every square inch on those hallways is under surveillance, so the visitors and their Congressional host should be captured on tape.
Reps. Gosar and Biggs may be getting a little panicky, especially as the scope of the assault becomes clearer. Some people are already calling for their ouster because they hyped the event and urged on the angry mob that morning. If it’s discovered they provided, say, reconnaissance assistance, game over—get your ass in the clinker.
Now Gosar and Biggs are downplaying their role in the insurrection, shifting blame to the real culprit: “You probably had some insurgents, you know, some antifa or BLM type folks.” Yep, sure, of course, both Congressmen blame the left, even though the Republican leadership and every intelligence agency denies antifa or BLM played a role.
But that’s what they do, lie™. Trump’s lies about Covid have probably cost hundreds of thousands of lives, and his lies about the election came close to upending democracy and within minutes of massacring officials. Rep. Jim Jordan’s lies got him a Presidential Medal of Freedom.