‘Stop the Steal’ leader hands over communications with GOP lawmakers to January 6 committee

By CNN Newsource

Published December 18, 2021 11:49 AM

By Whitney Wild

“Stop the Steal” leader Ali Alexander has handed over to the House Select Committee investigating January 6 thousands of text messages and communication records that include his interactions with members of Congress and former President Donald Trump’s inner circle leading up to the riot, according to a court document submitted late Friday night.

The revelations emerged from Alexander’s challenge to the committee’s effort to obtain his phone records directly from his telecommunications provider.

“Alexander received a notice from Verizon that the Select Committee had subpoenaed Verizon for nine categories of information associated with Alexander’s personal cell phone number,” the filing says. “The data sought is not pertinent to the investigation and sweeps up privileged communications between Alexander and clergy, Alexander and people he spiritually counsels and Alexander and his respective attorneys.”

The move comes more than a week after Alexander sat for several hours of testimony with committee organizers. It also highlights the wealth of information committee staff must sift through and analyze.

Alexander is a central figure for investigators seeking to understand how the rallies on January 6 were funded, organized, promoted and eventually erupted into an attack at the Capitol intended to stop the certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden’s presidency.

Alexander has provided communications with Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, possibly GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, and further detailed a call that Alexander believes included unnamed members of Congress, according to the filing.

On November 24 he provided the committee with more than 1,500 mobile messages “sent and received by him and people he corresponded with,” the filing says.

“Mr. Alexander testified that he had phone conversations with Rep. Brooks’ staff about a “Dear Colleague” letter and how his activists could be helpful,” the filing says. “Mr. Alexander believes he exchanged a text message with Rep. Brooks, contents which he provided to the Committee.”

Alexander also told the committee about a “short and pleasant call” he had with Kimberly Guilfoyle, a fundraiser and girlfriend of Trump’s son, Donald Jr., in which the two spoke about the ongoing Georgia election and the Republican 2022 primaries, according to the filing.

Guilfoyle also thanked Alexander for “being a leader on voting rights and creating the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement,” the filing says.

Alexander is challenging the validity of the committee’s authority, citing what he believes is the politically lopsided makeup of seven Democratic and just two Republican lawmakers, according to the filing.

“Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi has appointed only nine members to the Select Committee: seven Democrats and two Republicans,” the filing says. “The Select Committee, however, is not an authorized congressional committee because it fails to comport with its own authorizing resolution, House Resolution 503.”

Further, Alexander argues that the subpoena for his data is too broad, writing in his complaint that the “breadth and invasiveness of the Verizon Subpoena also gave the appearance of a criminal investigation, not a legislative fact-finding mission.”

“Mr. Alexander has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his personal mobile phone and data,” the filing says. “He remains a private citizen who has never served in government. He has reasonable expectations of privacy and under no required record keeping regulations like government officials or government employees.”

Alexander’s group had a permit on January 6 to hold a rally on the northeast side of the Capitol grounds, but contends he played no part in the violence that took place on January 6.

Alexander previously claimed that he worked closely with Republican congressmen in planning the rally at the Capitol on January 6. In several Periscope videos in December 2020, Alexander said that he was in contact with Gosar, Brooks and Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona about the rally that preceded the riot.

Last week, Alexander denied that he worked with lawmakers to attack the Capitol and claimed his evidence actually exonerates those members.

The committee last week issued six other subpoenas for individuals involved in the planning of the rallies on January 5 and 6 leading up to the violent attack, including those who coordinated the rally planning directly with Donald Trump.

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.