WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee has hired a prominent Trump supporter “Stop the theft” movement fueled conspiracy theories about the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol to help craft the party’s 2024 platform.
Former Missouri Republican Party Chairman Ed Martin was a key supporter of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to defeat him in the 2020 election. He spoke to Trump supporters in Washington ahead of the Capitol attack, urging “real Americans” to work “until their last breath” to “stop the theft,” according to a video posted on social media.
On the morning of Jan. 6, Martin attended Trump’s speech near the White House before joining the crowd marching on the Capitol and posting about it on social media. Capitol video surveillance footage released by House Republicans shows him arriving at the site around 2:20 p.m. By that time, Trump supporters had already broken through police lines and stormed the building, trying to prevent Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s victory.
There is no evidence that Martin was in restricted areas of the Capitol, entered the building, or broke the law that day. But the new RNC’s outspoken advocacy to change the 2020 election results, and its advocacy of those actions in subsequent years, underscores how institutionalized the “Stop Stealing” movement has become in the GOP. Trump is basing his 2024 bid on the false claim that the election was stolen from him. dangling pardons He vowed revenge for the January 6 rioters and against his political enemies – even floating imprisons them – if selected.
Martin was named by the RNC on May 15 as deputy policy director of the party’s platform committee, which develops the policies the party will implement in November. The RNC noted that she is the president of the conservative Phyllis Schlafly Eagles and the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund, as well as the author of the 2016 book The Conservative Case for Trump.
The announcement was combined with the hiring of Randy Evans, Trump’s ambassador to Luxembourg, as executive director and the hiring of former Trump White House budget director Russ Voth to serve as policy director on the platform panel.
“Each of them has a proven track record of understanding and implementing our party’s America First agenda, and their sound judgment and principled vision will be critical in helping lead our party and our country to victory in one of the most important elections of our lifetime,” RNC Trump-elect Michael Whatley said in a statement. gave
It’s unclear how much influence Martin will have on the final party platform, as Trump’s circle tightens control over the RNC and its operations and tries to limit far-right language on cultural issues like abortion and the definition of marriage. This was previously reported by NBC News. Martin is one he admitted competitor there is abortion and its group fought for “traditional” marriages and families are blamed for no-fault divorces.
An RNC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on Martin’s hiring, whether it supports allegations that the 2020 election was rigged or how much influence she will have on the platform. Martin also did not respond to an inquiry from NBC News.
January 2021
Martin spoke outside the Capitol on January 5, 2021, chanting “stop the stealing” and praying to God, accusing Trump’s enemies of stealing the election.
“No matter what happens tomorrow, the next day or the day after that, we still have to fight. There are no summer soldiers and spring patriots here. There are real Americans,” Martin said. “We start today, tomorrow and every day until our last breath, and we go to the house of the Lord, because we will stop stealing.”
After attending Trump’s speech in the VIP section the next day, Martin walked to the east side of the Capitol, near where he had spoken the day before, and he tweeted The hashtags “#StopTheSteal” and “#DoNotCertify”.
“I’m in the Capitol right now,” Martin he tweeted at 14:53 “Massive crowd, but nothing you can do. Ignore #FakeNews.”
A few minutes later, Martin he tweeted“Like Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy.”
At the time of Martin’s tweets, rioters had already disrupted the Capitol. Ashley Babbitt was shot by an officer At 2:44 p.m., pro-Trump protesters clashed with law enforcement in the lower west tunnel on the other side of the Capitol as Martin tweeted as members tried to climb into the Speaker’s Lobby, where members were being evacuated. where the worst violence of the day took place. Soon after, a MAGA-hatted rioter named Daniel “DJ” Rodriguez put a stun gun to the neck of then-police officer Michael Fanone, who had been kidnapped by the mob.
Then it became Martin in 2021 called By the House Jan. 6 committee, he said there was evidence that he was “involved in the logistical planning” of Trump’s Jan. 6 “Stop Stealing” rally. encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol. The committee said there was also evidence that Martin “paid the costs associated with the vendors hired for that event.” He did not appear For deposition to committee in February 2022.
After Trump’s election loss, Martin attended events with Stop The Steal organizer Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser and well-known election denier. Ali Iskander. Last year, Martin stood behind Trump as he spoke at a Jan. 6 fundraiser for the defendants at a golf club in New Jersey. In X, Martin also spread conspiracy theories about what happened on January 6, 2021.
Martin narrated a video in which he set up gallows outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 to pose for a photo of “Mr. Coffee. Coffee” worked for the federal government. Going by the vague, general direction of his office, Martin wrote a blog post titled “January 6, Staged by Mr. Coffee.”
Discussion of the gallows was not uncommon among the defendants on January 6, and Trump supporters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” in the Capitol that day.
Martin asked why no one had been charged for building the gallows. It’s unclear what federal crime could be investigated or charged in the case: The gallows were literally labeled “art,” and hate crime charges involving nooses are usually filed by federal authorities when there’s evidence that black victims were specifically targeted. competition.
“We need to look at who the real architects of January 6 were,” Martin said in a video. “Who planned and staged the now infamous optics of January 6?”
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said she was unaware the RNC had hired an official promoting the “Stop Stealing” campaign when asked about it.
“It shows how low they’ve come at the moment. It falls into the unthinkable category,” he said. “I was here on January 6. People lost their lives. People were injured. And this was not a joke.”
Retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said a safe place within the party for the Stop Stealing movement shows it continues to serve Trump’s core supporters first.
“I think the party should go beyond its base. I think that under the current leadership, the party is focusing more on the base. And that’s not usually a winning strategy,” Romney told NBC News when asked about Martin’s hire. “I would prefer someone who represents the more historic wing of the party, but that wing is shrinking.”