The 60 Most Shocking Things We Learned Recently About Trump's January 6 Insurrection
Amidst scores of recent investigative news reports are some truly chilling revelations.
These stories are only from January 13 to January 23. Proof has compiled a far larger stock of shocking reports from the seven days immediately following the insurrection.
Five Trumpists facing federal criminal charges for the January 6 insurrection have told federal investigators that they were “taking orders” from Trump—who is now facing a second impeachment trial for inciting Trumpists to insurrection.
One of the organizers of the January 6 rally now the subject of Trump’s second impeachment trial, “Stop the Steal” activist Ali Alexander, claims he worked directly with three top Trump allies in Congress—Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and Mo Brooks, the last of whom was invited by Trump political director Brian Jack to speak at the rally—to orchestrate the march on the Capitol.
In the days leading up to January 6, Trump secretly worked with a top DOJ official, Jeffrey Clark, to plot the overthrow of Acting AG Jeffrey Rosen—a plot that would’ve ended with an attempt to invalidate Joe Biden’s electors in Georgia.
As he was plotting to overthrow the AG in the days preceding January 6, Trump was also plotting with Kash Patel and Ezra Cohen, two loyalists he had installed at the Pentagon, to overthrow CIA director Gina Haspel and install Patel in her role, even as Cohen pulled the strings of Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller.
In the 48 hours before the January 6 insurrection, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) gave a special private tour of the Capitol to a “large” group of radical Trumpists in D.C. for the “Stop the Steal” rally, at a time when official tours of the Capitol had been cancelled due to the pandemic. The next day—the day of the insurrection—she tweeted “Today is 1776” and revealed Nancy Pelosi’s location during the armed assault on the Capitol. Sixty-eight elected officials in Boebert’s home state of Colorado have demanded that she be subjected to a federal probe. The Capitol Police has since confirmed it is investigating. Reports indicate there were more tours than Boebert’s—and they concerned members of Congress so much they were reported to the Sergeant at Arms pre-insurrection, on January 5.
During the January 6 insurrection, a ring of 30 to 40 co-conspirators—many with military training, and all of whom had collectively war-gamed their actions on January 6 and were in constant radio contact with one another during the breach of the Capitol—planned to corral the entirety of Congress in the tunnels beneath the Capitol and then gas them to death.
Nearly 20% of insurrectionists arrested by federal law enforcement have a military background, compared to 7% of the general population.
At least 21 GOP officials participated in the illegal breach of the Capitol grounds on January 6.
Michael Flynn’s brother Charles was in the room when the Pentagon made the stunning decision not to immediately send the National Guard to the Capitol as urgently requested by both members of Congress and the Capitol Police. Then, when asked if he was in the room, the Army lied about it and said he wasn’t.
One of the insurrectionists stole Nancy Pelosi’s laptop from her office with the intent of selling it to Russia’s foreign intelligence service. During the insurrection, the thief was videotaped directing her fellow seditionists on where to go in the building.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had publicly declared that she believes Donald Trump may have criminal liability for accessory to murder for his role in the January 6 insurrection.
Angered that 10 House Republicans—of 211—voted to impeach him, Trump is now threatening to destroy the Republican Party by bolting it, along with his followers, to create a new one: the “Patriot Party.”
The number of Trump family members and former 2016 Trump campaign, 2020 Trump campaign, and Trump White House employees or surrogates who were involved in the January 6 insurrection is now over 20. Once caught, many of these Trump agents tried to cover their tracks.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has, since the January insurrection, conceded that “the mob” was “provoked by the president,” echoing the allegations against Trump in a pending Article of Impeachment—which McConnell has implicitly supported by deeming Trump’s actions “impeachable.”
Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr admits that Trump and others’ lies about the 2020 election result “precipitated the riots on the Hill,” echoing, like McConnell, the language of the bipartisan Article of Impeachment now pending.
During the insurrection, radical Trumpists not only attacked the U.S. Capitol Police but a contingent of the U.S. Park Police, which was forced to hide inside the Washington Monument.
Due to his incitement of insurrection on January 6, Donald Trump left office with the lowest approval rating since scientific polling began in the United States.
There is significant evidence that some of the funding for the January 6 insurrection came from foreign Bitcoin donations.
The Washington Post reports that the armed mob of insurrectionists came “perilously close” to capturing members of Congress before they were ushered to safety—indeed they came within a distance best measured by “feet,” per the Post.
ProPublica has created the largest archive of live videos from the January 6 insurrection in the United States—a stunning archive of harrowing footage that is likely to be used by federal law enforcement and historians for decades hence.
A ProPublica study of social media postings in the days and weeks before the insurrection reveals that planning for it was “in plain sight” and should not have been missed by the U.S. intelligence community or federal law enforcement.
An incredible 80% of Republican voters over 50 believe that Donald Trump is the rightful President of the United States because Joe Biden “lost” the 2020 election.
A New Mexico GOP official, Couy Griffin, who once received public endorsement from President Trump for his declaration that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” was arrested during the seditious assault on the Capitol that Trump’s words and actions incited.
The Michigan GOP wants to remove the state elections official who blocked the overthrow of that state’s 2020 election results; the Wyoming GOP unanimously censured Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) for voting to impeach Trump; the Arizona GOP tweeted out a question to Twitter followers pre-insurrection asking if they were willing to “die for Trump”; NBC notes elected officials in the Pennsylvania GOP “fostered false election allegations that fueled the Capitol riot.”
Donald Trump may be charged with incitement by the D.C. Attorney General.
The Washington Post found that “established Washington insiders” from the Republican Party planned the two days of inciting rallies that led up to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” event.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Proud Boys—one of the chief instigators of the January 6 insurrection—“used President Trump’s rhetoric to build momentum” for their participation in the events of January 6.
An Army reservist with secret-level security clearance was arrested as part of federal law enforcement’s round-up of January 6 insurrectionists.
Privately, Trump acknowledged to aides that he lost the 2020 election—possibly establishing the requisite criminal intent for his efforts to convince prospective insurrectionists otherwise.
Even the most moderate Democrat in the United States Senate, Joe Manchin (D-WV), says that the Senate should seriously consider expelling Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) from that body.
During the insurrection, Trump never authorized the deployment of the National Guard—Vice President Mike Pence did.
Per polling, only 12% of Trump voters think the election results were “accurate.”
Trump’s plot to falsely claim victory on election day began in October, per Axios.
One of the five dead during the January 6 insurrection was killed as a result of being “trampled by the pro-Trump mob.”
Russian-speaking Trumpists (of uncertain national origin) participated in the insurrection and, despite acknowledging on-scene that no antifa agents were present, thereafter went on Kremlin-funded media to falsely declare that the attack on the Capitol had been the work of antifa.
Per the Washington Post, off-duty police officers participated in the insurrection. CNN has issued a similar report.
Trump Cabinet resignations after the insurrection included his Health Secretary, Education Secretary, and Transportation Secretary. The total number of Trump administration resignations was in the double-digits.
Ten days after the insurrection, Trump adviser, donor, and surrogate Mike Lindell was in the Oval Office trying to convince Trump to declare martial law and extend his presidency.
A U.S. Capitol Police report from three days before the insurrection found that Trump had already incited an armed assault on the Capitol on January 6, stating that “thousands of enraged protesters, egged on by Trump and flanked by white supremacists and extreme militia groups, [are] likely to stream into Washington armed for battle.” The report said that “Congress itself” could be a target.
Trump may be charged with election crimes by Fulton County’s district attorney.
ABC News reports that top Trump advisers Mike Flynn, Steve Bannon, and Roger Stone are all “connected” to groups that plotted the January 6 insurrection.
CNN and the Washington Post report that insurrectionists came within “30 yards” and “several seconds” of capturing Vice President Pence on January 6.
Insurrectionists who repeatedly Tasered and then briefly captured a U.S. Capitol Police officer shouted “Kill him with his own gun!”
An Associated Press review finds that at least 21 current or former members of the U.S. armed forces participated in the January 6 insurrection.
A Trump co-conspirator on January 6, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), publicly proposed extending Trump’s term and delaying Biden’s inauguration.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), who spoke on the same slate as Trump at the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that incited an insurrection and armed assault on the U.S. Capitol, had previously advised Trump voters to “lightly threaten” members of Congress and tell them that they’re “coming after them.”
An Arkansas Trump supporter who publicly advocated “death” for “everyone” in the Capitol on January 6 was caught on video beating a police officer with an American flag.
A retired Air Force officer arrested after breaching the Capitol on January 6 had flex handcuffs with him and intended to “take hostages”, per federal prosecutors.
An insurrectionist who traveled to DC with an assault rifle and armor-piercing rounds was charged with threatening to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
An insurrectionist from Buffalo was charged with lighting media equipment on fire during the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
A former public employee from Pennsylvania who became an insurrectionist on January 6 told investigators that he was following “the president’s instructions.”
Florida’s Republican Attorney General “worked with a group linked to the Capitol insurrection”, per the Tampa Bay Times.
Trump was in regular contact with Steve Bannon—who he later pardoned, against the advice of White House Counsel—in the days before the January 6 insurrection. Reports confirm the two plotted how Trump could stay in power.
Dozens of people on the FBI terror watchlist came to D.C. for the insurrection.
Eight days post-insurrection, top Trump adviser Peter Navarro was still publicly claiming that Donald Trump was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.
Trump’s own intelligence agencies found, in a pre-insurrection memo reported on by the Washington Post, that Trump’s lies about the 2020 election would “motivate violence in the future.”
Numerous media outlets have reported that some of the members of Congress who voted against Trump’s second impeachment did so because they feared for their lives and the lives of their families.
Trump seriously considered resigning the presidency to avoid a second impeachment and ensure his eligibility to run for president again in 2024.
Trump was permanently banned from Snapchat and Twitter post-insurrection, and indefinitely suspended from both Facebook and YouTube.
Per CNN, “Evidence so far, including weapons and tactics seen on surveillance video, suggests a level of planning that has led investigators to believe the U.S. Capitol riot was not just a protest that spiraled out of control.”
I don't think I will ever get used to the idea that a violent insurrectionist attack breached the Capitol of the United States and almost succeeded in toppling our democracy. It's a surreal absurdity that I had never contemplated and I simply was not prepared for it. There's Russian speakers that were in the mob in the Capitol filling the Russian airwaves with propaganda. Police officers, veterans and sitting politicians were among the violent mob. Everybody knew it was coming but nobody did anything about it and the President refused to send help while he gleefully watched the Capitol attack on tv. And that's just the trailer.
Not even Tom Clancy could come up with a sedition conspiracy and violent insurrection novel with as many story threads as this one.
I imagine this list will grow exponentially in the coming weeks. I'm very appreciative of the fact that you help us keep track and make sense of everything. Your work is probably a chief factor in keeping me sane through all this! Thank you.
Excellent work as per usual Seth, glad to finally be able to financially support (besides buying your books) all the hard work you do all day every day. We both know as these investigations move forward there are going to be some serious allegations, and I hope with your help that they proliferate widely in the MSM and not just on substacks and twitter threads--not to slight them--I just hope that forthcoming evidence is so damning we can just all agree on the facts (naive I get it).
PS Eugene Goodman is getting a medal!!!