F.B.I. Finds Contact Between Proud Boys Member
and Trump Associate Before Riot
A leader of the far-right group separately said he had
been in touch with Roger Stone, but an official said it was not the same
contact investigators found through electronic communications records.
By Katie
Benner, Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman
March 5,
2021
WASHINGTON
— A member of the far-right nationalist Proud Boys was in communication with a
person associated with the White House in the days just before the Jan. 6
assault on the Capitol, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the
investigation.
Location,
cellular and call record data revealed a call tying a Proud Boys member to the
Trump White House, the official said. The F.B.I. has not determined what they discussed,
and the official would not reveal the names of either party.
The
connection revealed by the communications data comes as the F.B.I. intensifies
its investigation of contacts among far-right extremists, Trump White House
associates and conservative members of Congress in the days before the attack.
The same
data has revealed no evidence of communications between the rioters and members
of Congress during the deadly attack, the official said. That undercuts
Democratic allegations that some Republican lawmakers were active participants
that day.
Separately,
Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the far-right nationalist Proud Boys, told The New
York Times on Friday that he called Roger J. Stone Jr., a close associate of
former President Donald J. Trump’s, while at a protest in front of the home of
Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. During the protest, which occurred
in the days before the Capitol assault, he put Mr. Stone on speaker phone to
address the gathering.
A law
enforcement official said that it was not Mr. Tarrio’s communication with Mr.
Stone that was being scrutinized, and that the call made in front of Mr.
Rubio’s home was a different matter. That two members of the group were in
communication with people associated with the White House underscores the
access that violent extremist groups like the Proud Boys had to the White House
and to people close to the former president.
Mr. Stone
denied “any involvement or knowledge of the attack on the Capitol” in a
statement last month to The Times.
Mr. Tarrio
was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4 on charges of destruction of property for
his role in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner that had been torn from
a historic Black church during a protest in Washington in December. He was
asked to leave the city, and was not present when the Capitol was attacked. His
case is pending.
The Justice
Department has charged more than a dozen members of the Proud Boys with crimes
related to the attack, including conspiracy to obstruct the final certification
of President Biden’s electoral victory and to attack law enforcement officers.
In court
papers, federal prosecutors have said groups of Proud Boys also coordinated
travel to Washington and shared lodging near the city, with the intent of
disrupting Congress and advancing Mr. Trump’s efforts to unlawfully maintain
his grip on the presidency.
The
communication between the person associated with the White House and the member
of the Proud Boys was discovered in part through data that the F.B.I. obtained
from technology and telecommunications companies immediately after the assault.
Court
documents show F.B.I. warrants for a list of all the phones associated with the
cell towers serving the Capitol, and that it received information from the
major cellphone carriers on the numbers called by everyone on the Capitol’s
cell towers during the riot, three officials familiar with the investigation
said.
The F.B.I.
also obtained a “geofence” warrant for all the Android devices that Google
recorded within the building during the assault, the officials said. A geofence
warrant legally gives law enforcement a list of mobile devices that are able to
be identified in a particular geographic area. Jill Sanborn, the head of
counterterrorism at the F.B.I., testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday
that all the data the F.B.I. had gathered in its investigation into the riot
was obtained legally through subpoenas and search warrants.
Although
investigators have found no contact between the rioters and members of Congress
during the attack, those records have shown evidence in the days leading up to
Jan. 6 of communications between far-right extremists and lawmakers who were
planning to appear at the rally featuring Mr. Trump that occurred just before
the assault, according to one of the officials.
The Justice
Department is examining those communications, but it has not opened
investigations into any members, the official said. A department spokesman
declined to comment.
The F.B.I.
did, however, say on Thursday that it had arrested a former State Department
aide on charges related to the attack, including unlawful entry, violent and
disorderly conduct, obstructing Congress and law enforcement, and assaulting an
officer with a dangerous weapon.
The former
midlevel aide, Federico G. Klein, who was seen in videos assaulting officers
with a stolen riot shield, was the first member of the Trump administration to
face criminal charges in connection with the storming of the Capitol. His
lawyer declined to comment on Friday.
Right-wing
extremists, including members of the Oath Keepers, a militia group that mainly
comprises former law enforcement and military personnel, have been working as
security guards for Republicans and for Mr. Trump’s allies, such as Mr. Stone.
Mr. Stone,
who was pardoned by Mr. Trump after refusing to cooperate with the
investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russian intelligence, has
known Mr. Tarrio for some time and used Oath Keepers as bodyguards before and
on the day of the assault on the Capitol.
The Justice
Department is looking into communications between Mr. Stone and far-right
extremists to determine whether he played any role in plans by extremists to
disrupt the certification on Jan. 6, according to two people familiar with the
matter who were not authorized to speak about the investigation.
Should
investigators find messages showing that Mr. Stone had any connection to such
plans, they would have a factual basis to open a full criminal investigation
into him, the people said.
Mr. Stone
said last month that he was “provided voluntary security by the Oath Keepers,”
but noted that their security work did not constitute evidence that he was
involved in, or informed about, plans to attack Congress. He reiterated an
earlier statement that anyone involved in the attack should be prosecuted.
The Justice
Department has charged more than 300 people with crimes stemming from the Jan.
6 assault. It has used evidence gathered in its broad manhunt for assailants —
including information from cellular providers and technology companies — to
help piece together evidence of more sophisticated crimes, like conspiracy.
It is also
looking at possible charges of seditious conspiracy, according to two people
familiar with the investigation.
Katie
Benner and Adam Goldman reported from Washington, and Alan Feuer from New York.
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries contributed reporting from New York.
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