Robocalls sent by GOP attorneys general group pushed march to Capitol, NBC reports
A fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association sent out robocalls the day before the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a pro-Trump mob encouraging people to march to the Capitol, NBC News reported.
The Rule of Law Defense Fund sent out the calls, which did not advocate violence. The group shares funding, staff and office space in Washington, D.C., with the Republican Attorneys General Association.
“At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” the recording, obtained by NBC news, said.
Kansas and Missouri Republican attorneys general are both part of the association, or RAGA.
Chris Nuelle, spokesman for Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement to The Star that Schmitt “absolutely had no knowledge of or involvement in the robocall, and condemns the violence that took place on Wednesday in the strongest possible terms, period.”
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt first heard about the calls Thursday and let current leadership know of his strong disapproval, his spokesman John Milburn said Saturday afternoon.
Schmidt stepped down from the Rule of Law Defense Fund board in August “and has not participated in the organization’s decision making since that time,” Milburn said in a statement. Milburn then referred The Star to Schmidt’s Wednesday statement condemning the violence at the Capitol.
“The lawlessness at the U.S. Capitol today is sickening, shameful, inexcusable and counterproductive,” Schmidt said.
In December, both Kansas and Missouri attorneys general signed onto a Texas lawsuit that used baseless claims of illegal voting in an attempt to swing the election to President Donald Trump. The lawsuit attempted to overturn results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which all went to President-elect Joe Biden.
Eight GOP lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri also signed onto the effort.
After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the lawsuit, Kansas’ attorney general, Schmidt, reversed course and said it’s time to “put this election behind us.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall runs Rule of Law Defense Fund, responsible for the robocall, and said he was unaware of the calls before they were sent. Marshall said he has directed an internal review.
“Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chairman of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions,” Marshall said in a statement to NBC News.
A spokesperson for the chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, told NBC News that he did not have “knowledge or involvement in this decision.”
The RAGA spokesperson, according to NBC News, also said neither the fund nor the association had any involvement in the “planning, sponsoring, or the organization” of Wednesday’s riot.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 1:31 PM.
