6.12 “He’s Calling on You, He Needs Your Help”

6.12 “He’s Calling on You, He Needs Your Help”

¶As discussed above, Alex Jones was one of the loudest supporters of the “Stop the Steal” movement. Jones dedicated much of the December 20th episode of his InfoWars show to President Trump’s “be wild” tweet, telling his listeners that nothing less than the fate of the American Republic was at stake. “He’s calling you, he needs your help, we need your help,” Jones told his audience.³⁹⁵³⁹⁵ “The Alex Jones Show,” Prison Planet TV, at 10:07, Dec. 20, 2020, available at http://tv.infowars.com/index/display/id/11151. The Select Committee has learned that, between the time of the President’s tweet and Jones’s December 20th show, Jones’s staff had several calls with Chafian, who had just procured a new permit for WFAF’s event on the Ellipse.³⁹⁶³⁹⁶ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (T-Mobile Production, Nov. 19, 2021). The two parties apparently discussed whether this newly hatched January 6th event was an opportunity to work together.³⁹⁷³⁹⁷ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Informal Interview of Cynthia “Cindy” Chafian (Nov. 1-2, 2021).

¶Jones’s broadcast also led to an influx of funds for the January 6th event at the Ellipse. Julie Fancelli is the billionaire heiress to the Publix supermarket fortune and a longtime supporter of President Trump.³⁹⁸³⁹⁸ See, Beth Reinhard, Jaqueline Alemany, and Josh Dawsey, “Low-Profile Heiress Who ‘Played a Strong Role’ in Financing Jan. 6 Rally is Thrust Into Spotlight,” Washington Post, (Dec. 8, 2021), available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/publix-heiress-capitol-insurrection-fancelli/2021/12/08/5144fe1c-5219-11ec-8ad5-b5c50c1fb4d9_story.html. Fancelli had recently become a donor to Jones’s InfoWars site.³⁹⁹³⁹⁹ Documents on File with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Julia Fancelli Production), REL0000000994, (Bank Statements for Julia Fancelli at the Bank of Central Florida from December 10, 2020, to January 10, 2021). She listened to Jones’s December 20th show,⁴⁰⁰⁴⁰⁰ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Caroline Wren, (Dec. 17, 2021), p. 58. and decided she wanted to back the cause.

¶Inspired by Jones and the fervor that continued to surround the President’s tweet, Fancelli called Caroline Wren, a Republican fundraiser linked to the Trump Campaign, the next day.⁴⁰¹⁴⁰¹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (Verizon Production, Feb. 9, 2022). According to Wren, Fancelli said that “she wanted to see a lot of people there in DC, so how much would that cost?”⁴⁰²⁴⁰² Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Caroline Wren, (Dec. 17, 2021), pp. 45-46. Fancelli spoke with Jones’s staff and they recommended that she connect with Chafian, who was organizing the Ellipse rally.⁴⁰³⁴⁰³ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Caroline Wren, (Dec. 17, 2021), p. 71. In the waning days of 2020, Fancelli and Jones spoke several times.⁴⁰⁴⁴⁰⁴ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, (Verizon Production, Feb. 9, 2022).

¶Fancelli worked with Wren to create a multimillion-dollar budget to convene as many supporters of President Trump as possible.⁴⁰⁵⁴⁰⁵ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000014 (January 4 - 6, 2021, Fancelli Budget & Trip Plan). To ensure that Fancelli’s dollars made maximum impact, Wren contacted some of the major players who were rallying supporters for January 6th. Wren emailed Kylie Kremer⁴⁰⁶⁴⁰⁶ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000005 (December 27, 2020, Kylie Kremer e-mail to Caroline Wren at 11:25 am). and exchanged texts with Jones⁴⁰⁷⁴⁰⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000468 (December 27, 2020, Caroline Wren text message thread with Alex Jones). and Chafian.⁴⁰⁸⁴⁰⁸ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000550 (Dec. 27, 2020, Caroline Wren text messages with Cindy Chafian). Fancelli’s goal was clear: she wanted to spend $3 million to “get as many people there as possible.”⁴⁰⁹⁴⁰⁹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Caroline Wren, (Dec. 17, 2021), pp. 50, 70-71. The resulting budget allocated $500,000 to a busing program and a centralized ad campaign by the Tea Party Express to promote the event.⁴¹⁰⁴¹⁰ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000014 (January 4 - 6, 2021, Fancelli Budget & Trip Plan. Another $500,000 went to assisting WFAF and Jones in their organizational efforts.⁴¹¹⁴¹¹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000014 (January 4 - 6, 2021, Fancelli Budget & Trip Plan.

¶Caroline Wren also connected with Ali Alexander. On December 29th, Wren told the Stop the Steal leader, “I can pay for the buses and I have my team looking for available companies, so let me know what cities you need them in!”⁴¹²⁴¹² Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000482 (December 29, 2020, Caroline Wren text message to Ali Alexander at 4:19 p.m.). Wren’s offer came in response to a tweet from Alexander earlier that day: “Coalition of us working on 25 new charter buses to bring people FOR FREE to #JAN6 #STOPTHESTEAL for President Trump. If you have money for more buses or have a company, let me know. We will list our buses sometime in the next 72 hours. STAND BACK & STAND BY!”⁴¹³⁴¹³ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Caroline Wren Production), REVU_000482 (December 29, 2020, Caroline Wren text message to Ali Alexander at 4:19 pm).

¶The final words of Alexander’s tweet directly echoed President Trump’s command to the Proud Boys during the September 29, 2020, presidential debate.⁴¹⁴⁴¹⁴ Kathleen Ronayne and Michael Kunzelman, “Trump to Far-Right Extremists: `Stand Back and Stand By,’ ” Associated Press, (Sept. 30, 2020), available at https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-donald-trump-chris-wallace-0b32339da25fbc9e8b7c7c7066a1db0f. Alexander’s word choice was apt. The Proud Boys were already planning to show up in force, and to ensure that the crowd would be “wild.”