‘Stop the Steal’ organizer agrees to cooperate with the Justice Department’s Capitol riot investigation

• A “Stop the Steal” organizer will cooperate with the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 probe.
• Ali Alexander told The New York Times he recently received a federal grand jury subpoena. 
• Last month, the DOJ expanded its investigation to include the rally that preceded the riot.

A top organizer of the “Stop the Steal” movement has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s expanded investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot and rally, according to The New York Times.

Ali Alexander told the outlet via his lawyer that he recently received a subpoena from a federal grand jury seeking information on pro-Trump rallies that followed the 2020 election.

While several rioters have struck cooperation deals with the government, Alexander, who planned multiple pro-Trump post-election events, is the first notable political figure to publicly acknowledge his cooperation with the Justice Department’s criminal probe. In a statement provided to The Times by his lawyer, Alexander said he was taking a “cooperative posture” with the federal government’s investigation but was unsure of what help he could offer. 

The Justice Department’s January 6 probe was previously focused primarily on the rioters who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stall Congress’s certification of President Joe Biden’s win. But last month, the department expanded the probe to include the planning of former President Donald Trump’s rally ahead of the riot. 

A federal grand jury is now seeking information from several people linked to the rallies and Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results. 

During the “Stop the Steal” event, which was held just blocks from the US Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march on the Capitol. Hundreds of protesters subsequently laid siege to the Capitol in an attack that ultimately led to five deaths.

The Justice Department’s investigation is running concurrently with a congressional probe into the attack, in which lawmakers have issued dozens of subpoenas seeking to link members of Trump’s inner circle to the rioters. Alexander voluntarily sat for an interview with the panel in late December and handed over his communications with Republican lawmakers preceding the riot. 

Alexander previously said that Republican Reps. Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks, and Paul Gosar helped him plan the January 6 rally.

“We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting,” Alexander said in a Periscope video following the attack which has since been deleted.

Alexander denied any involvement in the attempted insurrection and via his lawyer on Friday, told The Times that he disavowed anyone who took part in or planned violence on Jan. 6.

The grand jury subpoena that Alexander received, according to The Times, also seeks information about executive and legislative lawmakers who played a part in the events of January 6 or may have attempted to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election — a sign that the government’s investigation could reach the Trump administration and its congressional allies, the outlet noted.