The Lincoln Project told Rudolph W. Giuliani to give it a rest Friday after the president’s personal attorney tried to link the anti-Trump super PAC to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, only to have the Trump ally interviewing him push back on the charge.
Mr. Giuliani, former President Trump’s personal lawyer, claimed The Lincoln Project has connections to the events at the Capitol while on the “War Room: Pandemic” podcast hosted by Stephen K. Bannon.
Speaking to Mr. Bannon — Mr. Trump’s former adviser and a recipient of one of his presidential pardons — Mr. Giuliani baselessly claimed that left-wing activists known as Antifa and “even some right-wing groups” had planned the assault on the Capitol.
He was certain that “some right-wing groups that operate for the Lincoln Project, or have been working with the Lincoln Project at various times,” Mr. Giuliani told Mr. Bannon during Thursday’s program.
“You have a couple of wolves in sheep’s clothing–,” Mr. Giuliani tried to continue before Mr. Bannon cut him off.
“H-hold it, hang on, hang on, what, ho, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you saying ’Working for The Lincoln Project Right-wing groups,’ like, who?” Mr. Bannon interjected.
Mr. Giuliani proceeded to claim that some of the violence that occurred at the Capitol was organized by somehow who previously worked for both The Lincoln Project and Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican.
He refused to give the person’s name, however, resulting in him quickly being called out by the show’s host.
“This is why we’re getting blown up all the time,” said Mr. Bannon, likely referring to outlets including YouTube banning his show for spreading misinformation. “You can’t throw a charge out there like that and then say, ’Yeah, I’ve got a double secret probation guy who I can’t mention’,” Mr. Bannon continued.
Responding the next day on social media, The Lincoln Project told its 2.8 million Twitter followers: “If I was Rudy Giuliani I would simply stop.”
“That Steve Bannon is the voice of reason underscores how bats– f– insane @RudyGiuliani is,” Lincoln Project adviser Jeff Timmer said in an uncensored Twitter post.
“Even Bannon is flummoxed at Rudy,” reacted George Conway, an attorney who co-founded The Lincoln Project alongside a number of other Republican and former Republicans opposed to reelecting Mr. Trump.
Started in late 2019, The Lincoln Project raised and spent millions of dollars on advertisements opposing Mr. Trump’s ultimately failed reelection campaign, among other targets.
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged more than 150 people so far in connection with storming the Capitol. And the House of Representatives has impeached Mr. Trump for inciting an insurrection.
Five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, died as a result of the insurrection, which happened as Congress was formalizing Mr. Trump losing his race for re-election to President Biden.
Trump supporters, militia members, QAnon conspiracy theorists and right-wing activists are among those facing charges, including members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, among others and individuals.
FBI Assistant Director Steven D’Antuono has said there is “no indication” Antifa was involved. Nevertheless, Mr. Giuliani has continued to insist otherwise in the days since the Capitol was stormed.
Mr. Giuliani’s claims have proven in the past to be consequential for both himself and Mr. Bannon, who was booted from YouTube earlier this month hours after he uploaded an episode with the lawyer. Mr. Bannon was already on thin ice with YouTube, and Mr. Giuliani made several comments in that video that violated its rules against misinformation.
More recently, YouTube suspended Mr. Giuliani from one of its advertising programs last week after repeated violations of its rules prohibiting users from alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
A message requesting comment from Mr. Romney’s office was not immediately answered Friday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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