Jan. 6 committee targets ‘Groyper’ leaders in new round of subpoenas

The House Jan 6. committee on Wednesday subpoenaed two leaders of the far-right “Groypers” movement, saying they promoted election fraud claims at rallies leading up to the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The committee said the two men, Nicholas Fuentes and Patrick Casey, attended various rallies in Washington after the 2020 election. The committee said that at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the riot, the two men called for the destruction of the Republican Party for failing to overturn the election results.

“The Select Committee is seeking facts about the planning, coordination, and funding of events that preceded the violent attack on our democracy,” said Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the committee. “We believe the individuals we have subpoenaed today have information relevant to those questions, and we expect them to cooperate with the committee.”

The committee said Mr. Fuentes also organized a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Michigan State Capitol in November 2020 where he called for conservatives to be “more feral in their tactics to overturn the election.” At around the same time, Mr. Fuentes announced “Groypers are going to stop this coup!” in a post on Telegram.

Both men, the committee said, were present during the Capitol attack and provided updates and commentary on the siege to their followers on social media. The committee says Mr. Fuentes encouraged his followers to “continue occupying the Capitol until the election results were overturned.”

Messers. Fuentes and Casey both declined to appear before the committee voluntarily before the panel issued the subpoenas.

The committee has interviewed more than 400 witnesses in its sweeping probe.

Republicans contend that the Democrat-led panel has weaponized the events of Jan. 6 for political gain and use the committee’s probe to smear Mr. Trump and the GOP.

Democrats insist the sole aim of the probe is to uncover the truth about what led to the Capitol riot and ensure a similar event never takes place again.

“The committee will continue to push forward to get answers for the American people and help ensure nothing like January 6th ever happens again,” Mr. Thompson said.