Ex-Palin Attorney at Center of Insurrection Revelations
A bombshell article from Rolling Stone yesterday alleges that multiple sitting Republican members of Congress and members of their staffs coordinated and worked closely with the planners and organizers of the January 6th rally preceding the attack on the Capitol, and the attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from the Trump to the Biden administration.
Trump headlined that event, urging the crowd to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol. His personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, supported “trial by combat.”
The article reveals that organizers of the protest worked directly with White House staffers, a number of Republican members of Congress and their high-level staff. One of the most shocking allegations – that Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar told January 6 organizers that President Trump was prepared to issue “blanket pardons” for what he obviously perceived to be the illegal activities that were yet to come.
Here’s where it gets interesting. At least from an Alaska perspective.
“The House select committee investigating the attack also has interest in Gosar’s office. Gosar’s chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein, was among the people who were named in the committee’s “sweeping” requests to executive-branch agencies seeking documents and communications from within the Trump administration. Both sources claim Van Flein was personally involved in the conversations about the “blanket pardon” and other discussions about pro-Trump efforts to dispute the election. Van Flein did not respond to a request for comment.”
For those not old enough to remember all the way back to the time that Sarah Palin held high office in the state of Alaska, the name Thomas van Flein may not be familiar. The rest of us did a double take. As Rudy Giuliani was to Donald Trump, so Thomas Van Flein was to Governor Palin – her personal lawyer. In his capacity Van Flein tried to mop up the multiple ethics reports filed against the former half-term governor, and oversaw her legal defense fund which turned out not to be … legal. Go figure.
After raking in the Benjamins in Alaska, Van Flein flew the coop and took a job with a brand-new Sherrif Joe Arpaio-endorsed Congressman from Arizona whose primary campaign issue was “build that wall!” “I look forward to working with [Van Flein] in Washington and ensuring that we listen to the American people and work to uphold the principles that make this country great,” Republican Congressman Paul Gosar said of Van Flein.
Since his original migration, Van Flein climbed the internal office ladder and is now Chief of Staff to Congressman Gosar and finds himself right in the thick of a very thick place indeed.
We had no idea back then that the “principles that make this country great” would turn out to be organizing a rally that would lead to a coup attempt, and an offer of “blanket immunity” to the perpetrators. I suppose if you’re going to be negotiating preemptive immunity for traitorous felons, it helps to have a lawyer in the mix.
As events unfold and the January 6th Commission moves forward, it may pay to remember that not so long ago, Congressman Gosar was pointing a finger and yelling “Treason!” at other people. Back in February of 2018, Gosar urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to seek “criminal prosecution against these traitors to our nation” referring to James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein. If you want to time travel back to the Mueller investigation you can read all about it HERE.
Don’t go too far away. More news coming soon.