One of the top organizers of the movement that aimed to overturn the election results has claimed he worked closely with Republican congressmen. Ali Alexander, a leader of the “Stop the Steal” group, said in several Periscope livestream videos last month that he planned the rally that preceded the riot in conjunction with Gosar and two other congressional Republicans, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Andy Biggs of Arizona, as CNN first reported last week.

“We’re the four guys who came up with a January 6 event,” Alexander said in one video in December. “It was to build momentum and pressure and then on the day change hearts and minds of Congress peoples who weren’t yet decided or saw everyone outside and said, ‘I can’t be on the other side of that mob.'”

Brooks, a staunch conservative and one of Trump’s closest congressional allies, was one of the first speakers at the National Mall rally that preceded the riot, and his fiery language helped set the tone for what came next.

“Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!” the six-term Republican shouted to the assembled protesters. “Our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives… Are you willing to do the same?”