House January 6 committee postpones deposition for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
By Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles, CNN
The House select committee investigating the January 6 riot has postponed its scheduled deposition of noted conspiracy theorist and right-wing internet personality Alex Jones, according to an aide for the panel.
Jones, who was expected to appear before the committee on Saturday and received a subpoena last month, has been “engaging” with investigators, the aide said.
While the committee aide did not say if Jones’ deposition has been rescheduled, the postponement suggests that he or his attorney is at least communicating with the panel rather than defying the subpoena outright.
In its letter informing Jones that he had been subpoenaed, the committee cited press reports and his own statements to claim the InfoWars host worked with January 6 rally organizers Cindy Chafian and Caroline Wren, in “facilitating a donor, now known to be Julie Fancelli, to provide what [he] characterized as ‘eighty percent’ of the funding” for the rally held on the Ellipse on January 6.
Chafin has been subpoenaed by the committee and Wren met with investigators on Friday.
The committee also stated in its letter last month that Jones was denied a speaking spot at the January 6 rally but his previous comments indicate he was designated to “lead a march to the Capitol, where President Trump would meet the group.”
The committee acknowledged specifically that once at the Capitol, Jones told people “not to be violent” and to gather and wait for Trump to speak. Even though Trump never came to the Capitol, the committee said the location where Jones told people to wait “coincided” with the same place that “Stop the Steal” rally organizer Ali Alexander obtained a permit for that day.
In March, CNN reported that police in Washington, DC, were investigating an allegation that Jones threatened to push another pro-Trump political organizer off of an event stage in December, according to people familiar with the incident.
The allegation was filed with DC police by Kylie Jane Kremer, executive director of the organization Women for America First, a group that helped organize a series of post-election rallies, including one in a park south of the White House that preceded the Capitol riot on January 6.
Kremer was previously subpoenaed by the select committee.
The alleged threat occurred outside the Willard InterContinental hotel, located about two blocks from the White House, according to the police report. The Willard served as an election-related “command center” for Trump allies around January 6, and the committee has expressed significant interest in learning more about what was happening there at that time.
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