An attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group exchanged text messages about election fraud with Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in November 2020.
The general counsel for the Oath Keepers, Kellye SoRelle, who has been charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, said she was in touch with Andrew Giuliani while he was a White House public liaison assistant in the Trump administration. The texts were only related to allegations of election fraud and not the attack on the Capitol two months later, SoRelle said.
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“None of that was like, ‘Hey, we should go storm the Capitol,’” SoRelle told NBC News. “It was like, ‘We have this affidavit,’ or whatever.”
Andrew Giuliani, who recently ran for the Republican nomination for New York governor, confirmed the interaction and said his last contact with SoRelle was on Nov. 10, 2020, according to his phone records.
“Until you mentioned her, until I looked it up, it didn’t really ring a bell,” Andrew Giuliani told the outlet.
SoRelle additionally tried to send a text message to the White House in December, according to a new book by former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), and journalist Hunter Walker. However, the message failed to be delivered because it was sent to a White House switchboard line. For Riggleman, the connection between Andrew Giuliani and a member of the Oath Keepers was not surprising.
“The phone data my team compiled makes clear the militant aspect of the Capitol attack and high-level associates of the former president were inextricably linked together,” Riggleman said. “It is so important for the American people to be aware of the direct links between the Trump White House and militant groups including this newfound connection between Kellye Sorelle and a former White House aide.”
SoRelle was photographed with Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes outside the Capitol during the insurrection, along with several other leaders of the far-right militia. She has been charged with four counts, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of justice, obstruction of an official proceeding, and one misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, according to a three-page indictment. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Rhodes is expected to stand trial in a seditious conspiracy case with other members of the organization this week. It is expected to last six weeks. Several Oath Keepers have already pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy.
