Steve Bannon is stonewalling the Congressional committee probing the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. But a Bannon associate, Dustin Stockton, has been cooperating with investigators, according to POLITICO.
Stockton, a conservative operative with Tea Party roots, was the spokesman for We Build The Wall, a fundraising effort led by Bannon to erect a barrier on the Southern border. New York prosecutors alleged that the operation was fraudulent and indicted Bannon and three others. Eventually, then-President Donald Trump pardoned Bannon.
Stockton was also involved in the planning of the Women For America First rally that preceded the Capitol riot – his fiancee was the event’s co-organizer and he promoted it heavily.
According to ProPublica, Stockton worried that the event was going to become violent. “A last-minute march, without a permit, without all the metro police that’d usually be there to fortify the perimeter, felt unsafe,” Dustin Stockton told the outlet.
Stockton said he was particularly concerned about the involvement of Ali Alexander, the Trump diehard behind the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign who was hellbent on overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Stockton said the event organizers took their concerns to Trump aide Katrina Pierson. Stockton also told ProPublica that he got the impression that the event’s organizers were in touch with Mark Meadows, then Trump’s chief of staff.
Stockton met with Congressional investigators on Monday, according to POLITICO. Alexander has been subpoenaed by the committee, as has the leadership of Women For America First. It’s unclear if they’re cooperating.
