A new report in Rolling Stone details the cooperation between the Trump White House and the organizers of the rally that preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. It also shows that members of that group – Women For America First – were plagued by in-fighting and excessive alcohol consumption.
Rolling Stone viewed a series of text messages and group chats between members of Women for America First. The outlet reports:
Two sources who were involved in planning the Ellipse rally previously told Rolling Stone they had extensive interactions with members of Trump’s team, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The text messages provide a deeper understanding of what that cooperation entailed, including an in-person meeting at the White House. Rally organizers also described working with Trump’s team to announce the event, promote it, and grant access to VIP guests. A spokesperson for the former president did not respond to a request for comment on the record.
Amy Kremer, the founder of Women for America First, was on a pro-Trump bus tour when she texted members of her group, “For those of you that weren’t aware, I have jumped off the tour for the night and am headed to DC. I have a mtg at the WH tomorrow afternoon and then will be back tomorrow night. Rest well. I’ll make sure the President knows about the tour tomorrow!”
As Kremer and her team members planned the January 6th rally – which would be held at a park across from the White House called the Ellipse – they apparently took their cues from Trump’s inner circle. For instance, Kremer’s daughter, Kylie, instructed the group not to share details of the rally before an official announcement.
“We are following POTUS’ lead,” Kylie explained.
More from Rolling Stone:
…on January 3, March For Trump activist Dustin Stockton texted one of the team’s groups to ask who was “handling” rally credentials for VIPs. “It’s a combination of us and WH,” Kylie replied.
Stockton’s fiancee, Jennifer Lawrence, had a similar question when she asked a chat group where media credential requests for the Ellipse rally were going after being submitted on the group’s website.
“To campaign,” Kylie responded in an apparent reference to Trump’s re-election team. “They are handling all.”
According to the reviewed messages, members of Women for America First were nervous that Alexander Ali – the Stop the Steal activists with ties to violent militias – would co-opt their event and enflame a “Wild Protest.”
But that wasn’t the only source of tension within the group.
Rolling Stone reports:
The group chats also show some of the drama that played out within Kremer’s team. On Dec. 31, as the members of the group realized the “Wild Protest” seemed to be moving forward, Kylie posted a series of angry messages accusing the people who were riding the bus of focusing on irrelevant issues and not sufficiently appreciating the work being done to plan the Ellipse event. Kylie dismissed the “Wild Protest” as “all the people who aren’t invited or POTUS won’t be associated with.”
“How do yall not get it? Seriously. Everyone needs to get off that damn bus because you are all going crazy focused on things that don’t matter.”
Kylie later added “I am very frustrated and feel like you guys have NO IDEA the hoops we have been jumping through 24-7 lately. Google events at the Ellipse. Send me pictures that you can find of anything other than the Christmas tree light or menorah lighting that are official WH events. THEY DONT HAPPEN. Y’all this has got to stop. The back and forth. If anyone doesn’t like what … team trump and I are doing then you don’t have to come to January 6th.”
Rolling Stone also highlights texts sent by Kremer to try and get her daughter to stop drinking:
“Kylie, you need to slow your roll on the wine RIGHT NOW,” Kremer wrote. “We have so much work to do and not enough time to get it done.”
At another point, Kremer sent a message to the group declaring, “There will be no more drinking on this trip.”
One source interviewed by Rolling Stone said 12 to 15 members of Women for America First were in a suite at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. as the riot unfolded and that it was “stocked up with wine.”
Chris Barron, a spokesperson for the Kremers, told Rolling Stone their reporting was inaccurate:
“You are printing things that are 100 percent factually untrue that we can prove are not true,” Barron said. “You are printing things that are absolutely, factually untrue and, beyond being factually untrue, for anybody who knows Amy are like hilariously preposterous.”
Barron repeatedly declined to answer specific questions about which aspects of the story he wanted to dispute.
