A member of the Proud Boys was in contact with someone at former President Donald Trump’s White House days before the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the New York Times reported.
An anonymous source who is familiar with a report on cell data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations told the Times that it was unclear what they discussed and did not disclose the names of any of the individuals.
The information was found in part as a result of data the FBI obtained from technology and telecommunications companies immediately after the riot, when Trump supporters violated the United States Capitol and clashed with authorities.
The riot resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.
This happened after Federico Klein, a former State Department aide, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the riots.
The FBI accused Klein of assaulting police officers, interfering with the police during civil unrest and obstructing an official process, both crimes, the Politico said.
Klein was nominated by Trump and worked on his 2016 presidential campaign before becoming a special assistant at the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department in 2017.
The news comes after Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio told the Times that he spoke on the phone with Roger Stone, a close friend of Trump, at a rally outside Senator Marco Rubio’s house a few days before the attack on the Capitol. .
Videos prior to the riot show Stone being watched by six people who were members of The Oath Keepers, an anti-government militant extremist group.
Stone told ABC News that he “had no prior knowledge” of the riot.
“I couldn’t even say the names of those who offered to provide security for me, required because of the many threats against me and my family,” Stone told the channel.
So far, more than 310 people have been accused of the Capitol uprising. More than a dozen people have been linked to extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
The FBI did not respond to Insider’s request for comment at the time of publication.
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