Another Far-Right Group Is Scrutinized in Effort to Aid Trump

Days aft a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol connected Jan. 6 past year, national instrumentality enforcement officials pursued 2 high-profile extremist groups: the far-right nationalist Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia. Members of some organizations were rapidly arrested connected attention-grabbing charges, accused of plotting to interfere with the certification of the 2020 ballot count.

Now legislature investigators are examining the relation of different right-wing paramilitary radical that was progressive successful a little publically disposable yet inactive expansive effort to support President Donald J. Trump successful power: the 1st Amendment Praetorian.

Known successful shorthand arsenic 1AP, the radical spent overmuch of the postelection play moving successful the shadows with pro-Trump lawyers, activists, concern executives and subject veterans to undermine nationalist assurance successful the predetermination and to bolster Mr. Trump’s hopes of remaining successful the White House.

By their ain account, members of the 1st Amendment Praetorian helped to funnel information connected purported predetermination fraud to lawyers suing to overturn the ballot count. They guarded celebrities similar Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s erstwhile nationalist information adviser, astatine “Stop the Steal” rallies, wherever immense crowds gathered to request that Mr. Trump stay successful office. And they supported an explosive proposal to transportation the president to state an emergency and prehend the country’s voting machines successful a bid to enactment successful power.

None of 1AP’s apical operatives person been arrested successful transportation with the Capitol riot, and it remains unclear however overmuch power they exerted oregon however earnestly transgression investigators are focused connected them. Still, the radical had men connected the crushed extracurricular the gathering connected Jan. 6 and others astatine the Willard Hotel, adjacent immoderate of Mr. Trump’s main allies. And successful the days starring up to the assault, 1AP’s Twitter relationship posted messages suggesting that the radical knew unit was imminent.

“There whitethorn beryllium immoderate young National Guard captains facing immoderate very, precise pugnacious choices successful the adjacent 48 hours,” work 1 connection posted by the radical connected Jan. 4.

Last month, citing immoderate of these concerns, the House prime committee investigating the Capitol onslaught issued a subpoena to Robert Patrick Lewis, the person of 1AP. On the aforesaid day, it sent akin requests to Enrique Tarrio, the president of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, the laminitis of the Oath Keepers.

As portion of their inquiry, congressional investigators person obtained galore audio recordings of 1AP members and are trying to find however they acceptable into the broader investigation. Mr. Lewis did not respond to aggregate requests for comment, but successful caller months helium has told parts of his communicative successful online videos and podcasts.

Made up mostly of Special Forces veterans and erstwhile quality officials, 1AP was founded successful September 2020 to support Trump supporters from harassment astatine rallies and to safeguard escaped code rights from “tyrannical, Marxist subversive groups,” Mr. Lewis wrote successful a thread of tweets announcing the instauration of the group. In a video attached to the thread, helium said it would beryllium “a tactical mistake” to sermon however galore members 1AP had, noting lone that it was respective times much than the twelve successful a modular Special Forces operational unit.

By the clip helium founded 1st Amendment Praetorian, Mr. Lewis, who erstwhile served arsenic a medic for a Special Forces team, had been retired of the Army for a decennary and reinvented himself arsenic an writer and commentator with an involvement successful subject issues and right-wing politics. Among his works were 2 enactment novels describing however the Green Berets saved the American homeland from a fictional penetration and a memoir depicting his emergence from poorness and adoption to occurrence successful the 10th Special Forces Group, an elite portion stationed successful Germany.

1AP’s archetypal “mission” — protecting blimpish V.I.P.s — came successful October 2020, erstwhile the radical provided information astatine a march successful Washington led by the Walk Away Foundation, an enactment that seeks to transportation Democratic voters to permission the party, Mr. Lewis said successful a YouTube video posted that December. The foundation’s leader, Brandon Straka, a erstwhile hairstylist successful New York, was among those arrested successful the Capitol attack. Court papers suggest that helium precocious began to cooperate with the government.

At that lawsuit and others, 1AP provided much than bodyguards, Mr. Lewis said. Its protective item besides included “low-viz operators” dressed successful plainclothes moving successful the crowd. “We had eyes and ears everywhere,” helium added.

As the statesmanlike predetermination drew closer, Mr. Lewis branched retired beyond idiosyncratic extortion and started giving interviews, casting himself arsenic a information expert, to right-wing quality outlets, including those connected to the QAnon conspiracy theory. Among his claims — truthful acold unsubstantiated — was that “professional analysts” moving for 1AP had infiltrated “encrypted forums” visited by members of the escaped left-wing corporate known arsenic antifa and had discovered plans for a nationwide attack.

“Our quality shows that nary substance who wins the election, they are readying a monolithic ‘antifa Tet offensive’ bent connected destroying the planetary order,” he told Fox News 2 days earlier Election Day.

Once the votes were cast, Mr. Lewis turned his attraction backmost toward guarding pro-Trump luminaries astatine rallies successful Washington, wherever throngs of radical showed up successful enactment of the lie that the predetermination had been rigged. One of his clients was Ali Alexander, a salient “Stop the Steal” organizer, who was a featured talker astatine the alleged Million MAGA March connected Nov. 14, 2020. (Mr. Alexander has since fixed grounds to the House prime committee.)

Around the aforesaid time, 1AP became progressive successful different task connected to challenging the election. Members of the group, arsenic Mr. Lewis enactment it successful his video successful December, began to scour the net for “OSINT” — oregon unfastened root quality — astir allegations of predetermination fraud. Whatever grounds they found, helium said, they sent to Sidney Powell, a Dallas-based lawyer who filed 4 national lawsuits successful precocious 2020 contesting the results of the statesmanlike vote.

The lawsuits, which yet failed and resulted successful a national justice imposing sanctions connected Ms. Powell, described without immoderate credible grounds a crippled by a cabal of planetary powers to hack U.S. voting machines and flip the number distant from Mr. Trump.

Key Figures successful the Jan. 6 Inquiry

By mid-December 2020, 1AP took a occupation protecting 1 of Ms. Powell’s erstwhile clients, Mr. Flynn, astatine a 2nd ample pro-Trump rally successful Washington. The rally was enactment together, nationalist permits say, by Cindy Chafian, an organizer for the pro-Trump radical Women for America First, which arranged for caravans of the president’s supporters to rally crossed the state aft the election. (Ms. Chafian has besides been subpoenaed by the House prime committee.)

This rally — connected Dec. 12, 2020 — helped to solidify 1AP’s narration with Mr. Flynn and Ms. Chafian. It besides brought the radical into interaction with the Oath Keepers, who joined their protective detail, according to a television interview that the militia’s leader, Mr. Rhodes, gave that day.

In the interview, Mr. Rhodes described however the 2 groups worked unneurotic astatine the rally. He past urged Mr. Trump to “wage war” against “traitors” astatine location by imposing martial law. That was the aforesaid connection that Ms. Powell, Mr. Flynn and others successful their orbit were advising astatine the time.

Mr. Lewis says helium played his ain tiny portion successful the effort to transportation Mr. Trump to state martial law. On Dec. 18, he said connected a podcast past year, helium drove Ms. Powell and Mr. Flynn to the White House to conscionable with Mr. Trump. It is not wide whether Mr. Lewis attended the meeting, wherever Ms. Powell and Mr. Flynn urged the president to state a nationalist exigency and request a recount of cardinal plaything states connected unrecorded TV, according to the concern enforcement Patrick M. Byrne, who was besides there.

It was not agelong aft the White House gathering that Mr. Lewis, similar others, turned his attraction toward Jan. 6, which was wide seen arsenic the last accidental for Mr. Trump and his allies to halt the certification of the statesmanlike vote.

On Jan. 5, Mr. Lewis gave a code astatine an lawsuit organized by Ms. Chafian astatine Freedom Plaza successful Washington, telling the assemblage that they should not beryllium “intimidated” by the “enemy astatine the gates.” Another organizer of events that day, Dustin Stockton, said that helium saw Mr. Lewis and Ms. Chafian with different members of 1AP successful a country astatine the Willard Hotel, not acold from the “war room” wherever immoderate of Mr. Trump’s apical allies had gathered.

On the time of the Capitol attack, astatine slightest 1 of Mr. Lewis’s lieutenants, Geoffrey Flohr, a erstwhile Michigan constabulary officer, was extracurricular the gathering walking the grounds and talking connected his cellphone conscionable earlier the riot erupted, according to public videos. (Mr. Flohr did not respond to messages seeking comment.) Ms. Chafian and her husband, Scott Chafian, were besides successful the mob extracurricular the building.

Another subordinate of 1AP posted connected Twitter that afternoon, claiming helium was successful an “overwatch position” successful Arlington County, Va., wherever prosecutors accidental the Oath Keepers had placed astatine a edifice an equipped “quick absorption force” that was prepared to determination into Washington if needed.

As for Mr. Lewis, helium told The Daily Beast past year that helium was astatine the Willard again connected Jan. 6, distant from the chaos astatine the Capitol.

“Today is the time the existent battles begin,” helium wrote connected Twitter conscionable arsenic the Capitol was breached.

Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.