Organizers of the Jan. 6 rally near the White House where then-President Donald Trump spoke before the Capitol riot allegedly used burner phones to communicate with top Trump officials, including his son Eric Trump, Rolling Stone reported Tuesday.
Kylie Kremer, a leader of the March for Trump group that helped organized the rally at the Ellipse, reportedly told an aide to buy three burner phones during the planning of the event and said it was of “utmost importance” that they were paid for with cash.
So-called burner phones are cheap, prepaid mobile phones typically purchased for temporary use to protect the user’s anonymity.
Kremer used one of the phones to communicate with top White House and Trump campaign officials, including Eric Trump and wife Lara Trump, then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Katrina Pierson, a former Trump campaign spokesperson, three sources involved with the event told Rolling Stone.
A second phone was given to Kremer’s mother, Amy Kremer, another key rally organizer, a member of the March for Trump team told the magazine. The source said they didn’t know who the third phone was for.
The phones were reportedly used for any conversations between Kylie Kremer and the White House or Trump family, with many crucial planning discussions taking place on them.
At the “Save America” rally at the Ellipse, which preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, Trump encouraged supporters to march to the Capitol to protest the pro forma congressional count of the Electoral College votes, which had cemented Joe Biden’s presidential election win.
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack has subpoenaed both Kremers, as well as myriad other rally organizers and top Trump officials, including Meadows. Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist, was indicted on contempt of Congress charges after he refused to comply with a House committee subpoena.
Women for America First ― the pro-Trump group chaired by Amy Kremer and directed by Kylie Kremer, which also helped plan the “Save America” rally at the Ellipse ― did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report.