Social media users shared a photo of former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and protester Jake Angeli, claiming it shows that they knew each other before the January 6, 2021 storm on the Capitol and that the attack was staged. These allegations are false.
An example can be seen here.
The description of the report reads: “Jake is friends with Rudy. He is also a highly alert individual. The whole event on the 6th was offered to confiscate the laptops. ANTIFA did plan to wreak havoc that day. We knew in advance. Two separate groups. Most of the actual violence took place outside. The majority of the interior was staged. It worked. Congress ran through the tunnels. FISA guarantees laptops that run quietly. ”
The report does not state how the alleged relationship shows that the attack was staged. It seems to suggest that there was some sort of plan to promote the chaos in the Capital to divert attention while government agents seized laptops from legislators to gather unspecified evidence about it. It also accuses left-wing Antifa protesters of being responsible for most of the actual violence. There is no evidence to support any part of these loose conspiracy theories.
ANGELI EN GIULIANI
According to AZ Central, the protester, known as Jake Angeli, was a “match on political judges in Arizona” last year. Visible in an interview with the news office in May 2020.here , Angeli spoke in favor of President Donald Trump and his policies. A fact-checking from Reuters from January 6 unraveling false allegations that Angeli belongs to Antifa can be seen here.
Fact check website Snopes took the photo of the two men back to Angeli’s recently removed Facebook page argief.is/OdtMn (here). The photo was taken during a meeting held in Phoenix, Arizona with GOP lawmakers and Giuliani on November 30, 2020 (here).
Angeli’s message does not indicate a previous relationship between him and Giuliani. The description of Angeli’s Facebook message reads: “I am at the trial in PHX AZ today … must shake Rudy’s hand and meet the war woman Chanel Rion from OAN! What an honor it is to be present for this historic meeting and to meet such wonderful patriots in the process! KEEP THE LINE PATRIOTS! USA WILL BE PRIVILEGE, WE WILL STOP THE STEEL! CUZ AS ALWAYS WIN GOD! ”
Albert Watkins, Angeli’s lawyer, told Reuters in an email that Angeli had no existing relationship with Giuliani. Representatives of Giuliani did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
STOLEN SHOTS
There were reports that computers were missing after the raid, but no indication of any official, actual attempt to seize it.
Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, said on Twitter that a laptop had been taken from his office (here and here). Merkley’s spokesman told the Associated Press here that the laptop was later recovered at the Capitol and dusted off for fingerprints.
CNN reported here that Rep. Jim Clayburn told reporters that his iPad was taken during the incident, but it was later recovered and found to have been moved to a safe place by a staff member.
According to an assistant (here), a laptop was stolen from the house’s office, Nancy Pelosi, but it belongs to a conference room.
The FBI told the court on January 17 that Riley June Williams was seen on video taking a laptop or hard drive from Pelosi’s office. It is being investigated whether she tried to sell the device to Russian intelligence (here).
On January 26, the AP reported that Williams’ lawyer had said that the laptop still needed to be repaired (here).
ANTIFA
Reuters Fact Check had earlier alleged that the men who stormed the Capitol had downed Antifa supporters here and there and that the storm was staged here with green screens.
VERDICT
Untrue. A photo showing Rudy Giuliani and Jake Angeli is not proof that the storm hit the Capitol on January 6 to confiscate laptops.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.