Rep. Paul Gosar’s Aide Pledged Loyalty to White Supremacist Nick Fuentes

We have a look at a newly confirmed direct connection between a white supremacist chief and a staffer for one among Trump’s staunchest supporters in Congress. The digital director for right-wing Arizona Congressmember Paul Gosar has been revealed as a distinguished follower of neo-Nazi on-line influencer Nick Fuentes. Gosar himself is linked to organizers of the January 6 revolt and was censured for posting an animated video on social media the place he murdered Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacked President Biden. We communicate with Speaking Factors Memo reporter Hunter Walker about his unique report, which he says “removes that veil of believable deniability” from Gosar about his workplace’s ties to extremists.

TRANSCRIPT

It is a rush transcript. Copy will not be in its last type.

AMY GOODMAN: That is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Conflict and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we glance now on the newly confirmed direct connection between a white supremacist chief and the digital director for one among Trump’s staunchest supporters in Congress.

We’re joined in New York by Hunter Walker, an investigative reporter at Speaking Factors Memo, the place his unique new story is headlined “Capitol Hill Staffer Is A Distinguished Follower Of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.”

Fuentes is a far-right chief who rose underneath Trump. The staffer who was revealed within the piece works for far-right Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, who’s linked to organizers of the lethal January 6 revolt and was censured for posting an animated video on social media the place he murders Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and assaults President Biden. That’s the congressman, Gosar. Gosar additionally spoke on the brazenly racist America First convention, organized by Nick Fuentes to compete with the Conservative Political Motion Convention, often called CPAC. This new story reveals Gosar’s ties to the white supremacist motion go even deeper.

Hunter Walker, in the event you can lay out what you discovered about his digital director?

HUNTER WALKER: Properly, Amy, nice to see you, first off.

And as you identified, Paul Gosar already has been linked instantly and personally to Nick Fuentes. However his relationship with this neo-Nazi chief has been one among alternately embracing him and distancing himself from him. As you alluded to, Paul Gosar has appeared at two editions of Nick Fuentes’s America First Political Motion Convention, as soon as in individual, as soon as by video. However after that second one triggered a backlash, Gosar mentioned, you already know, “Nick has an issue together with his mouth,” and type of tried to disavow him considerably. So, he’s operated with a little bit of believable deniability as he’s repeatedly been tied to extremist exercise, together with, you already know, having antisemitic web sites showing in his official publication. And I believe this story, one of many key issues about it’s it actually removes that veil of believable deniability for Paul Gosar.

And what I discovered is that, you already know, this staffer in his workplace, Wade Searle, proof seems to hyperlink him to this type of digital persona, “Chikkenright,” this community of interlinked social media accounts, that has put out extremist content material, together with statements, you already know, referring to Jews as, quote-unquote, “hook-nosed bankers,” disparaging Asians, minimizing slavery. And likewise, along with simply being a social media account, this, quote-unquote, “Chikken” persona was a number one determine in Nick Fuentes’s group. And we all know that due to accusations from defectors from Fuentes’s interior circle, who launched inside chats exhibiting this “Chikken” individual collaborating within the management conversations, telling them about what was occurring in Gosar’s workplace. After which, additionally, he’s a moderator on Nick Fuentes’s common stream.

So, you already know, this man has been linked to being a distinguished follower of Nick Fuentes, who’s an outright neo-Nazi, and the proof is intensive. These accounts posted photos that seem to indicate Wade Searle with Fuentes. It was recognized as coming from Searle’s hometown, being the identical age as Searle. And at its inception, this “Chikkenright” account was credited to, quote-unquote, “Wade” and one other individual, quote-unquote, “Landen,” who we consider seems to be Landen Peterson, an intern in Gosar’s workplace. So there are a number of individuals within the congressman’s workplace linked to this extremely extremist on-line exercise and Nick Fuentes’s “Groyper” motion.

AMY GOODMAN: And clarify extra, Hunter Walker, how you already know “Chikken” and “Chikkenright” — C-H-I-Ok-Ok-E-N — the way you instantly linked him — as a result of it is a very critical allegation — to Paul Gosar’s workplace, to his staffer, Wade Searle.

HUNTER WALKER: Properly, first off, there’s no query he works in Paul Gosar’s workplace. You realize, we regarded on the disclosures. And one factor that’s extraordinarily —

AMY GOODMAN: Proper, however how Wade Searle is “Chikken” or “Chikkenright”?

HUNTER WALKER: Completely. However one factor that’s extraordinarily attention-grabbing about that, that I simply need to contact on first, is, you already know, there was that excessive video about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And it was primarily based on an anime, Assault on Titan, with type of Gosar and Ocasio-Cortez’s heads superimposed on the characters of this extraordinarily violent Japanese animation. And anime is a persistent function of the far proper. So, that video is type of an instance of how Paul Gosar’s social media has already borrowed from these far-right extremist circles. And he truly employed Wade Searle in the future, formally, after being censured for that video. So, even regardless of getting slaps on the wrist from his fellow Republicans in Congress, Gosar has repeatedly, you already know, on his official accounts, type of winked and nodded on the far proper, at the same time as he supposedly disavowed him.

What we discovered with Wade Searle, you already know, is simply so many hyperlinks. I imply, first off, Gosar joined Gab, the extremist social media website, proper after Searle joined his workplace. At that time, he began reposting content material from “Chikkenright.” “Chikkenright” was reposting content material from Gosar. At factors on the “Chikkenright” accounts — and so they’re all linked. I imply, there’s a Twitter, a Telegram and a Gab, type of an general presence that every one has these inside hyperlinks selling itself, an Instagram web page that was credited to, quote-unquote, “Wade” and, quote-unquote, “Landen.” And all of those interlinked accounts promoted extremist content material, promoted Gosar, talked about insider information of Arizona Republicans.

After which, you already know, the 2 most dramatic moments got here as Wade Searle took his activism past social media. And Searle appeared to hitch Fuentes at a 2020 Cease the Steal rally. Along with being a neo-Nazi, Fuentes was an enormous election denier whose followers had a significant presence at January sixth. And you may see a person who seems to be Searle standing behind Fuentes at one among these rallies in Phoenix, Arizona, the place he known as Trump’s loss a, quote-unquote, “fraud.” And, you already know, pictures of that man have been posted on the varied “Chikkenright” social media pages, in addition to Wade Searle’s extra public named social media. So, he posted his personal pictures. You realize, varied issues within the content material, akin to his hometown, the credit score within the bio, appear to hyperlink him to this exercise. After which, most significantly, you’ve gotten these defectors from Fuentes’s group, a person named Simon Dickerman, who has named Wade Searle as “Chikkenright.”

This was type of an open secret on the far proper. I got here throughout it, after which I joined with two researchers, Haley Orion of Arizona Proper Wing Watch and Nick Martin of The Informant, and we pooled all the info we had discovered, and, you already know, it simply actually seems to definitively present that Wade Searle was behind these accounts. However, you already know, he has been beforehand named by his personal colleagues on the far proper.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, what has been Gosar’s response to your investigation?

HUNTER WALKER: Not a lot. You realize, yesterday, the one factor I observed from Gosar is that he shut off feedback on his tweets. He blocked replies. And I believe that’s a extremely, actually necessary factor right here. You realize, I famous earlier than that he was censured for this excessive video about Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. Since then, he’s truly been introduced again onto committees, after having them stripped from him, together with the extraordinarily highly effective Oversight Committee. Not solely did we attain out to Gosar to provide him a chance to remark and reject this in any manner or to say that he didn’t know that this was taking place, however we reached out to Speaker McCarthy, and he has provided no response in any respect. And Democrats have provided very restricted response, from what we’ve seen.

And one of many reactions I’m noticing is, simply due to Paul Gosar’s intensive historical past, you already know, winking and nodding on the far proper, talking at Fuentes’s occasions, individuals have mentioned they’re not shocked. And, you already know, I might simply observe that you simply have been speaking earlier concerning the alarming rise in white supremacy on this nation, in white supremacist organizations. Getting an inroad on a Capitol Hill workers is a significant, main turning level in that motion. It’s a significant little bit of progress for them. And if we begin to attain some extent the place we are saying we’re not shocked by this, the place we are saying, you already know, we anticipate this in Congress, then we’re permitting it to develop into regular. And I personally discover this surprising, and I believe we must always stay shocked by it.

AMY GOODMAN: Hunter Walker, we need to thanks for being with us, investigative reporter at Speaking Factors Memo. We’ll hyperlink to your unique new report, “Capitol Hill Staffer Is A Distinguished Follower Of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.”

Oh, by the way in which, in different information from Capitol Hill, a person armed with a metallic baseball bat attacked two staffers at Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly’s district workplace in Virginia Monday. The person arrived on the workplace, reportedly mentioned, “The place is Connolly?” It’s unclear what motivated the assault. A younger lady who was an intern on the workplace on her first day of labor, he beat her with the baseball bat, in addition to a senior staffer. He slammed him within the head. They have been hospitalized. They’re out from the hospital now.

Subsequent up, an replace from human rights advocates simply again from the U.S.-Mexico border because the Trump-era Title 42 coverage ends. Stick with us.