Conspiracy theorist, election denier, and Trump-endorsed GOP candidate for governor Doug Mastriano has agreed to speak to the US House Committee investigating the deadly US Capitol insurrection.
After being subpoenaed in February and skipping his scheduled deposition in March, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor Doug Mastriano has agreed to speak with the US House Committee investigating the events of Jan. 6.
According to Mastriano’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, the state senator was already interviewed by the FBI last year. He told them he did not know about a planned insurrection or any coordination behind the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
“He previously was approached and sat for a voluntary interview with the FBI and told them the truth about everything that happened that day,” Parlatore said. ”The FBI cleared him.”
Mastriano organized bus trips to the Trump rally that led to the deadly riot in Washington, D.C., and he was in regular communication with Donald Trump as the then-president sought to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Parlatore said he provided documents to the House Committee earlier this week and made the offer of an interview months ago. Mastriano has nothing to hide, Parlatore said.
But according to a report from Politico, Mastriano was not required to provide the committee with any materials related to official actions in his current position as a state senator. So much of what Mastriano has delivered is information already made public, such as social media posts.
The committee has yet to schedule an interview with Mastriano.
A Senate Judiciary report released late last year alleged that Mastriano and his wife “took part in the January 6 insurrection,” citing footage of them passing through breached barricades and police lines at the Capitol. Mastriano has said that he left when things turned violent.
Mastriano previously denied breaking any laws that day, and he has not been charged with any crime in connection to the Capitol attack.
Parlatore dismissed the committee’s work as “not a real investigation” and politically motivated, designed to boost Democrats’ prospects in November’s midterm elections. The panel is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans.
Congressional investigators are hoping to learn more about Mastriano’s role in a plan to arrange for an “alternate” slate of electors from Pennsylvania for Trump after the 2020 election. Those individuals went on to declare themselves the rightful electors and submitted false Electoral College certificates declaring Trump the winner of the presidential election in the state.
Those certificates from the “alternate electors” were then sent to Congress, where several of Trump’s Republican allies in the House and the Senate used them to justify delaying or blocking the certification of the election during the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress.
Mastriano has been an outspoken Trump supporter, helping to amplify his baseless claims of a stolen election. In July, Mastriano launched a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election, but state Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Centre) removed him from leading the investigation after disputes over how to run it.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Ashley Adams In her 16 years in the communications industry, Ashley Adams has worn many hats, including news reporter, public relations writer, marketing specialist, copy editor and technical writer. Ashley grew up in Berks County and has since returned to her roots to raise her three children.
