Republican Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar worked with a Nevada GOP consultant to recruit groups, including the Proud Boys, to boost attendance at post-Election Day protests at Nevada and Arizona ballot-counting locations, the Washington Post reports.
Woodrow Johnston, the vice president of McShane LLC, a firm retained by Republican candidates and causes for strategic planning, contacted Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a progressive activist who was using a mock profile to infiltrate right-wing groups on Facebook. In a Facebook message sent the day after the 2020 election, Johnston said Gosar, one of his clients, was organizing a “Brooks Brothers” protest in Arizona, referring to a storming of election offices by Republican extremists in Florida to intimidate officials in the contested 2000 Bush-Gore election.
“We might need to do the same here in Nevada,” Johnston wrote, according to messages provided by Ashton-Cirillo to the Post. “Which means we need to get the Proud Boys out.” Johnston did not contest the authenticity of the messages.
Rory McShane, the founder of McShane, LLC, claims that Johnston wasn’t working on behalf of the firm when he was recruiting the Proud Boys. “I was unaware of these texts, but I know Mr. Johnston was not working on behalf of any client or organization,” Rory McShane said in a written statement. “Our management team has met with Mr. Johnston. I’m confident he sees the error of what he did.”
Gosar has been at the forefront of election disinformation campaign, including going so far as falsely claim that Trump-flag waving crowd that attacked the Capitol on January 6th were actually Black Live Matter and antifa. Gosar continues to promote debunked claims, including that tens of thousands of ballots in Arizona were preprinted in China.
The inclusion of the Proud Boys in plans to disrupt the November vote count is another cleave in the Nevada Republican Party between sane conservatives and a substantial Trump-worshiping wing. The state GOP has recently issued directives to separate themselves from the Proud Boys and other nationalist groups, including banning them from holding offices in the organization.
“If there is a determination that any member or employee of the Nevada Republican Party conspired with these individuals or had knowledge of any wrongdoing in the party vote, Senate Republicans call for their immediate removal and resignation,” the caucus said in an unsigned statement.