so.[450] But the President remained an obstacle. During their January 4th meeting, Pierson tried to convince President Trump to minimize the role of these potentially explosive figures at the Ellipse. She offered to place them at a planned event the night before in Freedom Plaza or on other stages in DC on January 6th. She told the President to "[k]eep the fringe on the fringe"[451] and advised him to "[e]liminate convicted felons that could damage other speakers."[452]
President Trump was still unwilling to remove them from the lineup entirely. The President instructed Pierson to give Stone a speaking slot on January 5th and asked for more information about Ali Alexander.[453] After discussing the matter with Scavino, President Trump also requested that Alexander be given a speaking slot. President Trump "brought up Ali [Alexander] . . . just keep him on stage not associated with POTUS or main event," Scavino wrote.[454]
In the end, the "Stop the Steal" leaders—Stone, Jones and Alexander— did not appear on the stage at the Ellipse on January 6th, although they did speak at other planned events, consistent with the President's request about Alexander. "POTUS expectations are [to have something] intimate and then send everyone over to the Capitol," Pierson explained in a text message to Justin Caporale and Taylor Budowich.[455] Caporale redacted this text and others in his early production of documents to the Select Committee, and he only revealed them after they had already been produced by other witnesses.[456]
However, other incendiary voices—in addition to President Trump's— were given time on the Ellipse stage. The Select Committee learned that President Trump's aides warned him against the inclusion of figures like John Eastman[457] and Rudolph Giuliani,[458] given their false claims about election fraud.[459] Both men, of course, ended up sharing a stage with him on January 6th.[460] Meadows himself directed that they be allowed to speak.[461]
6.16 JANUARY 5, 2021: “FORT TRUMP”
While the "Stop the Steal" coalition was not given speaking slots on the Ellipse stage on January 6th, its leaders had plenty of opportunities to speak the day before. And they used their platforms to rile up the crowd in Washington, DC in advance of the joint session.
Ali Alexander spoke at an event sponsored by Moms for America in front of the U.S. Capitol. Alexander claimed that he was honored to be sharing the same stage with President Trump the following day, even though behind the scenes his appearance had been nixed.[462]
