Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax appears not to have pushed Ray Epps conspiracy theories as much as, say, WorldNetDaily, but that doesn't mean it didn't dabble in them. It did some of that early on, and has continued to dip its toe into them. A Dec. 31, 2022, article by Eric Mack hyped Donald Trump's invoking of Epps conspiracy theories:
Buried in the release of the House Jan. 6 Select Committee transcripts is the interview with Ray Epps, the un-indicted man who was urging supporters of then-President Donald Trump to "go into the Capitol" the day before and the day of the protest.
The unusual interview featured anti-Trump Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., tossing Epps softball questions, if not treating him like they were his defense lawyers, according to some conservative critics on Twitter.
It caught Trump's eye, too.
"The Unselect Committee doesn't explain Ray Epps, Sullivan, or the 'other' ringleaders," Trump posted early Saturday morning on Truth Social. "Gee, I wonder why?"
"Sullivan" was a reference to the panel's report omitting the references to Jason Sullivan, who independently urged supporters to protest at the Capitol days before Jan. 6, 2021, according to The New York Times.
Mack further attacked Epps by cherry-picking responses from his deposition:
Epps' responses were framed to suggest he had no involvement in the breaching of the Capitol.
"What I meant by 'orchestrate,' I helped people get there," Epps responded.
Earlier in the transcript, Epps had suggested he was there to watch Trump's speech and look after his son Jim, but reality is neither happened and Epps never tried.
Epps broke away from Jim, never attended the speech, and according to video, was nearby urging people to the Capitol and pointing the way.
Epps told the committee he was "proud" to have been there, although he left immediately when the breach of the Capitol had begun. This has led to suspicion that he might have started the lawlessness but left when it reached a dangerous crescendo.
"Yeah, I took credit for it, but I didn't know what I was taking credit for," Epps told an interviewer whose name was redacted in the transcript.
"'Orchestrating' is the wrong word," Epps would say later in the interview, adding his wife scolded him for using that word.
Mack further whined that "Early this year, the House committee rejected claims Epps was a 'fed,'" boasting it brought him in for this interview," but he offered no proof to the contrary.
When Epps ultimately was charged -- blowing up the conspiracy theory that he was a "fed" -- Mack leaned into it anyway in a Sept. 19 article:
After years of consternation among former President Donald Trump's supporters, the Justice Department has brought a charge against the man that urged Jan. 6 protesters to "go into the Capitol."
Ray Epps was charged Tuesday with a count of disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, court records show.
There was no attorney listed in the court docket in the criminal case filed in Washington's federal court. The Associated Press' messages seeking comment from an attorney representing Epps in his lawsuit against Fox were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Epps was featured by Republicans and conservative media as having been an alleged face of the Jan. 6 protest, urging Trump speechgoers to storm the Capitol during the debate of election fraud allegations.
Mack weirdly didn't elaborate any further about Epps' "lawsuit against Fox," whic, of course, is about Fox spreading the lie that he was a "fed."
Theodor Bunker did explain it, though, in a Sept. 20 article on Epps entering a guilty plea:
Ahead of the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon denied claims that Epps had been a federal informant, saying he wanted to enter into the record because of the "unusual nature of the case" that Epps "was not before, during or after" Jan. 6, 2021 "a confidential source or an undercover agent for the government, the FBI, DHS or any law enforcement."
Epps has filed a lawsuit against Fox News for spreading "destructive conspiracy theories," and his attorney said on Wednesday that "Today's hearing and the plea agreement reached with the Department of Justice is further proof of that. It is also powerful evidence of the absurdity of Fox News' and Tucker Carlson's lies that sought to turn Ray into a scapegoat for January 6."
Mack brought up Epps again in a Nov. 9 article discussing Jack Smith's case against Trump:
Special counsel Jack Smith's case will attempt to tie former President Donald Trump to the Jan. 6 plot to "go into the Capitol" – as pushed by Ray Epps on Jan. 5, 2021 – arguing it was a plot to stop the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.
[...]
This week's filing contains no reference to Epps, who has denied working for the FBI, but admitted in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview the night before Tucker Carlson was fired this spring that it was a mistake to text on Jan. 6 that "I orchestrated it," as revealed by the anti-Trump House Jan. 6 select committee.
That Democrat-run committee ended before 2023, when Republican leadership was set to take over.
Trump has publicly the Epps "I orchestrated it" text, saying, "Gee, I wonder."
But Gaston's filing suggests there is evidence of the plot to enter the Capitol, without mentioning Epps, who is on video on the streets of Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 urging demonstrators, "We have to go into the Capitol."
Some Trump supporters shouted back "No!" and repeatedly chanted "Fed! Fed! Fed!" suggesting Epps was working for the government in opposition to Trump's desire to have Congress debate the allegations of election fraud in key battleground states and have Vice President Mike Pence send the constitutionally contested Electoral College votes back to state legislatures for review after Jan. 6.
The Constitution has language that requires Congress to confirm the president-elect by the specific date Jan. 6.
When Epps was sentenced to probation for his actions, Newsmax relegated it to a Jan. 9 wire article that pointed out in the headline that Epps the "target of conspiracy theories and noted that he "was driven into hiding by death threats" because "Fox News Channel and other media outlets amplified conspiracy theories that Epps, 62, was an undercover government agent who helped incite the Capitol attack to entrap Trump supporters."
