Washington, DC - 5 January 2021
1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Flynn, Pardoned Former National Security Advisor:
"We we should, as Americans, not accept this, we should not accept this we've had and I can go through state by state and some of these states, we have more dead bodies that are buried on the battlefields of Gettysburg or the battlefields in Vicksburg, or the battlefields of Normandy. Americans who died for this country, who've died for our right, for a free, fair and transparent vote. We do not have a free, fair and transparent vote on the 3rd of November. And the entire world knows, everybody in this country knows who won the election on the 3rd. Who won the election on the third? Donald Trump."
+++WHITE FLASH BETWEEN SOUNDBITES+++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Flynn, Pardoned Former National Security Advisor:
"The members Congress, the members of the House of Representatives, the members of the United States Senate, those of those of you who are feeling weak tonight, those of you that don't have the moral fiber in your body, get some tonight, because tomorrow we the people are going to be here and we want you to know that we will not stand for a lie. We will not stand for a lie."
+++WHITE FLASH BETWEEN SOUNDBITES+++
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Flynn, Pardoned Former National Security Advisor:
"We're the ones that will decide on our path forward, America's future forward. It may not be a Republican Party. It may not be a Democratic Party. It will be the People's Party."
+++WHITE FLASH BETWEEN SOUNDBITES+++
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) George Papadopoulos, Pardoned Former Trump Campaign Advisor:
"We can't forget, though, what Ulysses S. Grant said. There are but two parties right now, traitors and patriots, and both are exposing themselves right now."
+++WHITE FLASH BETWEEN SOUNDBITES+++
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) George Papadopoulos, Pardoned Former Campaign Advisor:
"13 senators and counting will also vote to decertify this fraudulent election. We should not forget their names and their bravery, but we cannot forget the traitors who decided that they're going to vote against it. The president is right. He calls it the 'Surrender Caucus.' And make sure you primary, these guys, in two years, will you."
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4304662
Two pardoned former advisors of President Donald Trump, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and former campaign advisor George Papadopoulos were among a parade of speakers at a pro-Trump rally just blocks from the White House Tuesday evening.
Hundreds of Trump supporters - many without masks - gathered
in Freedom Plaza to cheer Trump's baseless claims of election fraud a day before a congressional vote to affirm Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump pardoned Flynn after he was twice convicted of lying to the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
As temperatures dropped to the low 40s and a steady rain swept onto the streets, hundreds remained in the plaza into nightfall.
The rallies had local officials and law enforcement bracing for potential violent street clashes. Many businesses in downtown Washington boarded up their windows, fearful that the protest could devolve into the unrest seen in May and June when dozens of businesses were vandalized.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser called in National Guard troops to help bolster the city’s police force.
The protests coincide with Wednesday’s congressional vote expected to certify the Electoral College results, which Trump continues to dispute.
Trump tweeted support for his supporters and he is expected to personally address them in Washington on Wednesday during a rally on the Ellipse, just south of the White House.
Election officials from both political parties, governors in key battleground states and Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have said there was no widespread fraud in the election.
Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two challenges rejected by the Supreme Court.
