DOWNERS GROVE, IL – Congressman Sean Casten calls on Illinois Republican party to publicly affirm the certified results of the November election

Rep. Sean Casten released the following statement:
“Since the results of the elections in November were certified, multiple members of the Illinois Republican Party have continued to question the outcomes without valid justification. Local Republican officials have been demanding a full recount of votes in DuPage County, mobilizing rallies and using incendiary rhetoric that directly echoes language used by the Proud Boys and other domestic terror groups who attacked the United States Capitol last week.

In one of several mass communications calling for a recount on the basis of factually inaccurate claims, the DuPage County Republican Party Chairman falsely claimed the DuPage County Clerk is breaking the law and that she needs to be held “accountable.” While these individuals are now attempting to distance themselves from the violence on January 6th, we cannot ignore their contributions to the disinformation campaign that led to it. The language being used by those seeking to overturn a free and fair election in DuPage County is virtually identical to the language being used by those groups who are planning those attacks—from the “stop the steal” battle cry that’s since been removed from Facebook for its threat to public safety to suggesting that supporters “fight” election results extrajudicially. Any political party who fails to curtail this language must, if only out of an abundance of caution, be assumed to be supporting these insurrectionists.

Words matter, and the events of the last week have made it abundantly clear what these particular words can incite. U.S. intelligence agencies have informed us that there are multiple terror groups seeking to mobilize attacks on the U.S. Government and all fifty state capitals in or around January 20th; Our entire national security, intelligence and civil protection apparatus, including federal, state, and local agencies are focused on identifying and stopping these actors.

To that end, I call on the leadership of the Illinois Republican party, and upon public officials at all levels of state and local government, to immediately and publicly disavow and condemn these actions, affirm the certified results of the November election, and use their position of leadership to make it abundantly clear that while the terrorists who attacked the Capitol last week may have had a political agenda, they do not have the support of the party of Lincoln.”

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