Trump’s coup plan included QAnon influencer Ron Watkins — who is running for Congress in Arizona: report

The Republican congressional candidate many believe to be the mysterious Q behind the QAnon conspiracy theory was seen as being a key influencer in helping Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election, according to documents obtained by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"The plan included recruiting known conspiracy theorist and QAnon influencer Ron Watkins, mobilizing an army of MAGA Twitter trolls, and organizing protests outside lawmakers’ homes," Vice News reported Tuesday. "The effort—titled 'STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN - GIULIANI PRESIDENTIAL LEGAL DEFENSE TEAM'—was revealed in a submission to the Jan. 6 select committee by former New York City Police commissioner and close Trump ally Bernie Kerik."

The plan for a 10-day media blitz culminating on Jan. 6 relied upon conservative influencers. The 22-page document broke down the influencers into the categories of big names, medium, small, micro, and TikTok. Watkins was listed in the medium category.

READ MORE: Many experts think he started QAnon – now he is running for Congress in Arizona

"By late December 2020, Watkins had become an unlikely hero in MAGA world in the wake of the election. He had transformed himself from the guy who helped facilitate the growth of QAnon on the fringe platform 8chan to one of the most widely shared voices on the baseless conspiracy theory that the election was somehow rigged to elect President Joe Biden," Vice reported. "This led to appearances on right-wing stations like One America News, and having his tweets shared by former President Donald Trump. He also wrote an affidavit for one of Sidney Powell’s wildly unhinged 'Kraken' lawsuits."

Read the full report.