DETROIT – A Republican candidate for governor is facing federal charges for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riots.
FBI agents raided Ryan Kelley’s home in Allendale Township and took him into custody on misdemeanor charges.
Federal investigators say Kelley was recorded on video outside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the riots.
Kelley is one of five candidates on the Aug. 2 Republican primary ballot.
His arrest makes for the 15th Michigander arrested for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack.
He was released Thursday (June 9) afternoon on a personal bond, and the timing of Kelley’s arrest is raising some eyebrows since Thursday night is the first hearing for the Jan. 6 committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack.
Read: Michigan GOP candidate for governor Ryan Kelley arrested by FBI: What we know
Michigan will likely have a leading role in tonight’s prime time hearing as the state has been consistently at the center of all of this, from the stop the count mob at the TCF Center to false claims of voter fraud to false electors and capitol rioters.
All it points to Michigan likely making up a big part of these hearings.
The first hearing is expected to focus on the day of the attack, where 14 Michiganders have been arrested and charged; six have pleaded guilty to crimes surrounding that day.
Prominent Michiganders, like State Representative Matt Maddock and his wife, State GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, may also come under scrutiny.
The pair helped charter more than a dozen buses to the stop-the-steal rally.
Matt Maddock was also among the 16 false electors who attempted to submit forged election documents giving the election to former President Donald Trump.
Also, potentially GOP candidate for Governor Ryan Kelley was arrested and charged just hours before the hearings.
The committee also subpoenaed five Michigan Republicans, including the State’s National Chair and the former State Party Chair Laura Cox.
We also expect to hear from the Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who testified over video to the committee.
She talked to Local 4 about her testimony by phone Thursday afternoon.
“What became clear even more clear to me as I spoke with the committee was just how much a lot of what we experienced in Michigan laid the groundwork for the tragedy at our Capitol on January 6,” said Benson.
Among those mentioned may also be Congresswoman Lisa McClain, one of several Congress members who did not vote to certify the election.
She was pictured with two men who bragged about being “On the front lines” of the attack in her office on Jan. 5.
The Jan. 6 committee did not respond to questions about whether McClain was under investigation for leading the so-called reconnaissance tours.
On Twitter, McClain called the hearings “A media stunt.”
