
Supporters of President Donald Trump stand outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
LINCOLN — A state senator is seeking answers about what role Nebraska’s attorney general might have played in robocalls issued by a national group urging protesters to descend on the U.S. Capitol last week.
A day before the Capitol was stormed and ransacked, the fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association — of which Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson is a member — issued robocalls urging supporters of President Donald Trump to march to the Capitol and “stop the steal,” NBC News reported over the weekend.

Hunt
The story prompted State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha to file a public records request with Peterson’s office on Sunday, asking whether public funds were used to pay for his membership in the group or were used to help pay for the robocalls. Hunt also asked for any correspondence Peterson had with the group or its fundraising affiliate, the Rule of Law Defense Fund.
The Rule of Law group, which shares office space in Washington, D.C., with the Republican Attorneys General Association, sent out a robocall Tuesday saying, “At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal.” The recording was obtained by NBC.
The Rule of Law Defense Fund was also listed as a participating organization on a website set up to promote the rally that was held before the Capitol invasion. That website has since been taken down, according to the watchdog site Documented, which broke the story.

Peterson
Suzanne Gage, a spokeswoman for Peterson, said Sunday evening that the attorney general first became aware of the robocalls Thursday afternoon. He was not aware, before then, that the Rule of Law group was doing them, Gage said, adding that no state funds are used for membership in the association. She said there were no records to comply with Hunt’s public records request.
“This issue is being reviewed by the (Republican Attorneys General) organization and appropriate action will be taken when that review is complete,” she said.
Peterson, she said, did not condone or agree with the robocalls.
Hunt, in her records request, said Nebraskans deserve to know the extent of any involvement, both personal and financial, that Peterson may have played in the robocalls.
“Every public official should agree: To let this insurrection pass without a full investigation would set a dangerous precedent for the future of our democracy,” said Hunt, a Democrat.
Peterson, whose photograph and biography are featured on the attorneys general group’s website, had issued a statement Wednesday afternoon, as the assault on the Capitol was still in progress, condemning it as “an affront to the principles of our Constitution.”
“We are a nation of laws that are designed to maintain order and protect our freedoms,” he said. “These freedoms include the right to peacefully protest, but lawlessness by any individual or organization cannot be tolerated.”
The storming of the Capitol delayed, but did not stop, the congressional confirmation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s election as president.
Peterson was among several Republican attorneys general who signed an amicus brief in support of an unsuccessful, last-ditch lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general to overturn the election results in four battleground states in hopes of making Trump the winner. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.
Photos: Scenes of violence at U.S. Capitol shock world

Police with guns drawn watch as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump supporters participate in a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

People listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Lawmakers evacuate the floor as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Trump supporters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

U.S. Capitol Police hold protesters at gun-point near the House Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

U.S. Capitol Police with guns drawn stand near a barricaded door as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A woman is helped up by police during a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Police keep a watch on demonstrators who tried to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Biden has called the violent protests on the U.S. Capitol "an assault on the most sacred of American undertakings: the doing of the people's business." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Lawmakers prepare to evacuate the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump supporters participate in a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his baseless claims of election fraud. The president is expected to address a rally on the Ellipse, just south of the White House. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Papers and other equipment after the House floor was evacuate as protesters tried to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

U.S. Capitol Police try to hold back protesters outside the east doors to the House side of the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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