LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said Monday that he had no idea that a national attorneys general group of which he is a member had sent out robocalls urging protesters to descend on the U.S. Capitol last week to “stop the steal.”
Peterson, speaking at a press conference called by the governor on an unrelated subject, said it is suspected that a staffer with the Republican Attorneys General Association had authorized the robocalls without permission.
The attorneys generals didn’t authorize the calls, he said.
The Republican Attorneys General Association, whose stated mission is to support the election of GOP attorneys general, is investigating.
On Saturday, NBC news reported that the fundraising wing of the group had issued robocalls a day before the storming of the U.S. Capitol urging people to protest at the building and to urge Congress to “stop the steal.” The fundraising group, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, was also listed as a participating organization on a website set up to promote the rally.
The story prompted State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha to file a public records request on Sunday with Peterson’s office, seeking to discover if any public funds were used to support the robocalls or the GOP organization, and to discover any correspondence between the Nebraska office and the Washington, D.C.-based groups.
On Sunday evening, Peterson’s spokeswoman, Suzanne Gage, said there were no records that would respond to Hunt’s request, which prompted Hunt, on the floor of the Legislature on Monday morning, to express skepticism at how such a conclusion could be reached so quickly.
Peterson, when asked at the press conference about Hunt’s comment, said the lack of records is an indication of the lack of knowledge his office had about the participation of the Rule of Law Defense Fund.
The attorney general said he learned of the robocalls on Thursday at a time he was preparing to draft a bipartisan statement condemning the violent actions at the Capitol with the attorney general of Colorado, a Democrat.
Peterson, who had issued a statement condemning the violent incursion as an “affront” on the U.S. Constitution on Wednesday, said he did not condone or agree with the robocalls.
The storming of the Capitol, which led to five deaths, delayed but did not stop the congressional confirmation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s election as president.
Peterson had been 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)