Denver Riggleman, a former GOP lawmaker from Virginia, and an aide for the House Select Committee for Jan. 6, wrote in his upcoming book that his mother texted him saying she was “sorry you were ever elected” after the then-Republican condemned the QAnon movement on CNN.
Riggleman marketed his book as a behind-the-scenes look at the Jan. 6 investigation. The Hill obtained a copy ahead of its release on Tuesday, and discovered that it also revealed details on Riggleman’s relationship with his mother, while he raised concerns about former President Donald Trump, and right-wing conspiracy theories. This prompted a text from his mother.
“What will it take to wake you up son….I love you so, but cannot stand by and listen to your elitist attitude and being praised by elitist journalists and democrats,” Riggleman’s mother texted him.
Congratulations, she said. “You are now part of the swamp…I’m sorry you were ever elected…You are officially a politician…I have cried over you and my heart is broken by you.”
Riggleman wrote that the text came after CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed him on Oct. 14, 2020, nearly two weeks after the Virginia Republican sponsored a resolution condemning QAnon that passed the House with 17 Republican “no” votes.
Riggleman’s book, which is titled “The Breach,” has reportedly upset members of the Jan. 6 committee, who don’t want information to leak about some of their work.
Riggleman’s book, however, discusses more than just his work on the panel, going into detail on a number of disgruntled messages between him and his mother.
“I knew my mom and I were not on the same page politically, but this is something else,” Riggleman wrote. “Any hope for a mostly normal relationship seemed dim. She was damn near disavowing me.”
The former Virginia congressman describes his mother in the book as being solidly Republican and religious. Riggleman wrote that he was kicked out of the house by her after he abandoned his Mormon mission, but that they stayed in touch after. Their relationship only improved when he unsuccessfully ran for Virginia governor in 2016, he says.
He won a house seat in 2018, but lost it only two years later after controversy over his officiating of a same-sex wedding and more moderate voting record.
In his final months in office, the former intelligence officer became an outspoken advocate against QAnon and Republican support for the conspiracy, including from Trump.
“My relationship with my mom made it through my break with her Mormon Church,” Riggleman wrote in his book. “I wasn’t sure if it could survive the Church of Trump.”
Riggleman wrote that he and his mom reconnected again, but only after his sister’s health took a turn for the worse. The former lawmaker said he never told his mom about his work on the Jan. 6 committee.
“If I can help even one person turn away from this fringe conspiracy culture or recognize Trump for the un-American grifter that he is, it would make everything worth it,” Riggleman wrote. “I’d be especially happy if that one person was my mom.”
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