John Dowd, one of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyers, on Wednesday forwarded an email to several journalists and government officials that argues there is “no difference” between George Washington and Robert E. Lee, according to the New York Times.
Dowd received the email with the subject line “The Information that Validates President Trump on Charlottesville” on Tuesday night and forwarded it to several people on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to defend Trump’s comments about the attack, the New York Times reported.
“You cannot be against General Lee and be for General Washington, there literally is no difference between the two men,” the email forwarded by Dowd reads, per the Times.”
The email also notes that both Washington and Lee owned slaves and argues that both “rebelled against the ruling government.” The email was penned by Jerome Almon, who pushes government conspiracy theories and claims that Islamic terrorists have infiltrated the FBI, according to the Times.
Asked about the email he allegedly forwarded, Down told the Times that he often forwards along emails he receives.
“You’re sticking your nose in my personal email?” he told the Times. “People send me things. I forward them.”
Read the New York Times’ full report here.