Did Rep. Eric Swalwell Digitally Alter Trump Supporter's Tweet, 'Change Its Meaning' During Impeachment Trial?

Trump supporter Jennifer Lawrence claimed Rep. Eric Swalwell added a verification badge to her tweet and used the word "cavalry" instead of "cavalry" during his testimony at the impeachment trial on Feb. 10.

On Wednesday, Feb. 10. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), one of the House impeachment managers (a group of nine lawmakers appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), presented his arguments to convince the Senate to convict Donald Trump for inciting the deadly U.S. Capitol Insurrection during the second day of his impeachment trial.

During his presentation, Swalwell pointed out how the former President used social media to rally his supporters and urge them to stop what he believed was a stolen election in the days leading up to the deadly insurrection. As part of his testimony, the US Rep shared the former president's social media interactions as evidence.

Swalwell Added Verified Badge to Tweet

Eric Swalwell
Eric Swalwell YouTube

According to a transcript of Swalwell's arguments, this is what he said at one point:

"On January 3, another supporter tweets, 'We have been marching all around the country for you, Mr. President. Now, we will bring it to D.C. on January 6th and proudly stand beside you. Thank you for fighting for us.' When President Trump reposted her tweet, she wrote back, 'Best day ever. Thank you for the retweet. It has been an honor to stand up and fight for you in our nation. We will be standing strong on January 6th in D.C. with you. We are bringing the cavalry, Mr. President. We are bringing the cavalry.'"

Video footage of the testimony shows Swalwell sharing the tweets posted and reposted by a "verified" Trump supporter named Jennifer Lynn Lawrence in his presentation during the segment.

Eric Swalwell testimony
The tweets presented by Eric Swalwell during his testimony on the second day of Trump's impeachment trial on Feb. 10. YouTube

In the wake of Swalwell's testimony, Lawrence took to Twitter to accuse the congressman of "faking" tweets that were posted by her days before the Capitol riots and shown during his presentation at the "fact-free impeachment." She claimed the California Democrat added a verified badge alongside her Twitter handle even though she has "never been" a verified user on the platform.

A screenshot of Lawrence's now-deleted tweets confirms that her account was not verified at the time of posting.

Screenshot of Jennifer Lawrence's tweet
A screenshot of the tweets posted by Jennifer Lawrence on Jan. 3. Twitter

Lawrence Claimed She Meant 'Calvary' and Not 'Cavalry'

In a follow-up blog post, Lawrence accused Swalwell of presenting "false misleading evidence" and claimed he had "changed both the appearance and meaning of one [of her] Tweets during [his] testimony on Wednesday" as she used the word "calvary" and not "cavalry" as mentioned by Swalwell.

To further her allegations, she distinguished the meanings between both words, noting that "calvary" meant "an open-air representation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ" while the term "cavalry" referred to "an army component mounted on horseback." Lawrence claimed she was citing the former meaning as she wanted seeking "salvation of everyone."

Lawrence claimed she organized three successful protests on Nov. 14, Dec. 12, and Jan. 5. "We believe our sacred institutions have rotted through with bloat and corruption PRECISELY because they have separated the State from God," she wrote.

As evidence, she shared a photo with Pastor Greg Locke of Tennessee-based Global Vision Bible Church at the "Save America Rally" on Jan 6. "Together with Pastor Brian Gibson and dozens of other Pastors and activists, we had played our role and brought the CALVARY to DC the day before with our PRAY TO SAVE AMERICA RALLY held at Freedom Plaza," Lawrence wrote.

Lawrence's Involvement in the Capitol Riots

Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence with Dustin Stockton (left) and Congressman Paul Gosar at the rally on Jan 6. Twitter

As pointed out in this article, the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse that eventually led to the storming of the Capitol was organized by a pro-Trump group called "Women for America First" and Lawrence "helped organize the effort" along with her fiancee, Dustin Stockton (lead organizer of 'March for Trump). This assertion was also mentioned in a New York Times story.

"Women for America First" was founded by Tea Party veteran Amy Kremer and led by her daughter, Kylie Jane Kremer. The group was also responsible for putting together a multi-state bus tour to Washington, D.C. and according to BuzzFeed, the bus tour attracted "thousands" of attendees and was one of the "biggest and best-funded efforts to bring people to Washington, D.C., for Jan 6.

In Lawrence's Jan. 3 tweet that was showcased by Swalwell during his testimony, Lawrence tagged Stockton as well as the Kremers who were responsible for bringing a "cavalry" of Trump supporters to the nation's capital.

Therefore, although the congressman's presentation did alter Lawrence's tweet and did change its meaning, the truth behind the claim that Lawrence did actually intend to make a reference to the Lord or whether "calvary" was a typo for "cavalry" is still up for debate.