A political consultant with strong Colorado ties is caught up in a controversy involving Donald Trump’s stolen election lie, the Proud Boys and the Nevada Republican Party, according to reporting Wednesday from the Washington Post.

Rory McShane, who managed then-Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s run for governor in 2014 and is a former regional field director for the Colorado Republican Committee, distanced his firm from his employee’s messages seeking to rally the Proud Boys to disrupt vote counting in Nevada last November.

The Proud Boys is the men’s extremist group that President Trump told to “stand back and stand by” during a September debate. More than three dozen members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, another far-right group, have been charged with conspiracy related to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

McShane’s firm is based in Las Vegas.

According to the Post, the firm’s vice president, Woodrow Johnston, sent an email to a liberal activist he believed to have a connection to the Proud Boys, saying “[W]e need to get the Proud Boys out,” as well as raising Trump’s “stand back and stand by” order with an “LOL,” for laughing out loud.

McShane LLC had been hired by the state GOP to investigate voter fraud.

Rory McShane told the Washington Post that Johnston was not speaking for the firm or any client, including the state party, and has been told his actions were a mistake.

Proud Boys members were photographed at a protest rally near the vote-counting center in Las Vegas.

McShane’s LinkedIn page notes he has been an analyst for The Denver Post, which means he was a source for reporting.

Subscribers can read the Washington Post story by clicking here.