Justice Dept. investigating Trump’s actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe

People familiar with the probe said investigators are examining the former president’s conversations and have seized phone records of top aides

The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked in recent days about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, according to two people familiar with the matter. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021; his pressure campaign on Pence to overturn the election; and what instructions Trump gave his lawyers and advisers about fake electors and sending electors back to the states, the people said. Some of the questions focused directly on the extent of Trump’s involvement in the fake-elector effort led by his outside lawyers, including John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, these people said.

In addition, Justice Department investigators in April received phone records of key officials and aides in the Trump administration, including his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, according to two people familiar with the matter. That effort is another indicator of how expansive the Jan. 6 probe had become, well before the high-profile, televised House hearings in June and July on the subject.

The Washington Post and other news organizations have previously written that the Justice Department is examining the conduct of Eastman, Giuliani and others in Trump’s orbit. But the degree of prosecutors’ interest in Trump’s actions has not been previously reported, nor has the review of senior Trump aides’ phone records.

A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Justice Department spokesman and a lawyer for Meadows both declined to comment.

The revelations raise the stakes of an already politically fraught probe involving a former president, still central to his party’s fortunes, who has survived previous investigations and two impeachments. Long before the Jan. 6 investigation, Trump spent years railing against the Justice Department and the FBI; the investigation moving closer to him will probably intensify that antagonism.

Federal criminal investigations are by design opaque, and probes involving political figures are among the most closely held secrets at the Justice Department. Many end without criminal charges. The lack of observable investigative activity involving Trump and his White House for more than a year after the Jan. 6 attack has fueled criticism, particularly from the left, that the Justice Department is not pursuing the case aggressively enough.

In trying to understand how and why Trump partisans and lawyers sought to change the outcome of the election, one person familiar with the probe said, investigators also want to understand, at a minimum, what Trump told his lawyers and senior officials to do. Any investigation surrounding the effort to undo the results of the election must navigate complex issues of First Amendment-protected political activity and when or whether a person’s speech could become part of an alleged conspiracy in support of a coup.

Many elements of the sprawling Jan. 6 criminal investigation have remained under wraps. But in recent weeks the public pace of the work has increased, with a fresh round of subpoenas, search warrants and interviews. Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, and lawyer, Greg Jacob, appeared before the grand jury in downtown Washington in recent days, according to the people familiar with the investigation. Both men declined to comment.

The Justice Department efforts are separate from the inquiry underway by the House committee, which has sought to portray Trump as responsible for inciting the Capitol riot and for being derelict in his duty for refusing to stop it. Both Short and Jacob have testified before the committee, telling lawmakers that Pence resisted Trump’s attempts to enlist him in the cause.

Unlike the Justice Department, the House panel does not have the power to launch criminal investigations or charge anyone with wrongdoing.

The Justice Department probe began amid the smoke, blood and chaos at the Capitol and has led to criminal charges against more than 840 individuals, expanding to include an examination of events that occurred elsewhere in the days and weeks before the attack — including at the White House, in state capitols and at a D.C. hotel.

There are two principal tracks of the investigation that could ultimately lead to additional scrutiny of Trump, two people familiar with the situation said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The first centers on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, the type of charges already filed against individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and on two leaders of far-right groups, Stewart Rhodes and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who did not breach the Capitol but were allegedly involved in planning the day’s events.

The second involves potential fraud associated with the false-electors scheme or with pressure Trump and his allies allegedly put on the Justice Department and others to falsely claim that the election was rigged and votes were fraudulently cast.

Recent subpoenas obtained by The Post show that two Arizona state legislators were ordered to turn over communications with “any member, employee, or agent of Donald J. Trump or any organization advocating in favor of the 2020 re-election of Donald J. Trump, including ‘Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.’ ”

*** - See article for Subpeona doc. - ***

No former president has ever been charged with a crime in the country’s history. In cases when investigators found evidence suggesting a president engaged in criminal conduct, as with Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, investigators and successive administrations concluded it was better to grant immunity or forgo prosecution. One goal was to avoid appearing to use government power to punish political enemies and assure the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has vowed that the Jan. 6 investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead and said that no one is exempt or above scrutiny, while refusing to divulge information outside of court filings.

Garland told NBC News in a Tuesday interview that the department pursues justice “without fear or favor. We intend to hold everyone, anyone, who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding January 6th, for any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another, accountable — that’s what we do. We don’t pay any attention to other issues with respect to that.”

The Jan. 6 investigation is by some measures the largest ever undertaken by the Justice Department. While investigators in nearly every part of the country have been involved, the lion’s share of the work is being done by three offices: the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, and the criminal and national security divisions at department headquarters.

In the probe’s first year, prosecutors focused largely on the people who breached the Capitol, some of them violently, charging hundreds with interfering with or assaulting police or obstructing an official proceeding.

This year, the fake-elector scheme has become a major focus of the Justice Department inquiry. After Trump lost the election, lawyers and others close to him urged GOP officials in key states to submit alternate and illegitimate slates of electors to reject the results of the state vote totals. Those would-be electors were aided in their effort by Trump campaign officials and Giuliani, who said publicly that the rival slates were necessary and appropriate, and has been described as overseeing the strategy.

Last month, federal agents fanned out in multiple states to serve grand jury subpoenas, execute search warrants and interview witnesses — a significant escalation of overt investigative activity. As part of that effort, agents searched Eastman’s electronic devices, and conducted a search at the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who enthusiastically embraced some of Trump’s last-ditch efforts to stop Biden from becoming president. Many of those who received subpoenas were told specifically to turn over their communications with Giuliani.

The Justice Department inspector general is also an important player in the investigation, as it examines Clark’s role as a department official in allegedly furthering the efforts.

In a call on Dec. 27, 2020, witnesses have said, Trump told acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen that he wanted his Justice Department to say there was significant election fraud, and said he was poised to oust Rosen and replace him with Clark, who was willing to make that assertion.

Rosen told Trump that the Justice Department could not “flip a switch and change the election,” according to notes of the conversation cited by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I don’t expect you to do that,” Trump responded, according to the notes. “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”

The president urged Rosen to “just have a press conference.” Rosen refused. “We don’t see that,” he told Trump. “We’re not going to have a press conference.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/26/trump-justice-investigation-january-6/

Are people really pro-insurrection?? I think those who participated in the insurrection should be prosecuted... I think this whole Jan 6 committee crap is a complete farce... I think if the DOJ can charge Trump with a crime related to the jan 6 insurrection they should and he should be tried in front of an actual court of law... but are there people that are actually pro-insurrection besides extremists?

I would never have thought so jaybird, but here are people on here acting like it was a hoax, just sightseeing tourist, and any other thing they can say to downplay it. I would call that defending the coup.

Joe must have just realized his numbers are down. Smh. Hey, Joe, don't politicize the hearings and give Trump's camp more "it's all a political attack" ammo.

Agree with you there... anyone calling it a hoax is blind... though I disagree that it was a legit coup... might have been an attempted one but there was zero chance they would get anything significantly accomplished...

I'm pretty sure it's someone on his team... I doubt Joe can figure out how to unlock his iPhone on his on at this point...

I respectfully disagree, jaybird.

They were able to achieve their goal, for a number of hours. They successfully halted the ceremony that peacefully transfers power from one admin to the next. That was 45's goal all along. He tried in the courts, he tried strongarm backroom tactics, he tried to defraud the election by trying to send fake electors, and when all that failed, he whipped the mob into a frenzy and aimed them at the Capitol- at the time the count was to take place. The electoral cound wasn't concuded unti 3AM on 1/7. That, in my book, is significant enough- and too close for comfort.

And according to the timeline laid out by the 1/6 committee and sworn testimony from 45's GOP aides, career staffers, secserv agents and law enforcement, they came damned close to getting their hands on the VP- they literally missed him by less than two minutes. That sounds to me like a coup attempt that just barely failed.

The 1/6 committee has dotted a LOT of I's and crossed a TON of T's in their presentation to the public. Thousands of hours of research, depositions and testimony went into this. Much of it has been truly eye-opening, with the receipts they've brought.

Just another .02 from someone who watched all the hearings.

I would feel better about the hearing if it was actually bipartisan or if there was cross exam or at least a voice from the other side... being so partisan I'm don't trust what any of their findings are... I know they've spent a ton of time and money on the hearings, but I think it's a completely farce because it's completely partisan...

don't disagree that the insurrectionists were able to halt the count for a few hours, but there was no way they were truly going to prevent or reverse Biden becoming president... I do think it could have been significantly worse if they had become more violent...

Here's how I feel about it. GOPers had the opportunity to put normal members on the committee, but they opted to put disruptive Trump loyalists up. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks were rejected by Pelosi and McCarthy pulled the rest. GOPers could have had 5-7 members on the committee but they wanted to make a spectacle rather than investigate Trump. McCarthy was in this up to his neck too, so that could be why.

McCarthy pulls his 5 GOP members from 1/6 committee after Pelosi rejects 2 of his picks

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/21/politics/nancy-pelosi-rejects-republicans-from-committee/index.html

Why Jim Banks and Jim Jordan Were Blocked From the Capitol Riot Panel

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was barring them from a committee scrutinizing the attack based on Democrats’ concerns about their “statements made and actions taken” around the assault.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/us/politics/jim-banks-jim-jordan.html

And I am 100% on board with Pelosi not allowing it to become a sideshow of whataboutisms, misdirection, and trial by denial. McCarthy, I think out of fear, screwed the pooch yet again. AND there are two non-Trumpian Republicans who had the guts to join. Their lives have become hell over this. Threats to themselves and their families (CHILDREN!) have been reported numerous times. Attacks from Trump, attacks from Trumpian-led State GOP leaders, and relentless attacks from Trump supporters. They have been politically ostracized. And to be honest, before Trump, you didn't get much further right than Liz Cheney and still be considered sane.

Absolutely not a farce. People don't get to be involved in investigations of themselves as the investigators. And having somebody like Jim Jordan, who may be in trouble himself over this, sit and "cross examine" witnesses is just ridiculous. That would have been the farce. So when McCarthy pulled his list, the next move was to point fingers and scream partisan. Cheney isn't out here pushing dem policies, she's out here pushing American safety and a normal conservative (before Trump anyway) POV on what happened. I give her major props for that because it will probably cost her, at minimum, her political career in the short term. Additionally, who gets to cross-examine criminal cases before you get into court. Trump will get an opportunity for all of that if and when the DOJ charges him, they all will. Then they can cross-examine, testify, rebut, debunk, or anything else you can do in legal proceedings. These public hearings are about telling the people of this country the facts because the lies are ever present within the NEW GOP. I think they have done a fine job, since most of the testimony and witnesses are REPUBLICAN. I'm struggling to think of a dem who has testified unless it's the Capitol police officers or one of the DOJ officials. NOPE, I definitely disagree your idea of it being a farce.

And I agree it could have been worse. If Trump wasn't scared of being removed by the 25th amendment later that day, he would not have called them off. Think about that, a POTUS attacked his own government and did not want to end the violence. And yes, they would never have changed the outcome, but they might have kicked off bloodshed across America, over lies. So I think it was pretty damn serious but could have been much worse.

McCarthy put forward some of the more notorious flame throwing Trump supporters hoping the throw a monkey wrench into the investigation.

It was a shallow attempt to stop the Jan 6 investigation. Senate Republicans blocked an independent non partisan Warren or 911 type investigation because they feared the results. So that is why we have a house investigation.

Are people really Pro-insurrection? Have you listened to Bannon at all.. All they talk about is tearing down the whole government and rebuilding it the way they think it should be.

Yes, I do believe that many many people are REALLY Pro-Insurrection. And it's more than Just extremists., Look at all the politicians that figured HEY, this is a way to win and keep winning, so they jump on board.

The J6 Committee is anything but a Farce. They are showing what really happened on J6. They are clear about it. No farce there.. None at all.. If you are saying it's one sided, you may have a point, but all the defenders of Trump gotta do is show up and testify in the open, live, UNDER OATH.. If they think they are right, what's the harm.. innocent people don't hide.

How is it partisan when the testimony is from trump appointees?

When the questions asked come from republicans?

So you want people to be prosecuted, but you don't want the investigation that would get that done to do their thing? Or do you just want the prosecutions to target the goons that were dumb enough to post their locations, actions, and intentions on their social media and not anyone working behind the scenes that have enough intelligence to NOT deliver a prosecutor all the required evidence in a nice digital package?

Or do you want to be able to say an investigation happened when it really got buried by beauracratic maneuvering?

I can't really say if a lot of people are pro-insurrection or not. I honestly don't think people think critically at all. Now, it's just reaction.

"So-and-so said something so it must be bad."

"These people are doing something and I'm not supposed to like them, so it's a farce!"

People have entrenched themselves so horrifically in the modern era that many conclusions are drawn without much thought or much deduction at all.

Basically, that's to deduce it all and say I don't even think a lot of people even have the critical thought capacity to know that they're pro-insurrection.

Just the fact that trump would be considered a candidate is astounding.

Never won the popular vote. Twice impeached.

Turned his back on covid and told the public it would go away as thousands died.

Sat in the dining room for over 3 hours and did nothing as the capitol was attacked by people he directed.

And there are people who would vote for him.

That is gut wrenching and tells so much about where some peoples heads are at.

This thinking drives me nuts.. If you want the other side of this, all that has to happen is when you are called on to testify, you don't run and hide like Bannon, Rudy, Powell, McCarthy, Meadows, Stone, Eastman and even Trump. If Trump want's his side of it brought out, then show up, LIVE, UNDER OATH and tell everyone why this isn't bipartisan. Tell us all how unfair it is! Tell us why you didn't do what we all saw them do! Tell us about our lying eyes and ears. This I gotta see!

None of them will ever testify live on TV under oath..... Unless they are forced and then, like Eastman, they'll take the 5th..... Someone remind me what Trump said about the 5th......

And that's a significant point. Attempted murder isn't the same thing as murder. I mean even if the attempted murder was attempted poorly.

It seems like what it is you don't trust must be all of the Republicans. They're the people who are testifying. Let's face it, there are also two Republicans on that panel. The two that seem to be going hard in the paint on this. Republicans just thought it would be convenient to disown them and pretend they're no longer republicans. What is it about these over 40 Republicans who have testified, including those from trump's own inner circle, Pences inner circle and others that you distrust so much?

It's not the democrats that are testifying with all of this evidence. It's Republicans.

A Capitol rioter was sentenced to 5 years in prison for breaking a pole on a cop's riot shield, then grabbing a heavier pole and attacking police again

A capitol rioter was sentenced to 63 months in prison for assaulting three police officers on January 6, 2021.

Mark K. Ponder, a 56-year-old from Washington, D.C., was sentenced in the District on Tuesday, making his one of the longest prison sentences anyone from the Capitol riots has faced thus far.

Ponder was accused of assaulting officers on the Capitol's West Plaza after rioters broke through the police barrier in the area, according to court documents.

He first swung a thin pole at an officer, which broke when it hit the officer's riot shield, court documents said.

Ponder then grabbed a second, "sturdier" pole — one with red, white, and blue stripes — court documents said, and swung the new pole at a second officer.

According to court documents, about fifteen minutes later, Ponder traveled to the Capitol's Upper West Terrace where he assaulted a third police officer with the same sturdy pole.

After assaulting the third officer, Ponder was taken down by police, court documents said. But those officers were unable to arrest him and were forced to release him because they could not get a transport vehicle back to the Capitol grounds.

Ponder was told to leave the Capitol at this point, but instead returned to the Lower West Terrace to re-join the mob confronting other officers at the mouth of the tunnel, according to court documents.

Ponder was finally arrested on March 17, 2021 and pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon on April 22, 2022, a release from the Department of Justice said.

In addition to his prison sentence, he will placed on three years of supervised release following his time served, and he will also have to pay $2,000 in restitution, according to the release.

So far, over 850 people have been arrested for crimes related to the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

https://www.businessinsider.com/cap...lhrcAYj1enjpMMxamSaRUoMn_Shx8Q_kbDBwRLac

After three hours of watching this all unfold, watching the violence inflicted upon the Capital Police this is how trump responded to this at 4:17 p.m.


Here is Tweet he sent out less than two hours later at 6:01 p.m. which he deleted....


And he claims to be the law and order president.

There is so much info like that Pit.. So much. Too much to be ignored. But some will still ignore it all.

Trump says he was Just doing his job as President

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-2657745152/

Polls show most Americans don't care about J6. They realize its just the Dems trying to get Americans mind off what they are doing to the country.

Which polls specifically and post the links because I have not seen that anywhere. And you asking your friends and relatives is not a poll.

The desire for a fascist state runs deep in Trumptopia.

Which polls?

So I saw this post and the first thing I did is look for a poll that says this. Can't find it... So., please, can you provide this polling source.

By the way, Ive seen a ton of polls that show that 64% of all americans say the Jan 6 Riots were planned. Worse yet, they were planned by then President Trump and his minions..

SO, please, show me the polls that say that...

More GOPer lies. If you don't have facts to back it up, throw out some BS and pretend it's fact.

Did you know that polls say I'm the best looking DTer?

Polls or polecats?

Yes

I was not surveyed.

When the Washington Post stated: "trump is unworthy to be Chief Executive again."

I had a conversation with my sister a former republican with a law degree.

I asked her "do you think that fox tv broadcasts will change allegiance from trump?"

I made the comment they would and soon. I thought they would begin a slow transfer to Desantis. Maybe it will be Pence?

The station whores at fox will do as they are told.

Must have been Polls then.

Jan. 6 rioter accused in attack of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick pleads guilty

A January 6 rioter accused in the assault of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick pleaded guilty on Wednesday to disorderly conduct and entering and remaining in a restricted area in connection to the US Capitol attack.

George Tanios, who purchased two cans of bear spray and two cans of pepper spray prior to the riot, faces up to a year behind bars according to his plea agreement, which was read aloud in court Wednesday. He will be sentenced in December.

According to court documents, Tanios brought bear spray to the Capitol that day, which his co-defendant, Julian Khater, used to assault a line of officers, including Sicknick.

Washington, DC’s chief medical examiner determined that Sicknick suffered several strokes and died of natural causes on January 7, 2021. The medical examiner, Francisco Diaz, told The Washington Post at the time that the Capitol attack and “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”

In a video recorded that day and cited by the government, Khater can be heard saying, “Give me that bear s**t.”

“Hold on, hold on, not yet, not yet… it’s still early,” Tanios said, before Khater approached a line of officers, including Sicknick, with the spray, court documents say. Attorneys for Khater have argued he only attacked officers after being sprayed first.

Tanios and Khater were initially charged with 10 counts, including conspiracy to impede or injure officers and assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon. During Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors said they have offered a plea agreement to Khater, which would require him to plead guilty to two counts of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.

If accepted, Khater’s sentencing guidelines would range from 78 to 97 months, one of the highest sentences a Capitol rioter who has pleaded guilty has faced.

The case has garnered political attention in recent months, particularly in the public hearings held by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack.

When Caroline Edwards, a US Capitol Police officer who was attacked with chemical spray alongside Sicknick, testified to the committee, she recalled the moment she saw Sicknick holding his head in his hands after being sprayed.

“He was ghostly pale, which I figured at that point that he had been sprayed, and I was concerned,” she told the committee in June. “My cop alarm bells went off because if you get sprayed with pepper spray, you’re going to turn red. He turned just about as pale as this sheet of paper.”

Sicknick’s family was also present at the hearing that night.

During Thursday’s prime-time hearing, Rep. Elaine Luria detailed a Jan. 9, 2021, conversation about Sicknick’s death and former President Donald Trump’s days-long silence on the matter between two of Trump’s top campaign officials.

“Also [censored] not to have acknowledged the death of the Capitol Police officer,” Tim Murtaugh, Trump’s former director of communications texted Matthew Wolking, one of Murtaugh’s deputies.

Wolking responded, saying he was enraged and that everything Trump said about supporting law enforcement “was a lie.”

“You know what this is, of course, if he acknowledged the dead cop, he’d be implicitly faulting the mob. And he won’t do that because they’re his people,” Murtaugh replied, adding if Trump acknowledged Sicknick’s death, it could imply acceptance that “what he lit at the rally got out of control.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/poli...OuWVkVmbyZSWzjirOykYDmCS8eiEooix9cyS7GyY

Trump "“We love you. You’re very special.”

I already put you down as an obvious "yes."

I'm not sure who, after seeing these videos, that anyone could come to the conclusion that Trump is NOT guilty......Or that the rioters are Antifa or anyone other than WASPs and just some plain loons...

Pretty sure his supporters won't even bother to view them.....Thanks for posting.

There is just so much negativism in the world today. Tribulations and woes everywhere! The China virus, illegal immigration , violence everywhere. Just so many problems. With things like that it is important to celebrate the good things, the positive things that happen. In that spirit I would like to celebrate the fact that we managed to play the congressional baseball game last week without some loony, lefty democrat trying to murder the republican baseball team. Baby steps, folks. Baby steps.

Well, that post was certainly helpful.

Childish deflection

He was phylosophisizing...

Those classy democrats.

What? Did she run from the ballpark and storm the capital? Did she hold an insurrection? Attempt a coup? Did she just fist bump and celebrate NOT TAKING CARE OF OUR VETS? I bet she took underage girls out of state for sex OR she held a rally with a bunch of NAZIs like her GOPer comrades, right? OMG, that horrible dem flipped of a bunch of losers... how dare she. Smh, you can't make the stupid ass attacks up from the party of dumb. They go after every nit they can pick.

Your post, thank you, exemplifies the left. Name calling, what abouts.........typical. Thank you.

In fairness, arch, this whole rabbit hole of these last few posts started with a passive aggressive what-about from Keith who also referred to “Loony Lefties.”

I won’t argue that a lot on the left are guilty of what you’re calling out, but it’s not just their problem.

No, you don't post a trashing attack like this in the January 6th thread for its distraction value. This thread is about the crap your side pulled trying to bring down America. The guy you voted in and are still trying to protect at every turn is a traitor. You are guilty to a degree just by association. So no, put your lefty BS where it belongs! If you can shove anything else up there with your head taking up all the room.

He doesn't see it when they do it. He must have missed trump's four years as president. Everything he listed the person they elected president was doing those very same things from the oval office. And all he can do is point the finger in the other direction.

That post has more manure in it than I used to fork out of the cattle barn in a week. Some folks have lost their minds.

And as such we will pray for you.

Geez, what a bunch of psycho jumbo jumbo. Passive aggressive??? Lol. Simple point to make. For a year or more the looney dems have tried to paint a picture of trump republicans engaging in political violence. They have done everything they can to make sure their narrative is all that is out there. I believe this is the first time the majority leader selected the minority members of a committee like this one. Why?? Because they did not want anyone asking hard questions that might take the narrative in another direction. unlike the normal process in America, the dems do not want to hear anything that does not conform to the story they want.

However, when we look for political violence what do we see?? Who tried to murder 15-20 republican senators and congressman?? Hmmm. Who tried to kill a republican candidate for governor of New York?? Hmmm. Who tried to assassinate a Supreme Court justice?? Hmmm. We do have concerns about political violence don’t we?

And I must admit if I hear once more that it is republicans going against trump I will pull out my hair. You dems are a little slow on the uptake, but news flash!!! The republican establishment elites hate trump as much as you dems. They have since he announced he was running back in 15. They want him gone because they do not like his message. Clean the swamp means get rid of our buddies in the bureaucracy, and control the border means the donor class loses their low wage help.

If by message you mean acting like a petulant child with all of his name calling and boycotting businesses who disagree with him, you would be right. As it pertains to his actual platform there are several sane candidates to choose from with almost identical platforms. As much as you talk about the border and as many promises as trump made about it, he really didn't accomplish much there. But that's how grifters operate.

There were well over 800 arrests while people tried to overturn our elections. There's video if you would like to see it.

I don't think it was the President of the United States behind the plot in any one of those scenarios. If you'd like to start a thread on those, I'd be glad to participate. In this thread, yes, it is whataboutism.

"Looney Dems." You're proving my point.

Also, I've asked you before to no response - and I will ask you again - you utilize the term "You dems" in reference to me. What makes me a "Dem"?

Did you watch any of the televised hearing on Jan 6?

Do you think that Trump had nothing to do with the J6 Riots?

Do you think that the rioters were Antifa or BLM?

Have you noticed that those testifying against Trump are his own people?

If you answered yes to the first question and think Trump didn't have anything to do with it or that it was antifa or BlM, then I suggest you didn't watch the hearings.

Also, have you noticed that those that are being convicted are clearly Trump supporters?

Hodgeson (sp) was indeed a Left Wing nut job... AG said he was a domestic terrorist.. I don't disagree.. He's a criminal and should be treated as such.

So should those that attacked the capital,, either physically or those that incited it or concocted the entire plan. Terrorists all.

Trump normalized bad behavior, it is as simple as that.

I saw that coming a mile away, and it will take many years to overcome, if at all.

So much for "Be quiet and let others think you are a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Ok daman, those are legit questions I would like to take a crack at some of them.

1. Those testifying. I discussed that in previous post.

2. Did I watch. I have watched a number of these congressional hearings. I am old enough to remember Sam Ervin leading watergate hearings. I watched any that were on tv. I watched Iran/ Contra hearings just about in their entirety. It seems like there have been others though I cannot remember any names. Do you know what each of them had in common. There was aggressive questioning from both sides of the aisle. There was a genuine attempt to elicit facts and learn what happened in every case. Different views were presented and in the end people could draw conclusions. That contrasts with this “show trial”. It is choreographed and orchestrated to present only information that supports the narrative the dems want out there. Non conforming information need not apply.

A perfect example. A young lady testifies as to what she heard second hand. The press tried to take the wheel from secret service. She says. Immediately after she testified the agents who were actually in the car contradicted her. Said none of it happened. And they were there. Offered to testify and I think take a lie detector. So when they were called to testify they press……… oh, wait , the dems have refused to call them so far. Why?? Because they do not want anything else out there that does not conform to their narrative. In other words, they have a story they want to sell and they only want information that conforms.

Daman, it would be like you on trial for murder, the prosecution presents their case. Your lawyer rises to begin the defense and the judge says, not necessary we have all the info we need. So no I watched almost none of the show trial.

3. I think blm and antifa are thugs many of whom should be in jail, but they had nothing to do with this.

4. I think trump told the crowd to go to the capital and peacefully protest. I do not think they will show he committed any crimes.

5. I think anybody who committed a crime should be held accountable. They deserve a trial by a jury of their peers promptly. The constitution guarantees them that. If anyone is being held in solitary confinement and not had their day in court by now that is wrong. I have heard that is the case but I have no proof.

Well I have tried to answer your questions and I would hope to be able to engage in a polite exchange of ideas with you. Thanks for the opportunity.

Trump, the destroyer of families.

BREAKING: PENTAGON OFFICIALS HAD THEIR PHONES WIPED AFTER JANUARY 6TH! Can you say coverup? Smh.

Somehow, I don’t think “the dog ate my homework excuse” is going to work.

Start by charging the IG and all those involved with records violations and they will be facing prison time.

Some of those who are involved were Trump appointed officials. The Congressional orders to retain records were well known.

It’s pretty obvious that the “planned system upgrade” is Fido. Woof woof.

Arizona official refutes review that counted 282 dead voters

https://www.yahoo.com/news/arizona-ag-says-most-alleged-230313316.html

will they finally get down to whether or not the ghost of Hugo Chavez interfere in the 2020 election? and i would like to accept giuliani's request for trial by combat, but only if i get exclusive access to the jewish space laser so i can manipulate the votes from outer space like they do with forest fires.

Yes. I see and hear pro-insurrection people every day of my life nowadays. They surround us. Even you saying the Jan 6th committee is a farce, is an extreme point of view, and can be considered as pro-insurrection, After all these crimes were perpetrated against our constitution. This was an insurrection and they attempted to block the legal transfer of power. Kinda hard to prosecute these crimes without all the facts being uncovered that was covered up by trump and his admin. Hence 1/6 committee.

At this point all they have left after we've seen all of this testimony is "witch hunt". They mimmick exactly what Trump says and then swear they don't support him. It's all pretty obvious.

Ouch. Not good for trump fans.

1. I guess I missed your comments on that subject... But again, they were mostly (might be all) republicans and most worked in some way for Trump

2. I'm glad you watched Sam Ervin and the Watergate hearings. You also must remember then that at that time, Republicans took advantage of the right to be involved in the hearings.. Something McCarthy declined to do. (I know that is contested, but they had a chance to be involved and they blew it)

It's seems silly to use this as a reason to find that this isn't a reasonable and complete investigation.

As for nobody coming forward to take up Trumps point of view, how many have been asked or Subpoenaed to come in to testify? Bannon, Eastman (took the 5th around 100 times, Remind me again what Trump said about those taking the 5th), Rudy and Stone just to name a few.

Ivanka and Jared agreed to be interviewed but only on video, not in person. I'm absolutely sure that the J6 committee would welcome Trump and Meadows in to testify. But they won't., Not without taking the 5th a bunch of times.

SO if they are asked to come in and they refuse, then the problem is them, not the committee

3. We agree and it's been proven over and over again. 700 or so arrests and none of them BLM or Antifa.

4. No, he didn't tell them to be peaceful,, NOT EVEN close to that., He incited a riot.... You not knowing this tells me you didn't listen or watch the J6 Hearings and the videos they played that verify that Trump was the one, along with Eastman and Rudy, that triggered his supporters to NOT be peaceful.. You appear to have only listened to what FOX, OAN and other Right leaning networks doctored up for you to consume. (side note: Spoke to a HS Friend of mine who lives in Florida, he said that same thing you said. But when I convinced him to watch the hearings, he choked up, His exact words were, "damn it. He (trump) really screwed up".. by the way, he's a 100% Trump supporter, or he was,, not so much anymore)

5. I don't disagree with your comments, I think you are spot on.

The difference here is, the Committee is NOT a court of LAW. It's designed to be an investigative body. Criminal charges are for the DOJ to take up. If or When the DOJ charges those involved, that's when they will get to tell their story.. To me, there is no defense for Trump and his team. None. But that's just my opinion from watching the hearings on the subject. They were pretty clear.

Also, thank you for the way in which you responded... That we clear and clean.. Thanks

j/c...

LMAO, Bye Alex.

Drip Drip Drip

Trump-backed GOP candidate for Michigan AG under criminal investigation for possibly tampering with voting machines, docs say

Michigan’s Democratic attorney general is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate her Donald Trump-backed challenger after finding evidence linking him to a potentially criminal plot to seize and tamper with voting machines used in the 2020 election, according to a letter obtained by CNN and documents released Monday by the attorney general’s office.

For months, the Michigan State Police and the attorney general’s office have been investigating a series of voting machine breaches that took place in several counties around the state last year. According to the documents released Monday, that probe has led investigators to Kalamazoo-based lawyer Matthew DePerno, a Republican candidate running against incumbent Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Trump has thrown his support behind DePerno, and he picked up an endorsement earlier this year from Michigan Republican Party activists, paving the way for him to officially become the GOP nominee for attorney general at the party convention later this month. He is one of several Trump-backed election deniers who are currently running to become the top law enforcement officer or the top election official in their states.

Nessel is now asking for a special prosecutor to be appointed to avoid a potential conflict of interest. The investigation into voting machine breaches has unearthed facts that indicate DePerno and two other associates may have broken the law when they “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators,” according to Nessel’s office.

“When this investigation began there was not a conflict of interest. However, during the course of the investigation, facts were developed that DePerno was one of the prime instigators of the conspiracy,” Nessel’s office wrote in an August 5 petition for the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Counsel to appoint a special prosecutor.

The DePerno campaign tweeted a statement late Sunday saying he has reviewed the petition for a special prosecutor and “denied the allegations presented.” The statement also says, “the claims presented by Nessel show a completely unwarranted and erroneous attack based on political prosecution.”

The request from Nessel’s office alleges that DePerno was present in a hotel room in early 2021 when a group of individuals performed unauthorized “tests” on voting tabulators they had seized from multiple Michigan counties – suggesting investigators have evidence that directly links him to the potentially illegal breaches.

“We have requested the appointment of a Special Prosecuting Attorney to review the case for the issuance of possible criminal charges against several of the individuals involved. We view the actions of these individuals to be very serious,” Nessel’s office wrote in a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a fellow Democrat, summarizing the investigation’s findings.

Reuters first reported DePerno’s alleged role in the voting machine breaches. The Detroit News first reported Nessel’s request for a special prosecutor.

In May, CNN reported that Michigan State Police had expanded its investigation into whether third parties gained unauthorized access to voting machine data after the 2020 election, and that the probe was looking into potential breaches in multiple counties. The investigation began in February after Benson’s office uncovered a breach of vote tabulator components in Roscommon County, in rural northern Michigan.

The probe in Michigan reflects a growing number of incidents uncovered around the country where Trump supporters attempted to gain access to voting systems, as part of efforts to overturn or undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. It also comes as several Trump-endorsed candidates have won the Republican nomination for roles that could position them to oversee future elections in key battleground states going forward.

They succeeded in at least one instance in late November 2020, when a team of pro-Trump operatives traveled to Antrim County, Michigan, and conducted an audit of voting systems there, according to court documents released as part of a failed lawsuit filed by attorneys working on behalf of the former President at the time.

The lawsuit was led by DePerno and led to a since-debunked report issued by a team of analysts from a Texas-based company, Allied Security Operations Group, alleging irregularities in Dominion Voting Systems that was consistently cited as evidence in multiple failed legal challenges in Michigan and other swing states. (There is no evidence to support GOP claims of wrongdoing by Dominion.)

Among the evidence investigators in Michigan say they have uncovered as part of their probe into voting machine breaches are digital IDs that DePerno had used as evidence in the failed suit.

“There must be consequences for those who broke the law to undermine our elections in order to advance their own political agendas,” Benson told CNN in a statement.

She added, “The Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan election clerks of this state do their jobs with professionalism and integrity, and we will continue to ensure they are equipped with a full understanding of the legal protections in place to block bad actors from pressuring them to gain access to secure election systems.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/poli...CGjr4--S--x_eKxT9G8hLIFiiHoOK89FlJKgL_9s

it wasn't him! it was Hugo Chavez!!

They'll cry unfair. Dems can do it but WE can't? Smh.

Then they turn and point their crooked fingers at Biden for causing Putin’s war in the Ukraine.

Damon, I would like to bounce off a couple of your points. First that McCarthy somehow blew it and that he “refused to participate”. I do not agree that he blew it and you know very well that he tried to participate. In fact he did what every minority house leader has done since the beginning of time. When a committee is authorized the minority leader selects the members of his caucus he wants on the committee. Not the members the speaker wants, not the members you want or I want. He selects the members he wants. Has always been that way regardless of the party in control of the house.

Then the speaker did something that had never been done. Never!! She refused to seat two of the members McCarthy picked. They are not hers to pick but she took away the minority leader’s choices. Since his selected members were excluded McCarthy only then bowed out. The speaker then picked the minority members she wanted. Trump haters. Not a coincidence. My guess is (do not want to sound conspiratorial) that she knew if she refused to seat a couple of his choices he would probably withdraw all the names and that would give her free rein to pick the two she did, knowing they would go along completely with the dem narrative. Btw, I will not be surprised if this refusing of minority selections becomes a common practice.

One final thought on this subject. You asked previously if I watched the hearings. My decision to not watch was made after this whole fiasco unfolded. I knew then it was going to be a sham, an orchestrated and choreographed affair. Ask any police detective what would happen if she started an investigation with a narrative and only looked at evidence and talked to witnesses who supported that narrative and nothing else. She would tell you she would miss a lot of valuable clues and info.

One other final thought. This decision to refuse selected members to the committee meshes perfectly with the committee refusing to call those secret service agents to testify. They just do not want any info coming out that challenges their approved narrative. No way to run an investigation!

Secondly, that the President incited a riot. After reading that I went to you tube I listened to the entire 70 minutes. Trump attacked Pence. He spent a lot of time outlining all the illegalities that occurred during the election. But at no time did he tell people to enter the capital or engage in violence. So I do not think he incited a riot. And while I think the dems will do everything they can to make it happen, I do not think there will be any criminal acts he will have shown he engaged in.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to exchange ideas in a civil manner. Thanks

You don’t put two people on a panel who are prospective witnesses, unless you’re specifically looking to either invalidate the panel altogether, or pretty much admitting that you don’t want to take part in the panel without saying inasmuch.

For example, if I was in charge of putting together a joint committee on investigating the NFL’s issues with massage therapy, and I appoint DeShawn Watson and Bob Kraft to the committee, it’s pretty clear where my intentions are.

With Feds Circling, Trump Asks Allies: Who’s ‘Wearing a Wire’?

As the investigations heat up, the former president and his advisers are pointing fingers — and looking for “rats.”

Donald Trump is worried he may have a rat — or multiple rats — in his midst. He’s wondering if his phones are tapped, or even if one of his buddies could be “wearing a wire.”

As the federal and state investigations into Trump and his orbit swell, so have the former president’s suspicions, according to two sources familiar with the matter and another two people close to the twice-impeached former Oval Office occupant.

This summer, Trump has asked close associates if they think his communications are being monitored by the feds, or — per his phrasing — “by Biden.” As a source close to Trump describes it to Rolling Stone: “He has asked me and others, ‘Do you think our phones are tapped?’ Given the sheer volume of investigations going on into the [former] president, I do not think he’s assuming anything is outside the realm of possibility.”

The source adds, “He’s talked about this seriously [in the past few months], but I know of one time when he made a joke that was something like, ‘Be careful what you say on the phone!’”

Moreover, on at least a couple occasions since May, the former president has wondered aloud if there were any Republicans visiting his clubs who could be “wearing a wire,” according to another person close to Trump and a different source familiar with the matter. Trump and his allies are baselessly floating the idea that federal agents could be guilty of “planting” incriminating evidence at his private resort. And the ex-president and several of his longtime advisers are trying to figure out if they have, in their terminology, a “mole” or a “rat” in Trump’s inner sanctum who is slipping his secrets to the feds.

Multiple people with knowledge of the situation say that as of Wednesday afternoon, Trump and his cohort do not have any evidence to support their groundless talking point that the FBI planted evidence during their search of Trump’s home at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida earlier this week. Still, the sources say, the upper crust of MAGAland has already begun wildly speculating about who the snitch could be, if such a turncoat exists at all. On Wednesday morning, Axios reported that “Trumpworld is abuzz with speculation about which close aide or aides has ‘flipped’ and provided additional sensitive information to the FBI about what former President Trump was keeping at” his Florida estate. Later that day, intelligence writer William Arkin reported that “the raid on Mar-a-Lago was based largely on information from an FBI confidential human source.”

One Trump adviser tells Rolling Stone that since Tuesday, MAGA loyalists have been asking to pass their suspicions to Trump, telling him not to trust certain individuals and to investigate them for possible contacts with federal authorities. “I’m getting a lot of messages saying [things like], ‘This guy must be the informant,’ and others…calling for the [former] president to start doing phone-checks of his staff,” says the adviser. “To be honest, a lot of it feels like people trying to screw over the ones they don’t like [in Trumpworld.]”

Though Trump’s paranoia is so often fueled by unhinged conspiracy theories, in this case, he has reason to worry. There are various criminal, civil, and federal investigations into Trump, his sprawling family business, and his political allies in his attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election. But some of his paranoid habits that have cropped up this summer are reminding a few Trump confidants of his term in the Oval Office. During the Mueller investigation, then-President Trump went as far as to ponder to a small number of people whether his own White House Counsel Don McGahn was — in identical wording — “wearing a wire” for the supposedly Trump-loathing federal prosecutors.

“When I worked for him,” says Stephanie Grisham, a former senior Trump aide who has since fallen out with the MAGA royalty, “it was an everyday obsession [about] who was leaking, who was cooperating with what. He’d regularly ask me and others, ‘Do you think I can trust this person?’ or ‘Do you trust this person?’ or tell me to ‘go find the leaker.’”

“Shockingly, I feel bad for the guy today, as funny as that sounds,” she adds. “Trump demands total loyalty, and yet he turns on people at a moment’s notice. And he’s now in this situation where he and his people are wondering who among them could be giving some of his most closely held information to the FBI.”

Grisham concludes, “I mean, who can he trust? It’s just a [censored], sad way to live.”

According to multiple reports, the raid on Monday sprang from an investigation into whether Trump took classified documents materials from the White House to his Florida home. It is unclear what specific documents are so concerning to federal authorities. But according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, in the time since President Joe Biden was sworn in, Trump has not been shy about flaunting trophies from his years in the Oval Office. Within the past year and a half, Trump’s guests at Mar-a-Lago have at times witnessed the ex-president brandishing certain objects or papers, claiming they were mementos from his stint in the White House as he gave informal tours of his Florida homestead.

“It reminded me of how he’d give tours of the bathrooms and the toilets when he lived in the White House,” one of the sources says. “He likes to show off…even if he isn’t supposed to have those things, evidently.”

Of course, the probe into Trump’s handling of classified materials is hardly the only investigation, federal or otherwise, that’s threatening the leader of the GOP’s political or personal fortunes. In addition to the House select committee investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and then-President Trump’s role in starting it, the Department of Justice is conducting a wide-ranging probe into the anti-democratic crusade that was waged following Biden’s victory in the 2020 election; that probe is indeed examining Trump’s and his conduct during that period. As Rolling Stone reported, the former president’s attorneys are taking seriously the once-unimaginable possibility of DOJ criminal charges against him seriously — to the point that they’re already briefing him on possible legal defenses and expanding the team tasked with taking on the Justice Department.

Just on Wednesday, Trump sat for hours for a deposition in New York state’s years-long investigation into his business empire. However, tThe former president gave a straight answer about his own name — and then persistently pleaded the Fifth during questioning.

But now, fFollowing the news of the FBI’s “siege” of Mar-a-Lago, nearly every major player in national conservative-media and the Republican Party have swiftly rallied to Trump’s defense. Days later, Team Trump is still aggressively fundraising off of news of the federal search, and the former president and his high-profile boosters have been arguing that the raid would be good for his political future, by solidifying support and feeding into his self-styled image as an embattled fighter against the American establishment.

However, all the bravado is undermined by the fact that Trump is keenly aware of the potential criminal exposure and legal jeopardy he faces. Within the ex-president’s legal teams and his inner circle, there has been a months-long search for possible scapegoats who could be sacrificed, if push came to shove, to the feds — with Trumpworld -aligned bigwigs such as John Eastman and Mark Meadows among the top candidates.

What’s more, For months, Trump for months has reminded friends and confidants that a perk of winning the White House is that presidents enjoy a level of legal immunity that others (including former presidents) simply do not. It’s one of many reasons, Trump has said in private, why he’s strongly considering running for president again in 2024.

As it were, he has repeatedly brought up this point in the context of privately gossiping about his plans for a potential 2024 presidential campaign.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...mp-fbi-mar-a-lago-snitches-rats-1395609/

He is already showing his defense strategy. He knows he has incriminating evidence of something. If it gets discovered he is going to claim that the FBI planted it.

BOttom Line, they could have testified to protect Trump and they did now. Seating the likes of Jim Jordan would have caused this to go nutty..

Anyway, this is an investigation... Not a body that can try and convict anyone. Trump will get his chance to fight back if the DOJ wants to charge him.

Another one bites the dust.......

Ex-police officer gets more than 7 years in prison in Jan. 6 case

Washington — An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, with a fellow officer was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison, matching the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison. Cooper also sentenced Robertson to three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Federal prosecutors had recommended an eight-year prison sentence for Robertson. His sentence equals that of Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attacked the Capitol while armed with a holstered handgun.

Robertson gets credit for the 13 months he has already spent in custody. Robertson has been jailed since Cooper ruled last year that he violated the terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms.

The judge said he was troubled by Robertson's conduct since his arrest - not only his stockpiling of guns but also his words advocating for violence. After Jan. 6, Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war and he clung to baseless conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, the judge noted.

CBS News' Robert Legare points out that Robertson was originally freed on pretrial supervision, but was later detained after the government said he allegedly had "a loaded M4 rifle and a partially-assembled pipe bomb at his home, and by purchasing an arsenal of 34 firearms online and transporting them in interstate commerce."

Sentencing guidelines calculated by Cooper recommended a prison term ranging from seven years and three months to nine years.

"It's a long time because it reflects the seriousness of the offenses that you were convicted of," the judge said.

In April, a jury convicted Robertson of attacking the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory.

Jurors found Robertson guilty of all six counts in his indictment, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick.

Robertson's lawyers said the Army veteran was using the stick to help him walk because he has a limp from getting shot in the right thigh while working as a private contractor for the Defense Department in Afghanistan in 2011.

The judge said he agreed with jurors that Robertson went to the Capitol to interfere with the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. Robertson was an "active and willing participant," not "some bystander" who got swept up in the crowd, Cooper said.

Robertson traveled to Washington that morning with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third man, a neighbor who wasn't charged in the case.

Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson before he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in March and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. Cooper is scheduled to sentence Fracker next Tuesday.

Prosecutors have asked Cooper to spare Fracker from a prison term and sentence him to six months of probation along with a period of home detention or "community confinement." They said Fracker's "fulsome" cooperation and trial testimony was crucial in securing convictions against Robertson.

Robertson's lawyer, Mark Rollins, sought a prison sentence below two years and three months. He questioned the fairness of the wide gap in sentences that prosecutors recommended for Robertson and Fracker given their similar conduct.

Robertson served his country and community with distinction, his lawyer told the judge.

"His life already is in shambles," Rollins said.

Robertson and Fracker were among several current or former law enforcement officers who joined in the riot. Prosecutors say Robertson used his law enforcement and military training to block police officers who were trying to hold off the advancing mob.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said Robertson was prepared for violence when he went to the Capitol and did a "victory lap" inside the building, where he posed for a selfie with Fracker.

"The defendant is, by all accounts, proud of his conduct on Jan. 6," she said.

Jurors saw some of Robertson's posts on social media before and after the riot. In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said "being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line."

"I've spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. (I'm) about to become part of one, and a very effective one," he wrote.

In a letter addressed to the judge, Robertson said he took full responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6 and "any poor decisions I made." He blamed the vitriolic content of his social media posts on a mix of stress, alcohol abuse and "submersion in deep 'rabbit holes' of election conspiracy theory."

"I sat around at night drinking too much and reacting to articles and sites given to me by Facebook" algorithms, he wrote.

The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 25 miles south of Roanoke, Virginia, and has about 5,000 residents.

Roughly 850 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 350 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses, and more than 230 have been sentenced so far.

Robertson's jury trial was the second for a Capitol riot case; Reffitt's was the first.

Jurors have unanimously convicted seven Capitol rioters of all charges in their respective indictments.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thomas...e-than-7-years-in-prison-january-6-case/

Again, there is no farce with the J6 Committee.. None. It's a body that is there to investigate. They have no power to prosecute. They are doing a great job of exposing Trump and his biggest supporters.

I have no idea if the DOJ will go after him,, I suspect they will, but I don't know for sure. I do think it's clear what happened on J6. Unless one has blinders on, it's VERY clear who was behind this whole mess.

That’s a rather late response to my post, but yeah, the “blinders” is what I was referring to.

.

Some Capitol rioters trying to make money off their Jan. 6 crimes

Facing prison time and dire personal consequences for storming the U.S. Capitol, some Jan. 6 defendants are trying to profit from their participation in the deadly riot, using it as a platform to drum up cash, promote business endeavors and boost social media profiles.

A Nevada man jailed on riot charges asked his mother to contact publishers for a book he was writing about "the Capitol incident." A rioter from Washington state helped his father hawk clothes and other merchandise bearing slogans such as "Our House" and images of the Capitol building. A Virginia man released a rap album with riot-themed songs and a cover photograph of him sitting on a police vehicle outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Those actions are sometimes complicating matters for defendants when they face judges at sentencing as prosecutors point to the profit-chasing activities in seeking tougher punishments. The Justice Department, in some instances, is trying to claw back money that rioters have made off the insurrection.

In one case, federal authorities have seized tens of thousands of dollars from a defendant who sold his footage from Jan. 6. In another case, a Florida man's plea deal allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. And prosecutors want a Maine man who raised more than $20,000 from supporters to surrender some of the money because a taxpayer-funded public defender is representing him.

Many rioters have paid a steep personal price for their actions on Jan. 6. At sentencing, rioters often ask for leniency on the grounds that they already have experienced severe consequences for their crimes.

They lost jobs or entire careers. Marriages fell apart. Friends and relatives shunned them or even reported them to the FBI. Strangers have sent them hate mail and online threats. And they have racked up expensive legal bills to defend themselves against federal charges ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies.

Websites and crowdfunding platforms set up to collect donations for Capitol riot defendants try to portray them as mistreated patriots or even political prisoners.

An anti-vaccine medical doctor who pleaded guilty to illegally entering the Capitol founded a nonprofit that raised more than $430,000 for her legal expenses. The fundraising appeal by Dr. Simone Gold's group, America's Frontline Doctors, didn't mention her guilty plea, prosecutors noted.

Before sentencing Gold to two months behind bars, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper called it "unseemly" that her nonprofit invoked the Capitol riot to raise money that also paid for her salary. Prosecutors said in court papers that it was hard to believe she incurred anywhere close to $430,000 in legal costs for her misdemeanor case.

Another rioter, a New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the siege, raised more than $30,000 in online donations for a "Patriot Relief Fund" to cover his mortgage payments and other monthly bills. Prosecutors cited the fund in recommending a fine for Scott Fairlamb, who is serving a prison sentence of more than three years.

"Fairlamb should not be able to 'capitalize' on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way," Justice Department lawyers wrote.

Robert Palmer, a Florida man who attacked police officers at the Capitol, asked a friend to create a crowdfunding campaign for him online after he pleaded guilty. After seeing the campaign to "Help Patriot Rob," a probation officer calculating a sentencing recommendation for Palmer didn't give him credit for accepting responsibility for his conduct. Palmer conceded that a post for the campaign falsely portrayed his conduct on Jan. 6. Acceptance of responsibility can help shave months or even years off a sentence.

"When you threw the fire extinguisher and the plank at the police officers, were you acting in self-defense?" asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

"No, ma'am, I was not," Palmer said before the judge sentenced him to more than five years in prison.

A group calling itself the Patriot Freedom Project says it has raised more than $1 million in contributions and paid more than $665,000 in grants and legal fees for families of Capitol riot defendants.

In April, a New Jersey-based foundation associated with the group filed an IRS application for tax-exempt status. As of early August, an IRS database doesn't list the foundation as a tax-exempt organization. The Hughes Foundation's IRS application says its funds "principally" will benefit families of Jan. 6 defendants, with about 60% of the donated money going to foundation activities. The rest will cover management and fundraising expenses, including salaries, it adds.

Rioters have found other ways to enrich or promote themselves.

Jeremy Grace, who was sentenced to three weeks in jail for entering the Capitol, tried to profit off his participation by helping his father sell T-shirts, baseball caps, water bottles, decals and other gear with phrases such as "Our House" and "Back the Blue" and images of the Capitol, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Grace's "audacity" to sell "Back the Blue" paraphernalia is "especially disturbing" because he watched other rioters confront police officers on Jan. 6. A defense lawyer, however, said Grace didn't break any laws or earn any profits by helping his father sell the merchandise.

Federal authorities seized more than $62,000 from a bank account belonging to riot defendant John Earle Sullivan, a Utah man who earned more than $90,000 from selling his Jan. 6 video footage to at least six companies. Sullivan's lawyer argued authorities had no right to seize the money.

Richard "Bigo" Barnett, an Arkansas man photographed propping his feet up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has charged donors $100 for photos of him with his feet on a desk while under house arrest. Defense lawyer Joseph McBride said prosecutors have "zero grounds" to prevent Barnett from raising money for his defense before a December trial date.

"Unlike the government, Mr. Barnett does not have the American Taxpayer footing the bill for his legal case," McBride wrote in a court filing.

Texas real estate agent Jennifer Leigh Ryan promoted her business on social media during and after the riot, boasting that she was "becoming famous." In messages sent after Jan. 6, Ryan "contemplated the business she needed to prepare for as a result of the publicity she received from joining the mob at the Capitol," prosecutors said in court documents.

Prosecutors cited the social media activity of Treniss Evans III in recommending a two-month jail term for the Texas man, who drank a shot of whiskey in a congressional conference room on Jan. 6. Evans has "aggressively exploited" his presence at the Capitol to expand his social media following on Gettr, a social media site founded by a former Trump adviser, prosecutors wrote before Evans' sentencing, scheduled for this coming Tuesday,

A few rioters are writing books about the mob's attack or have marketed videos that they shot during the riot.

A unique provision in Adam Johnson's plea agreement allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. Images of Johnson posing for photographs with Pelosi's podium went viral after the riot. Prosecutors said they insisted on the provision after learning that Johnson intends to write a memoir "of some sort."

Ronald Sandlin, a Nevada man charged with assaulting officers near doors to the Senate gallery, posted on Facebook that he was "working out a Netflix deal" to sell riot video footage. Later, in a call from jail, Sandlin told his mother he had met with right-wing author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza and was in contact with podcaster Joe Rogan. He also asked his mom to contact publishers for the book he was writing about the "Capitol incident," prosecutors said.

"I hope to turn it into movie," Sandlin wrote in a March 2021 text message. "I plan on having Leonardo DiCaprio play me," he wrote, adding a smiley face emoji.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-c...ZbZJk_xUK4J2uTTwbv08skf27FXK8MqsAA9h87AY

Tucker trying to incite violence.

millions of people listen to this man 5 nights/week.

monetized feverish outrage.
what a product to bring to market.

The difference between this guy and me? when I make noise in public, people leave happy.

At some point he should be held as responsible as Trump will eventually be for the assault on America...

https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1559714520498688000?s=20&t=B6fBxwEGGE84DCXKg_poQw

Jan. 6 defendant who beat officer with Trump flag sentenced to 46 months in prison

A man who beat a Washington, D.C., police officer with a Trump flag during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Friday.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Howard Richardson received the sentence after pleading guilty earlier in the year to assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.

Richardson waved his flagpole after entering a restricted area of Capitol grounds, according to the Department of Justice, before later hitting a police officer multiple times with the pole.

“He raised it and forcefully swung it downward to strike an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department who was standing behind a metal barricade,” the DOJ wrote of Richardson and the flagpole.

“Richardson then struck the officer two more times, using enough force to break the flagpole.”

Richardson then pushed a “large metal sign into a line of law enforcement officers” along with other rioters, according to the department.

The Pennsylvania native, 72, was arrested in November 2021 before pleading guilty in April.

Richardson will be subject to three years of supervised release after completing his almost four-year in prison sentence, and is required to pay $2,000 in restitution.

More than 860 people have been arrested since Jan. 6 in connection with the attack on the Capitol, according to the DOJ.

More than 260 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Richardson’s sentencing follows the DOJ’s announcement earlier Friday that it would seek an over 17-year sentence for an ex-police officer who was found guilty in May of five felonies and a misdemeanor for his participation in the Jan. 6 attack, including assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.

That sentence is by far the longest yet received by a Jan. 6 defendant.

https://thehill.com/policy/national...K4_vBgQVPde2IKQwZ_G3C0I_M8FGYOu6436aJvCM

I'm glad he's going away, but if you or I went into town and beat a cop with a metal pole, we'd get 10 years minimum. No ifs, and, or buts about it.

He’s 72… four years is a long time at that age. If his last years on this rock are spent looking out through bars it’ll serve him right.

I gotta admit, I don't get these light sentences.

He's old enough to know when he's getting scammed.. Therefore he's old enough to suffer the same sentence anyone else would get for that offense.

He, like the other idiots that fell for donny’s rhetoric, should all get longer sentences than what they’re getting. This guy should have gotten much longer. As stated prior, if you or I had gone and beaten a cop with a metal pole anywhere else, at any other time, we’d have gotten more that 4 years. Personally I think this faux patriot should rot in jail until he’s carried out in a box.

And then others yet could be holding a metal pole in a threatening manner and have been shot by the police ....

Yep. Imagine if the domestic terrorists of the 6th had been all Balck Muslims, imagine the carnage that would have unfolded on the Capitol Bldg steps. OR the LOOOOOOOONG sentences that would be handed out.

Proud Boy sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in Jan. 6 case, still says election was stolen

Joshua Pruitt, a former D.C. bartender, was sentenced by a judge who called Jan. 6 "a national disgrace."

WASHINGTON — A former D.C. bartender and Proud Boy who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison on Monday.

Joshua Pruitt, 40, pleaded guilty in June to obstruction of an official proceeding after he was caught on video joining a mob pursuing police officers and smashing a sign inside the U.S. Capitol. Two U.S. Capitol Police officers wrote victim impact statements in his case urging Judge Timothy J. Kelly to give Pruitt a severe sentence in the case.

Ultimately, Kelly imposed a sentence that fell a few months short of the five years that prosecutors had requested.

Pruitt said that he apologized for his actions and he was "not happy that Jan. 6 happened at all," but said he still held onto his beliefs that Donald Trump actually won the election that he lost to President Joe Biden.“I did believe the election was stolen. I still do,” Pruitt said, speaking from a lectern further away from the judge, which was set up for defendants who are vaccinated for Covid.

“I broke the law, bottom line, regardless of whether I’m right or wrong on my feelings,” Pruitt said.

Robert Lee Jenkins, Jr., a court-appointed attorney for Pruitt, said outside the courtroom that there was no convincing Pruitt otherwise.

"We've had many conversations about it, and Mr. Pruitt is firm in his belief," Jenkins said in response to a question from NBC News. Jenkins said that Pruitt's family was "extremely dismayed" that Pruitt had gotten himself involved in Jan. 6.

Judge Kelly and Pruitt’s own attorney said that alcohol played a role in Pruitt’s behaviors on Jan. 6, though a federal prosecutor pointed out that Pruitt’s actions at the Capitol would’ve come about six hours after he said he was drinking Jack Daniel’s on the morning of Jan. 6. Pruitt’s attorney said the Pruitt had an alcohol problem, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it himself.

Jenkins said that the other members of the D.C.-Maryland Proud Boys chapter, whose texts were found on Pruitt's phone, should be concerned that they could be prosecuted.

Some of the texts, which were previously released in court documents, included discussion of plans to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and about "storming" the Capitol steps and surrounding the building.

"I think [they] should be very concerned," Jenkins said. "Very, very concerned."

Pruitt came within close distance of Sen. Chuck Schumer on Jan. 6, sending the New York Democrat and his security team running in the other direction.

A member of Schumer’s Capitol Police security team wrote about their near-meeting with Pruitt in his victim impact statement. “Every day I enter the beacon of our country, the U.S. Capitol, I relive the memories of that day, and none are as impactful as the moments I saw Mr. Pruitt approaching us with the intent to inflict harm to the Majority Leader,” the officer wrote. “It was only due to our teams' preplanning of alternate evacuations procedures and quick actions that this impending meeting did not result in blood shed or serious bodily injury.”

Pruitt told the judge that it was "in bad taste" for him to throw a wooden sign in the Capitol, but Kelly said it "was a lot more than being in bad taste."

Kelly said it was "extremely troubling" that Pruitt didn't express regret for his actions during media interviews before he pleaded guilty.

“There was nothing patriotic about what happened that day, far from it,” Kelly said. “It was a national disgrace.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...NuNnElRkTTYXkB2sZigRS-WJkTM8O5fgUtpRZgRQ

Ex-cop charged in Jan. 6 attack cites PTSD in plea for leniency

Thomas Webster suggested his decision to assault a police officer was partially caused by "flashbacks" of his time serving with the NYPD.

Thomas Webster, a former New York City police officer convicted of assault in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is banking on an absurd excuse to avoid a lengthy sentence.

Webster, 56, was convicted in May of attacking a police officer. He faces a potential 17.5-year prison sentence, which would be the longest sentence handed down in a Jan. 6 case so far. So, of course, Webster and his lawyers are pulling out all the stops to convince the judge to hand down a lesser sentence — including the cop-iest excuse imaginable.

Their desperation was spelled out in a court filing last week that included a letter from a psychiatrist who linked Webster’s violent encounter with police Jan. 6 to post-traumatic stress stemming from his childhood and work at the New York City Police Department.

According to NBC News:

His lawyers are seeking a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines in his case. In a letter they filed seeking a lower sentence, Webster told a psychologist that he could make a connection between his violent actions at the Capitol to a past fight with an armed robber in the Bronx who was trying to get his gun. Webster told the psychologist he attacked a Capitol Police officer with a metal flagpole because “at that moment, I had flashbacks of the struggle we had on the staircase.”

It’s a variation of the failed argument Webster’s lawyer offered up during his trial, which claimed he had just been trying to help the officer he attacked “see my hands,” purportedly because Webster wanted the officer to know he wasn’t a threat.

In reality, video from Jan. 6 shows Webster swinging a metal pole at the officer and pulling at his mask.

I’ll admit: This is a first for me. I’m accustomed to police officers and wannabe police officers using the “he went for my gun" defense — often as justification for killing Black people. Normally, when they use the defense, it’s to excuse violence they committed at that very moment. Webster’s filing is the first time I’m seeing the defense used to downplay violence committed at least a decade after the fact … on a completely uninvolved person … who happens to be a police officer.

The psychiatrist’s letter reads like the rough draft of a made-for-TV-movie script. It suggests Webster overcame a traumatic childhood to become a venerable police officer, only for the job to somehow lead him to participate in a violent attack on democracy a decade after he retired.

It’s quite a reach. I can’t blame Webster’s lawyer for trying, I suppose. He’s not wrong to assume playing up Webster’s days on the force might garner leniency. Regardless, it’s a cynical — and unworthy — argument for this case.

https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/r...364wGUuvaOsHUzm9fqvB47Czr3YEeARw6fkbojA0

Lol… admitting you’re insane, means you aren’t insane. Lock him up.

The resident of mar-a-lardo is now claiming that he immediately be reinstated president or that they redo the 2020 election.
The election was only like 664 days ago. And he lost

Popcorn futures are going up

Panic setting in. His fat arse is sweating gravy.

Trump saying this might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

Everyone knows there are no federal laws that can allow for something like that to happen after it has been signed off by congress.

Besides, presidents are only elected by like 51 electors who will represent the state's vote at the Electoral College and the electors could technically vote however they want.

Damn bro- I just come back from a relaxing vacation, and you plant this picture in my head.

I thought we were mates.

What Goes around … Comes around.

Pretty clear what was at the trump country club.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics...uments-photo-fbi-campbell-newday-vpx.cnn

What is really comical about "the search."

If he would have given everything back when asked. None of this would have happened.

Because of his defective mind that he owns everything "it's mine." He will be indicted. They have him "hand in the cookie jar."

The picture is like when they have a big drug bust and they show all the drugs.

Stuff was in his desk. "His desk" with his passport. Nobody else would have put top secret docs in his desk.

His own stupidity.

Oath Keepers attorney arrested on Jan. 6 charges

An attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers militia was arrested in Texas Thursday on charges related to the Capitol riot, the Washington Post reports.

Driving the news: According to a court filing Wednesday, Kellye SoRelle was indicted on four counts — conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, trespassing on restricted grounds and tampering with documents.

The big picture: The filing notes that in Dec. 2020 through Jan. 2021, SoRelle “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with other persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, that is, Congress’s certification of the Electoral College vote.”

It adds that on Jan. 6, 2021, SoRelle "did, corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding" and that she aided and abetted others to do the same.

SoRelle was with the Oath Keepers' founder and leader — Stewart Rhodes — outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, per the Post.

On or about Jan. 6, SoRelle "did knowingly enter and remain" on restricted grounds, and on the following day she attempted to persuade other people to withhold or destroy records "with intent to impair the objects' integrity and availability for use in such a Grand Jury investigation."

Worth noting: SoRelle was temporarily designated acting president of the Oath Keepers upon Rhodes' arrest earlier this year, CBS News reported.

SoRelle told CNN in May that she was cooperating with the Justice Department in their investigation into Jan. 6.

SoRelle could not immediately be reached for comment.

What's next: SoRelle will make her first appearance in court before a federal judge in Austin, Texas Thursday, per the Post.

https://www.axios.com/2022/09/01/oa...XzbvIWmg7gOoKvCOh6ZaLkU6vFKj31xxuJaV0x3s

What is it they say about when you lie down with dogs?

Former NYPD officer receives longest sentence of any Jan. 6 defendant to date

Washington — The former New York Police Department officer convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a federal judge ruled Thursday, the longest prison sentence so far imposed in the sprawling investigation.

Thomas Webster, who is also a Marine Corps veteran, was convicted by a jury in May on multiple charges stemming from his membership in the mob, including assaulting officers and violent and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Mehta handed down a sentence of 120 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, in deference to Webster's 25 years of service as a police officer and Marine and and his later signaling of remorse for his actions.

Webster was released on 24-hour home detention following the guilty verdicts, but prosecutors asked Judge Amit Mehta to impose the stiffest sentence yet — up to 210 months behind bars — in the hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions that have made it to sentencing.

In court documents filed ahead of Thursday's sentencing, the Justice Department argued Webster "spearheaded" a breach against the police line on the Capitol's west front and was responsible for "disgracing a democracy that he once fought honorably to protect and serve."

"Notwithstanding his background and training, Webster did not try to de-escalate the situation or leave the premises," the government wrote, "Instead, he led the charge. Webster spent eight minutes elbowing his way through the densely packed crowd so that he could position himself at the front of the mob."

But in pre-sentencing documents of his own, Webster disavowed claims of fraud in the 2020 election and included a letter of support from a friend who blames former President Trump for "despicable lies."

Noting the defendant turned himself in to investigators shortly after the attack, Webster's defense attorney James Monroe conceded that his client's crimes were "unmistakably violent and reprehensible," but asked the court to consider his history as a father, officer, and Marine.

In court on Thursday, Mehta urged the public to consider Webster's case in the context of ongoing threats to democracy.

"We simply cannot have a country where people on the losing side of an election think you can use violence to change the result," he said.

"You contributed to one of the darkest days in the history of the country," Mehta told Webster.

Webster's sentencing, which was lower than the maximum, acknowledged the defendant's prior service. "I don't think you are a bad person. I think you got caught up in the moment," Mehta said. "And getting caught up in the moment has consequences."

Webster's trial spanned four days and hinged on conflicting accounts of the altercation between Webster and District of Columbia police officer Noah Rathbun outside the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors said that on the morning of the attack, Webster made his way to the front of the crowd of Trump supporters assembled at the law enforcement perimeter meant to protect the lawmakers inside the Capitol.

After crossing onto restricted grounds, the government alleged Webster yelled at one of officers, "You f***ing piece of [censored]. You f***ing Commie motherf***ers, man." He then allegedly used the flagpole against the officer, swinging over the police line.

The government accused Webster of tackling Rathbun to the ground, pushing against his gas mask, and ultimately pinning the officer to the group, attacks that were captured on police bodycam and open-source videos.

"He threw me to the ground," Rathbun told the jury. "I didn't provoke this encounter.

But Webster's description of the event was far different — he claimed he was the victim of a "rogue" police officer who had "punched" him in the face, a claim Rathbun flatly denied.

Mehta later called this account "utterly fanciful" ahead of sentencing Thursday. Webster, visibly emotional, apologized to Rathbun, who was in the room at the time.

Ultimately, the jury only took hours to conclude otherwise, finding Webster guilty on all counts.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/january-6-thomas-webster-sentencing-assaulting-law-enforcement/

How is trump not like a crime boss again?

Trump says he will ‘look very favorably’ at pardons, apologies for Jan. 6 rioters if elected

Former President Trump said he would be looking “very seriously” into full pardons for those charged in connection with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, if he decides to run for a second term and wins the 2024 presidential election.

In an interview with conservative radio host Wendy Bell on Thursday, Trump further stated that he would consider it “very strongly and very favorably.”

The 45th president also shared that he was “financially supporting” some of the defendants who were in his office just days ago.

“I am financially supporting people that are incredible and they were in my office actually two days ago, so they’re very much in my mind,” Trump added.

“It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them. What they’ve done to these people is disgraceful,” he said.

While Trump teased a potential 2024 run for the presidency, he stopped short of announcing it during the interview.

When asked by Bell if he would announce his run on the show, the former president shared, “Well the time is coming closer and I think you’re gonna be really happy. You have campaign finance laws that [don’t] allow you to … it’s crazy. It’s not smart. If you say it, everything changes and you have reporting and you have all things. But I will be doing something and I think you’re going to be happy.”

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on how exactly he is supporting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot defendants.

Trump’s comments come on the same day that President Biden is set to deliver a prime-time speech from Philadelphia about protecting democracy, in which he will warn that Americans’ rights and freedoms are “under attack,” according to a White House official.

It’s unclear whether Biden will explicitly mention Trump during his Thursday address, but plans for the speech suggest he’ll at least allude to the former president and his false claims about the 2020 election.

The former president reiterated recent comments he made at a Faith and Freedom event in Nashville, Tenn., last month where he said the defendants charged in the Capitol riot had their “lives destroyed,” claiming that most had been “charged with parading through the Capitol.”

Trump’s comments calling for pardons have also been criticized by his close allies, most prominently by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who shared that he thought the idea of offering pardons to Capitol riot defendants was “inappropriate.” The former president responded, calling the South Carolina Republican a “RINO,” or “Republican in name only.”

To date, more than 860 people across the country have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. More than 350 have pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes. More than 115 have been incarcerated for their role in the riot.

https://thehill.com/homenews/362448...-apologies-for-jan-6-rioters-if-elected/

Assault a police officer? No problem. Threaten to hang the vice president? No problem. Try to interfere with the certification of a presidential election? No problem. Just as long as you do it in the name of trump.

Now there video from Georgia showing a fake elector allowing access to voting machines by trump operatives.

trump has demonstrated his firm belief that he is above the law. He has done everything possible to throw an election.

Even his appointed Attorney General Barr and Pompeo his Secretary of State has come out against him.

Every citizen in the United States should turn of this criminal.

Link?

Not only that, he just recently dangled "pardons and apologies" to Jan 6th rioters. You know- those 'people' who treated the U.S. Capitol the same way Watts rioters treated LA storefronts back in '65. You know- the 'people' who smashed their way inside, the 'people' who erected a public gallows to hang the sitting VP, the 'people' who stole the House Speaker's podium. The same 'people' who smeared their own feces on the walls of America's seat of governance. Yep- those 'patriots.' He's promised to let them off... and issue a formal (I assume official) apology to them- IF he makes it back to the White House. "Break the law for me and my interests, and I'll make sure you never have to pay for it."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? "If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them. I'll pay the legal fees-"


Too bad he doesn't even pay his own personal lawyers. Good luck holding him to his word to pay Joe Rube's lawyer fees. But that's a side issue for another convo.



So has virtually everyone who spent time in/near The Oval in the 4 years he shambled his way through that post.

The list of tell-all books is exhausting. And each individual perspective paints the same portrait of the man, seen through different lenses. Not one single memoire paints him in a positive light. Dozens of people- all (loosely) aligned to one central figure for their own reasons... telling us the same story about his character, time after time, after time, after time- the book has (literally) been written on this man for 4 decades- and these newest revelations only give us new levels of (excruciating) detail into what we've always known.


bone- it's happening right in front of our faces. People are openly breaking the law to elevate this person. They will risk going to jail, doing things for him that they would never do for anyone else, under any circumstance. I've seen this in small-scale instances (Jim Jones, Branch Davidians), I've seen it on an international isolated level (Sun-Myung Moon), but I've never seen anything on this scale before.

I saw through this guy the first time I ever laid eyes/ears on him.
My Dad was a cop- and taught me how to spot a confidence game before I'd even had my first kiss from a girl.

Dad also taught me this lesson: "Never call out the trick behind the booth at the county fair, Bobby. You could get beat up by a carney- or some rube who loves his favorite booth."


_________________


That's why I'm no longer trying to talk to TrumpHumprz about what They Boy iz up to.
I see it. They don't.

That's enough to direct my efforts elsewhere.

DT Trump Fans will have to find out about him on their own.
If they are ever ready to truly see him.



pfffffft.

Bro- go watch some TV news.
It's literally everywhere.

I've seen the same grainy GA county-ass footage from at least 6 different outlets.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/06/poli...-breach-coffee-county-georgia/index.html

In addition fact check who these people were. The guys carrying the bags. Who they worked for and what happened after they left.

There was a consolidated effort in Wi, Az, Ga, Mi, Pa, with this fake electors scheme. trump gave rudy his marching orders.

The amazing part of it all is they refuse to look anywhere that something like this may be reported, which as you mentioned is almost everywhere with video proof. They shield themselves from it as if they are avoiding the plague. Is it any wonder they believe that these things are made up and they don't know what's really going on and has gone on?

Trump is who we thought he is.
Trump is who he told us he is.
Trump is who he showed us he is.
Trump is who nearly every person who worked closely with him over the last 5 years told us he is.
Trump is a corrupt POS.

Barr is pretty much the same - after getting his job by writing to Trump and telling him his view is that a sitting POTUS can't be prosecuted.

Cohen might be a disgraced individual - but at least he's paid for his transgressions. The words he's speaking are 100% truth.

Not sure what I was listening to on the radio, but someone asked a good question..

Why haven't they checked his other residenences.. Trump Tower, Badminster? What about his Jet. Where ever Melania is living?

Man Seen Crushing Officer With Shield During Capitol Siege Convicted Of 7 Felonies

Patrick Edward McCaughey III had been filmed pressing a riot shield against police during last year's riot in Washington.

A Connecticut man who was filmed using a police riot shield to violently pin and crush an officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has been found guilty of seven felonies and two misdemeanors, the Department of Justice said.

Patrick Edward McCaughey III, 25, of Ridgefield was convicted Tuesday of the nine charges related to his participation in the insurrection, which was fueled by then-President Donald Trump’s election loss.

These included assaulting or aiding and abetting in assaulting law enforcement officers, obstruction of an official proceeding and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.

The most serious obstruction charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, reported CBS affiliate WUSA9 in Washington.

Two other men —26-year-old Tristan Chandler Stevens of Pensacola, Florida, and 63-year-old David Mehaffie of Kettering, Ohio — were also convicted by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden on Tuesday for their own roles in the Capitol attack, with Stevens guilty of nine offenses and MeHaffie of four.

Both men were acquitted of the most serious obstruction charge, which the judge, a 2017 Trump appointee, said prosecutors failed to prove. It was the first time that a judge has acquitted a Jan. 6 defendant of a felony at trial, WUSA reported.

All three men are set to be sentenced in January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Upon his conviction, McCaughey was ordered to be taken into custody and held until then.

Authorities said McCaughey, Stevens and Mehaffie broke into the U.S. Capitol while rallying fellow rioters who appeared hesitant to illegally cross the building’s outer perimeter.

“Mehaffie hung from an archway and shouted direction from above, and McCaughey and Stevens were key players in the melee below,” federal prosecutors said.

A YouTube video cited by prosecutors in McCaughey’s criminal affidavit showed him taking a police riot shield and pressing it against Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges, who was seen pinned between two doors in a tunnel.



As he pushed against Hodges, McCaughey was heard telling the officer to “go home.” He appeared to warn Hodges that he’s “going to get squished,” according to the affidavit.

“As the officer was being pinned to the door by McCaughey, a separate rioter was violently ripping off the officer’s gas mask, exposing the officer’s bloodied mouth,” the affidavit states. “As McCaughey was using the riot shield to push against the officer, numerous other rioters behind and around McCaughey appeared to add to the weight against the officer.”

Hodges, in a later interview with CBS News, said the mob took his baton and hit him in the head with it as well.

“I definitely considered that that might be it,” he told the outlet. “I might not be able to make it out of there.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patr...-insurrection_n_6321cb97e4b082746be55552

Just another average daily tour of the capitol by very fine people.

Then there is this.

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas presented an honorary American flag recently flown above the US Capitol to a convicted January 6
rioter after she was released from prison Friday.

If that doesn't gag you then how can you be a citizen of the US?

A flag is given to families of killed of soldiers killed in combat. A gesture to show that their sacrifice meant something.

And this bag of pus gives this traitor a flag. He should be exiled from the US.

Imagining this pos as a future pardon recipient in this murica.

Speaking of which......

Trump called into small rally held in support of DC-jailed Jan. 6 prisoners

Former President Trump said Jan. 6 prisoners are being treated “very unfairly” during a call-in to a small rally at the Washington, D.C., jail on Tuesday.

Trump called Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbitt, who authorities shot and killed during the Capitol riot, to express his support for those being detained at the jail in connection with their involvement on Jan. 6.

“It’s a terrible thing that has happened to a lot of people that are being treated very, very unfairly,” Trump said. “We love Ashli, and it was so horrible what happened to her. That that man shot Ashli is a disgrace.”

Babbitt’s family filed a lawsuit last year in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia seeking records on the officers that shot her.

The former president’s comments were posted by a livestreamer who said he covers the America First movement and recent trucker convoys.

As Trump spoke, a protester wearing a chicken mask waved a sign that read “fart noises” behind Witthoeft, who was holding the phone to a microphone.

“There’s never been a thing like this has happened in our country, and I just want to tell everybody that’s listening, we’re with you, we’re working with a lot of different people on this, and we can’t let this happen,” Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants since leaving office.

During an interview with conservative radio host Wendy Bell earlier this month, Trump said he was “financially supporting” some of the defendants and that he would consider “very strongly and very favorably” pardoning the defendants if he wins a second term in 2024.

Trump has mulled another bid for the White House but has not yet made a formal announcement.

The former president’s suggestion that he might pardon the defendants was met with strong opposition from many GOP senators, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), a Trump ally.

Others in the party, however, like Trump, condemned the treatment of Jan. 6 prisoners. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) visited the jail in November, and her office referred to their cells as the “patriot wing” of the facility.

The month prior, a federal judge found D.C. corrections officials in contempt over the treatment of a Jan. 6 defendant and referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a civil rights investigation.

After an inspection of the facility found “deplorable” conditions, the judge ordered the defendant, who was diagnosed with cancer, be transferred to another prison.

The Capitol attack has led to numerous investigations. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 870 total defendants from nearly every state as of last week, and about 380 of those individuals have pleaded guilty.

https://thehill.com/policy/national...Rmv-5Yon2xu4nj0OLUJXGND8iRfHFbA51JEhELsg

In further news, The FBI eats free at Hardees.. Also, try their new Pillowy Biscuits....

Now that's funny. I don't care who you are.

When you live in a dreamland you need lots of pillows.

Michigan man gets 5 years in prison for role in Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Michigan man was sentenced on Friday to five years in federal prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack by a mob that disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Chief Judge Beryl Howell also sentenced Anthony Robert Williams, 47, of Southgate, Michigan, to three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution and a $5,000 fine, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.

In June, a jury convicted Williams of a felony count of obstructing the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College vote. Jurors also convicted him of four related misdemeanor offenses.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of five years and four months for Williams, who was arrested in Detroit in March 2021.

In a Facebook post three days after the riot, Williams called himself an “Operation Swamp Storm veteran” and referred to Jan. 6 as the “proudest day of my life.” He added that it “felt like the founding fathers were smiling down on us in that room, and I guarantee my dad and gramps, both vets, would be proud.”

“Williams’ participation in the riot was purposeful, extensive, enthusiastic, and remorseless,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Outside the Capitol, Williams stole water bottles that police intended to use for decontaminating themselves from chemical spray, according to prosecutors. They said Williams entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing doors and joined other rioters in overwhelming police officers in the Crypt area.

“Williams advanced to the Rotunda where he celebrated with other rioters and smoked marijuana,” prosecutors wrote. “When the police tried to force Williams out of the Rotunda, he joined with other rioters and actively resisted and mocked the police.”

Williams’ attorneys requested a sentence of 15 months of incarceration.

“Mr. Williams has learned from his experience and from listening to the testimony at trial and during jury selection. He will not become involved in something like this ever again,” they wrote.

More than 870 people have been charged with federal crimes for the conduct on Jan. 6. More 260 of them have been sentenced, with roughly half of them receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years. Only five other Capitol riot defendants have been sentenced to a longer prison term than Williams.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politi...ixJz7OEBnk4J6ecEkYzWXiKkkIULrIBrEs-IxYSI

Just for comparison - and to put things into perspective - A woman is serving 4 years in prison for a verbal encounter with police at a BLM protest.

https://www.insider.com/south-carolina-woman-serving-4-year-prison-verbal-encounter-police-2022-9

The narrative that if Jan 6th had been a minority protest - that it would never have happened and there would be many more dead protesters seems like it's all but forgotten but it is oh so true. Anyone suggesting the perpetrators of Jan 6th are being treated harshly need to pay more attention.

Video Shows Trump Allies Handling Georgia Voting Equipment

https://www.yahoo.com/news/video-shows-trump-allies-handling-121425894.html


like i said before, trump supporters are like rappers. all they do is self snitch on themselves. got these clowns on video trying to rig crap. like the losers who rob somebody then hop on social media bragging about it.

Well, if you can get that software in the hands of Putin's cyber terrorists, you might have another route to cheat in 24. But I honestly can't imagine that software is not highly encrypted before deployment. Trump bumkins wouldn't know that though. We all saw the results of his cyber ninjas or whatever in AZ. I seriously hope all these people go to jail for a LONG ass time for their parts in the big lie.

It's so *ing true.
Jan 6: Magas, live-streaming they mess at the Capitol on cell phones... most of which prolly had 'location services' activated the entire time...
-so now, Feds know where each of them was, at any moment on 1/6... they also know when/where each of them stopped for a lunch/fillup at every Pilot/Flying J along the way to and from D.C.

To date, we now have at least 900 arrests. Arrests that are now working their way through the Justice System.
Let me now overstate the obvious, for those of us Dawgs who still resist acknowledging Reality:

[b]The Department of Justice and the FBI do not spend money, time, manpower and vital American resources pursuing, pinching, and prosecuting 'peaceful 1/6 D.C. tourists.' These people spend America's resources on The Worst of the Worst- the true threats to America's safety. And these seditionist, mouth-breathing Yay-Hoos handed them all the evidence they needed to run up the win count when these cases have come to trial. Some of these 'proud patriots' have broken down into tears on the witness stand. Others have taken their consequences, and renounced the ideaology behind their previous actions.

____________________

This is the level of '3D chess' they're showing us.

Damn, Swish.
It's so obvious.

-and yet- so many seeing this painful truth remain so oblivious.


[slow headshake]

It is one thing to vote for trump. That alone is part of democratic choice.

However, to deny that he lost and then try to stop the transition of office to the winner of the election.

That should be at the very least a one way ticket out of the country in permanent exile.

#micdrop

Raskin really digs in on the problem.. We need to hear more from him.

US Capitol rioter and alleged Nazi sympathizer sentenced to 4 years in prison

Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, an ex-Army reservist and US Capitol rioter who said January 6, 2021, was “exhilarating” and felt like “civil war” was sentenced on Thursday to four years behind bars.

“This is a significant sentence,” District Judge Trevor McFadden said.

McFadden lambasted Hale-Cusanelli for his “sexist, racist and antisemitic comments” that the judge said motivated, in part, his actions that day.

Hale-Cusanelli, who was convicted in May of all five charges he faced, including the felony of obstructing an official proceeding, told the judge he “would never see my face again.”

“I disrespected my uniform” on January 6, Hale-Cusanelli added, asking the judge for mercy. He also was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

During the riot, video shows Hale-Cusanelli yelling for the mob to “advance” before breaching the US Capitol himself, and later signaling for more rioters to join him inside. Hale-Cusanelli also tried to pull another rioter away from a police officer who was detaining the individual.

“You absolutely knew what you and others were doing,” McFadden said Thursday, adding that Hale-Cusanelli lied during his testimony in trial when he claimed he didn’t know Congress met in the Capitol, despite telling his roommate that he was just outside the House chambers during the riot.

McFadden repeatedly castigated Hale-Cusanelli for racist commentary that “normalizes violence,” pointing to the recent increase of antisemitic violence in the US.

In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued that Hale-Cusanelli should receive 78 months behind bars and pointed to his desire for a civil war and antisemitic conspiracies, saying that Jews controlled Democrats, President Joe Biden and all of government.

“It is well-established in the record at this point that Hale-Cusanelli subscribes to White Supremacist and Nazi-Sympathizer ideologies that drive his enthusiasm for another civil war and formed the basis of this Court’s pretrial determination that Hale-Cusanelli was a danger to the community,” prosecutor Kathryn Fifield wrote.

“What Hale-Cusanelli was doing on January 6 was not activism,” Fifield added. “It was the preamble to his civil war.”

During his trial, Hale-Cusanelli’s defense attorney Jonathan Crisp told the jury that his client simply says these things to “agitate” others and “get attention.” Hale-Cusanelli testified that he was half Jewish and not an anti-Semite.

In his sentencing memorandum, another attorney for Hale-Cusanelli, Nicholas Smith, wrote that his client’s “upbringing was like something from Oliver Twist” and that he was raised by “effectively career criminals” and drug abusers. Smith, in his filing, asked that Hale-Cusanelli be sentenced to 20 months in prison with time served.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/22/poli...14mQtbTiyWrpBSAM_peuTi6mjPBeMVRjVKB14jSY

An advisor to the January 6 committee said he traced a call from a rioter's phone to the White House while the Capitol was under siege
Azmi Haroun 10 hours ago

A former technical advisor to the January 6th Committee said that on the day of the insurrection, a call with a rioter may have been coming from inside the White House.

Dan Riggleman, a former Republican Congressman and technical advisor to the January 6th committee, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" that he traced a call between a rioter and the White House switchboard while the US Capitol was under siege. He told CBS that he felt that the call couldn't have been accidental and wanted to dig deeper.

"You get a real 'a-ha' moment when you see that the White House switchboard had connected to a rioter's phone while it's happening," Riggleman told 60 Minutes in a preview clip. "That's a big, pretty big 'a-ha' moment."

Riggleman said in the interview that he wasn't able to confirm who in the White House was on the other line. White House call logs obtained by the Washington Post showed that there was a seven-hour gap in the records available for January 6. 2021.

"I only know one end of that call," Riggleman said, looking concerned. According to CBS, Riggleman stopped working with the committee in April after helping conduct an involved analysis of phone records and data tied to the coordination of the insurrection.

The committee will hold a public hearing on September 28, in what could be the final session with previously unreleased witness testimony. Following next week's hearing, the panel will hear from Ginni Thomas, the conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Clarence Thomas.


https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-committee-advisor-rioter-made-call-to-white-house-2022-9


Seems clear to me that those missing call logs are an admission of guilt and attempts to hide damning evidence. If I was the January 6th committee, I would be puttinmg maximal effort into tracking those records down.

It was probably Hillary calling from the Whitehouse basement. I hear there’s a pizza joint down there with a child trafficking ring being run out of its basement.

Eve will come along and confirm that to be true.

oath breaker Stewart Rhodes goes on trial today.

In days gone by justice for a traitor like him would have been swift. Up against a wall and shot.

Today we are considered more civilized. Rhodes is a dangerous insurrectionist who wanted to overthrow the government. He plotted to have people killed.

This guy deserves the max penalty that can be given.

Actually jury selection for that trial begins today.

I just want to see this guy pinned to a wall.

I would say most Patriots feel the same way.

‘Let’s get right to the violence’: New documentary film footage shows Roger Stone pre-Election Day

The day before the 2020 election, Roger Stone, the long-time Republican operative and ally of former President Donald Trump, said in front of a documentary film crew that he had no interest in waiting to tally actual votes before contesting the election results.

“F**k the voting, let’s get right to the violence,” Stone can be heard saying, according to footage provided by a Danish documentary film crew and obtained by CNN.

The clip is one of multiple pieces of footage obtained by CNN that the filmmakers also shared with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The video shows Stone as an early proponent of contesting the election – even before the results were in – and raising the possibility of violence months before January 6.

The filmmakers tell CNN they came to an agreement to share certain clips with the committee after a subpoena for the footage was signed by the panel’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, and delivered to the filmmakers in Copenhagen about two months ago.

The filmmakers, Christoffer Guldbrandsen and Frederik Marbell, followed Stone for portions of about three years for their documentary film.

The footage shared with the committee may be incorporated into its upcoming hearing this week. Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, suggested publicly over the weekend that the panel has more to reveal about the connection between Stone and domestic extremist groups, as well as efforts to keep Trump in power after the US Capitol attack and the ongoing threats to democracy.

“Stay tuned,” Raskin said at the Texas Tribune festival when asked about Stone’s possible connections to the Capitol riot.

“He’s someone who I think saw where things were going,” Raskin said.

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, the filmmakers said the committee appeared interested in footage that focused on Stone’s relationship with the White House, and also his alleged ties to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. The filmmakers said they were not able to establish a link between Stone, those groups and the White House.

Members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys face multiple charges – including seditious conspiracy – for their actions during the Capitol riot.

The trial for several Oath Keepers, including their leader Stewart Rhodes, will begin with jury selection on Tuesday.

When committee investigators traveled to Denmark to review documentary footage related to Stone, they came to agreement with the filmmakers to share 8 minutes of video that were of interest to the panel and within the scope of its investigation. Politico first reported that trip in August.

The film crew was also contacted by the FBI in March and has not shared footage with federal investigators, the filmmakers said. The FBI did not issue the crew a subpoena, they said.



In a second clip of the documentary, also obtained by CNN, Stone said that Trump should prematurely claim victory on election night 2020.

“I really do suspect it’ll still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine tenths of the law, no we won,” Stone said on November 1, 2020, according to the footage.

In another clip, filmed a week after January 6, Stone is seen criticizing the White House Counsel’s Office for what he described as their argument that Trump could not provide preemptive pardons to Stone and others for their alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the election.

“I believe the President is for it. The obstacles are these – are these lily livered, weak kneed, bureaucrats in the White House Counsel’s Office and now they must be crushed because they’ve told the President something that’s not true,” Stone says in the clip.

As far back as July 2020, Stone talked about challenging the upcoming presidential election in the courts. “The election will not be normal,” he said.

“Sorry, we’re not accepting them,” he said of the anticipated results. “We’re challenging them in court.”

“If the electors show up at the Electoral College, armed guards will throw them out,” he continued. “I’m challenging all of it. And the judges we’re going to, are judges I appointed.”

Stone disputed the authenticity of the footage.

“I challenge the accuracy and the authenticity of these videos and believe they have been manipulated and selectively edited. I also point out that the filmmakers do not have the legal right to use them. How ironic that Kim Kardashian and I are both subjected to computer manipulated videos on the same day,” Stone said in a statement to CNN.

“The excerpts you provided below prove nothing, certainly they do not prove I had anything to do with the events of January 6th. That being said, it clearly shows I advocated for lawful congressional and judicial options,” he added.

It’s unclear what the committee may have uncovered, but there are some basic details that are known of Stone’s whereabouts and involvement in the events surrounding January 6.

On January 5, the day before the Capitol attack, members of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers provided security for Stone during a rally that day, including driving him around on a golf cart.

Stone also had contacts with the Proud Boys, a right-wing group known for street violence, and has been recorded reciting the group’s creed in a video released by the House select committee.

According to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the committee this summer, the night before January 6, Trump told then-chief of staff Mark Meadows to ask Stone and former national security adviser Michael Flynn what was going to happen on January 6.

Hutchinson testified that Meadows called Stone and Flynn that evening and tried to go to Washington’s Willard Hotel, where Trump supporters – including Stone – had set up a “war room.”

Stone, who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, has not been charged with a crime related to the Capitol attack.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/26/poli...ZJCqbxr-r8OKN5w_z307JJMqAip22CVFDvqh4HD8

Another cockroach human that needs squashed under Liberty’s foot.

ABSOLUTELY- ANY American who stated the Jan 6 insurrectionists were just tourists is completely out of it. The Jan 6 committee has the facts- Trump and his co-conspirators tried to stay in power- pure and simple- they had a plan/ or plans- thank God a forgotten hero, Mike Pence, would NOT do the former President's bidding. EVERY ONE of those fake electors should be in prison with the folks who thought up the REAL attempted STEAL. Trump needs to go to jail.

Trump fan who assaulted Officer Fanone on Jan. 6 sentenced to more than 7 years in prison

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...HLNErJARTWyY2wyrTzWMDJcTjaC5nlZjByByl0Vs

I'm happy they are going down, but prefer when we used to hang traitors in this country. I'd buy the rope for Trump and his closest allies if I could.

January 6 rioter who formed his own militia sentenced to more than 4 years for assaulting officer

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/28/poli...Vt-jrFucO2_HNV480Rjd7pZ_EvE8vmzEX-p4HPa4

I have zero compassion for these traitors.

None at all. I want them prosecuted to the fullest extent.

Actually I wish they could be expelled from the country. Exiled for good.

They tried to overthrow the government and stop a rightful election. They do not deserve to live in this country.

Good point

In my opinion, they are guilty of treason and should be treated as such

I agree.

I posted this elsewhere a couple weeks ago - but a woman got 4 years for a VERBAL ALTERCATION with a police officer at a BLM protest. Looking at some of these sentences for Jan 6th I believe they are WAY too lenient.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/11/us/brittany-martin-south-carolina-sentence-reaj/index.html

Thomas is lying plain and simple.

Judge Thomas has to recuse himself. He is a failure to the SC if he does not.

As shocking a situation and blemish on our history as sycophant Barr as US attorney general - lying and deflecting for Trump before finally realizing too late that he'd done all that for a wanna be tyrant King.

Remember when Biden was knocked because of the way he handled the confirmation hearings for Thomas,,, Looks like he was right......

In fairness, when I go back and rewatch the Thomas hearings, I'm not sure I totally understand what Biden was getting at.

Secret recording played at trial shows Oath Keepers allegedly planning for January 6

Federal prosecutors played audio recording in court on Tuesday of an alleged November 2020 Oath Keepers planning meeting that discussed plans to bring weapons to Washington, DC, and prepare to “fight” on behalf of former President Donald Trump.

The meeting lasted about two hours and was secretly recorded by an attendee, FBI agent Michael Palian told jurors during the second day of the trial of far-right militia Oath Keepers leaders on seditious conspiracy charges.

The attendee, Palian said, sent a tip to the FBI later that month but was not contacted by agents. They then resubmitted the tip in March 2021, was interviewed with agents and gave them the recording.

The recording, which is primarily of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, is the first major piece of evidence that prosecutors have used to establish a plan by the far-right group to allegedly descend on Washington and oppose the transfer of power.

“We’re not getting out of this without a fight. There’s going to be a fight,” Rhodes said in the recording played in court. “But let’s just do it smart and let’s do it while President Trump is still commander in chief,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes repeatedly said that people should put pressure on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, and that the Oath Keepers would be “awaiting the president’s orders.”

“If the fight comes, let the fight come. Let Antifa go – if they go kinetic on us then we’ll go kinetic back on them. I’m willing to sacrifice myself for that,” Rhodes said in the recording. “If things go kinetic, good. If they blow bombs up and shoot us, great. Because that brings the President reason and rationale” to invoke the Insurrection Act.

He continued, “so our mission going to be to go into DC, but I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in if they have to. So, if the s**t kicks off, then you rock and roll.”

Two other defendants, Jessica Watkins and Kelly Meggs, are also on the recording discussing what weapons are legal to bring into the district, prosecutors said.

“Pepper spray is legal. Tasers are legal. And stun guns are legal. And it doesn’t hurt to have a lead pipe with a flag on it,” Meggs said on the recording.

After the meeting, Meggs and Watkins both told their state Oath Keeper delegations that they were going to go to Washington. Watkins wrote to Ohio members, “Anybody not on the call tonight. We have been issued a call to action for DC. This is the moment we signed up for.”

All five defendants have pleaded not guilty to the seditious conspiracy charge they face, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/poli...9izd4c3Ts62B-7Fz4LCgk7QLdeylTLb-druOyMhQ

Ohio pastor facing multiple Jan. 6 charges

Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested an Ohio pastor and charged him with felony and misdemeanor charges after he allegedly entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, rioting.

William Dunfee, 57, of Frazeysburg, is charged with obstructing an official proceeding and interfering with a law enforcement officer, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), along with five other misdemeanor charges.

Dunfee is scheduled to make an appearance Wednesday in front of a judge at the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio.

He is a pastor at the Christian church New Beginning Ministries in Warsaw, Ohio. According to his biographical page, Dunfee became a pastor in 1994 and helped found the New Beginnings church in 2001.

In late December 2020, Dunfee delivered a sermon asking his followers if they were “ready” for Jan. 4 through Jan. 6, according to the DOJ.

“The Government, the tyrants, the socialists, the Marxists, the progressives, the RINOs [Republicans in Name Only], they fear you. And they should,” he allegedly said. “Our problem is we haven’t given them reason to fear us.”

On Jan. 6, Dunfee arrived at the Capitol and led other rioters into the building in a bid to stop the certification of the 2020 election. He used a bullhorn to address other Capitol rioters and exclaimed “Hallelujah!” during the deadly attacks.

Dunfee is also a member of the Salt and Light Brigade, a pro-Christian movement that vows to “defend the Judeo-Christian worldview” and take “the fight to the enemy.”

The Salt and Light Brigade is part of Pass the Salt Ministries, an Ohio-based charity founded by Dave Daubenmire that has offered armed tactical training to members.

Daubenmire is a self-described “veteran” football coach known for a legal battle with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the 1990s. The ACLU had sued him for mixing prayer with football coaching; the case was settled outside of court, but the ACLU won restrictions.

Daubenmire, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2010, brought around 129 people to the Capitol rioting, according to The Epoch Times.

An attorney defending one of the four members of the Oath Keepers group who went on trial earlier this week said his defendant, Kenneth Harrelson, was falsely accused of acts on Jan. 6 that the Salt and Light Brigade engaged in.

The judge rejected the attorney’s motion to delay the trial after he raised concerns, according to the Epoch Times.

The Oath Keepers are a far-right militia with 11 members accused of engaging in seditious conspiracy during the Capitol attacks.

The DOJ has arrested more than 870 defendants in connection to the attacks and have charged more than 265 with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3675132-ohio-pastor-facing-multiple-jan-6-charges/

Strip him of any religious tax exemptions for life.

It's a little too late. He has already infected his flock.

Let him preach in jail.

I don't believe pastors get any tax exemptions.

‘Him’ as in, any church he’s leading.

Riot plea: Proud Boys member admits to seditious conspiracy

WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday to plotting with other members of the far-right Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge.

Jeremy Joseph Bertino, 43, has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation of the role that Proud Boys leaders played in the mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a federal prosecutor said.

Bertino’s cooperation could ratchet up the pressure on other Proud Boys charged in the siege, including former national chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio.

The guilty plea comes as the founder of the another extremist group, the Oath Keepers, and four associates charged separately in the Jan. 6 attack stand trial on seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War era offense that calls for up to 20 years behind bars.

Bertino traveled to Washington with other Proud Boys in December 2020 and was stabbed during a fight, according to court documents. He was not in Washington for the Jan. 6 riot because he was still recovering from his injuries, court papers say.

Bertino participated in planning sessions in the days leading up to Jan. 6 and received encrypted messages as early as Jan. 4 indicating that Proud Boys were discussing possibly storming the Capitol, according to authorities.

A statement of offense filed in court says that Bertino understood the Proud Boys’ goal in traveling to Washington was to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory and that the group was prepared to use force and violence if necessary to do so.

On Jan. 6, Bertino applauded the insurrection from afar and sent messages encouraging other Proud Boys to keep pushing toward the Capitol.

“DO NOT GO HOME. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF SAVING THE CONSTITUTION,” he wrote on a social media account. That night, he messaged Tarrio, “You know we made this happen.”

Bertino also pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully possessing firearms in March 2022 in Belmont, North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly agreed to release Bertino pending a sentencing hearing, which wasn’t immediately scheduled.

Justice Department prosecutor Erik Kenerson said sentencing guidelines for Bertino’s case recommend a prison sentence ranging from four years and three months to five years and three months.

A trial is scheduled to start in December for Tarrio and four other members charged with seditious conspiracy: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. The charging document for Bertino’s case names those five defendants and a sixth Proud Boys member as his co-conspirators.

Tarrio’s case is among the most serious charged in the attack, which sent lawmakers running and left dozens of officers bloodied and bruised.

Nayib Hassan, one of Tarrio’s attorneys, said Bertino’s cooperation doesn’t change the landscape for his client’s case. He described Bertino as “just another individual who is going to be testifying.” Tarrio is “still looking forward to his day at trial,” Hassan added.

The indictment in Tarrio’s case alleges that the Proud Boys held meetings and communicated over encrypted messages to plan for the attack in the days leading up to Jan. 6. On the day of the riot, authorities say Proud Boys dismantled metal barricades set up to protect the Capitol and mobilized, directed and led members of the crowd into the building.

Video testimony by Bertino was featured in June at the first hearing by the House committee investigating Jan. 6. The committee showed a clip of Bertino saying that the group’s membership “tripled, probably” after Trump’s comment at a presidential debate that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by.”

Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6, but authorities say he helped put into motion the violence that day. Police arrested Tarrio in Washington two days before the riot and charged him with vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in December 2020. Tarrio was released from jail on Jan. 14 of this year after serving his five-month sentence for that case.

More than three dozen people charged in the Capitol riot have been identified by federal authorities as leaders, members or associates of the Proud Boys. Two — Matthew Greene and Charles Donohoe — pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College vote.

Proud Boys members describe the group as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists.” They have brawled with antifascist activists at rallies and protests. Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it as a hate group.

Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president and a member of the group’s national “Elders Council.” Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, is a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola is a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

https://apnews.com/article/2022-mid...7fTwMU7ioN05ZsEaqn6PhaH3-tbo9jXSEle0Xe7k

Trumps turn to talk..... will he?

Just a lone voice crying out into the evil wilderness..........................

Trump 'loves the idea of testifying' before Jan. 6 committee: source close to the former president
Trump would use his testimony to showcase 'how Nancy Pelosi did not call up the National Guard' and other issues

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump "loves the idea of testifying" before the House select committee investigating January 6th, a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital just after the panel unanimously voted to subpoena him.

The source said that if Trump complied with the subpoena and testified, he would "talk about how corrupt the election was, how corrupt the committee was, and how Nancy Pelosi did not call up the National Guard that Trump strongly recommended for her to do three days earlier on January 3, 2021."

The source told Fox News Digital that it is unclear at this point if Trump actually will testify before the committee, but stressed that Trump "loves the idea."

The committee — which consists of seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans — voted Thursday to compel Trump to testify about his conduct leading up to and during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, Trump slammed the committee and its investigation as a "witch hunt."

"The committee is a hoax, a sham, a partisan witch hunt which is a continuation of the witch hunt that has gone on since the great day for our country that I came down the golden escalator with our future first lady," Trump said. "They have no case, they have no ratings, so they have to try to do this to get publicity."

Trump did not comment on whether he would testify before the committee.

Trump told Fox News Digital that the investigation has been "a partisan witch hunt, together with two Republicans that have been thrown out of the party — one not wanting to run because he couldn’t win; and another losing by a record number of more than 40 points."

Trump was referring to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who lost her primary earlier this year, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who decided not to run for re-election.

Trump told Fox News Digital that the committee "never covered the important subject of election fraud, or why Pelosi and the mayor of D.C. did not call up the National Guard — which I strongly recommended."

"They didn’t cover the reason for January 6 — the largest crowd — it wasn’t set up by me," Trump said. "The committee didn’t cover election fraud, which was massive, and they didn't cover why Pelosi didn’t call the National Guard."

Trump said that he had recommended that Pelosi and the mayor of Washington call up the National Guard on Jan. 6 because he "felt the crowd was going to be far bigger than anyone understood."

"They didn’t do their job. I believed the crowd was going to be bigger — just my instinct — and they had the chance to call up the National Guard three days before Jan. 6, and if they did, Jan. 6 would have been a very different day," Trump said. "But they didn’t do it."

He added: "They were derelict in their duty. I gave them the authorization and the recommendation to call up the National Guard."

Lawmakers on the House Committee on Jan. 6 have been investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and allege that Trump’s insistence that the 2020 election was stolen stoked the violence as Congress convened to certify the Electoral College votes.

Hours before the riot, Trump held a rally in Washington, D.C., in which he encouraged his supporters to protest President Biden's Electoral College certification. Trump told his followers during that speech to protest "peacefully and patriotically," but, in the weeks leading up to the certification, suggested the rally would be "wild."

Trump's spokesman Taylor Budowich tweeted after the vote Thursday that just 26 days before the midterm elections, "instead of using their final days in power to make life for Americans any better, Democrats are doubling and tripling down on their partisan theatrics. Democrats have no solutions and they have no interest in leading our great nation."

"They are simply bitter, power hungry & desperate," Budowich tweeted. "Pres Trump will not be intimidated by their meritless rhetoric or un-American actions."

He added: "Trump-endorsed candidates will sweep the Midterms, and America First leadership & solutions will be restored. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

The vote to subpoena Trump came during the committee’s 10th and likely final public hearing before the November midterm elections. Originally, the televised hearing was meant to only showcase new evidence and summarize findings from the committee’s nearly 16-month-long investigation.

"This is a question about accountability to the American people," said committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "He's required to answer to those millions of Americans whose votes he tried to throw out as part of his scheme to remain in power."

"We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion," said Cheney. "Every American is entitled to those answers, so we can act now to protect our republic."

Members of the committee said they had garnered sufficient evidence showing that the former president was the lead instigator of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"We must seek the testimony under oath of Jan. 6th's key player," said Cheney.


Trump could fight the subpoena, which likely would tip off a legal fight with just over two months left in the current Congress — a very short time frame for such a major legal dispute. If Republicans take over the House in the midterms, it's not expected they will continue the work of the Jan. 6 committee.

There was an effort by Congress in the 1840s to subpoena former Presidents John Tyler and John Quincy Adams over clandestine intelligence issues. They never provided information.

There was also an effort by the Committee on Un-American Activities to subpoena former President Harry Truman after he was out of office. He ultimately did not comply.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tr...source-says-as-trump-slams-investigation

He is going to say all the things he wants his minions to hear "if" he testifies then find a reason not to testify and blame it on the Dems shame committee. so nothing new hear. He will probably get them to give him money in the process

Quoting for emphasis.
This is spot on

A Trump employee told the FBI that the former president ordered staff to move boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago

The worker’s account offers new details about activity at Trump's Florida estate before FBI agents searched it on Aug. 8.

One of Donald Trump's employees told FBI agents the former president ordered boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago to be moved before federal agents searched the property, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source also told NBC News that the FBI obtained security video showing people moving boxes out of a storage room at Trump's Florida estate.

The Washington Post first reported the employee's account on Wednesday.

When reached by NBC News, the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment.

The worker’s account offers new details about Trump’s actions before FBI agents executed a search warrant on Aug. 8 to retrieve classified material from Mar-a-Lago based on the Justice Department's assessment in the search warrant affidavit that there were likely documents and records at Mar-a-Lago “constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime and other items illegally possessed” in violation of three laws involving mishandling of government documents.
Trump has publicly insinuated without evidence that federal agents planted evidence during their search, which according to the Justice Department unearthed 100 classified, secret and top-secret documents, as well as thousands of other documents belonging to the government.

In a post on his social media website Wednesday night, Trump continued to characterize the search as an “unprecedented and unnecessary break in of my home.”

“There is no ‘crime’ having to do with the storage of documents at Mar-a- Lago, only in the minds of the Radical Left Lunatics who are destroying our Country, and were just forced by the Courts to give me back much of what they took (STOLE?) during their unprecedented and unnecessary break in of my home,” Trump said. “These people are CRAZY!!!”

The revelation about the witness account comes just days after NBC News first reported that Trump attorney Christina Bobb spoke with federal investigators last week and named two other Trump attorneys involved with the case.

Sources previously told NBC News that Bobb, Trump’s then-custodian of record, had signed a letter in June certifying that Trump was in compliance with a grand jury subpoena in May and no longer possessed a trove of documents with classification markings at Mar-a-Lago.

But the witness’ account suggests that the boxes were moved to Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago after the subpoena was issued. A majority of the seized material was found in boxes and containers in Trump’s office and a storage room.

Bobb said in August that Justice Department officials had expressed concern during a meeting in June over the unit storing the documents, and said it wasn’t properly secured. She said that Trump officials added a lock to the facility and that FBI agents broke the lock when they searched the property.

Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich on Wednesday responded to the Washington Post report by accusing the Biden administration of using law enforcement for political purposes.

“The Biden administration has weaponized law enforcement and fabricated a Document Hoax in a desperate attempt to retain political power,” Budowich said in a statement to NBC News. “Every other President has been given time and deference regarding the administration of documents, as the President has the ultimate authority to categorize records, and what materials should be classified.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/do...-ordered-staff-move-boxes-docu-rcna52019

The Jan. 6 Committee has voted to subpoena Trump. Here's what else happened

The House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, held its ninth — and possible final — hearing on its investigation on Thursday. Unlike previous hearings that lasered in on particular pieces of former President Donald Trump and his allies' scheme to overturn the 2020 election results, Thursday's hearing put the committee's findings into a broader context.

The panel shared new testimony from Republicans who served in the Trump administration, along with new evidence produced by the Secret Service.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., noted in his opening remarks that the panel was convening as a "formal committee business meeting," which meant that in addition to presenting evidence, it could also hold a committee vote on further investigative actions.

Sure enough, the committee did vote to subpoena Trump to testify. The vote was unanimous: 9-0.

"We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion, and every American is entitled to those answers so we can act now to protect our republic," said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.

Trump responded to the vote on his Truth Social platform, calling the committee a "total bust" and criticizing it for waiting until now to ask him to testify.

Here's a look at some of Thursday's highlights:

Trump had long planned to declare victory, no matter the results. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said Brad Parscale, Trump's former campaign manager, told the panel he understood that Trump planned as early as July to insist he won the November election, no matter the results.

The panel also shared video clips of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, who was previously convicted of lying to Congress, among other crimes. Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison before Trump pardoned him weeks before leaving office.

The video clips show Stone speaking with the Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen about plans for election night.

"I really do suspect it will still be up in the air," Stone said. "When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. No, we won, f*** you."

Recently, the Select Committee obtained footage of Roger Stone before and after the election. pic.twitter.com/6mRdWwMSmE

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) October 13, 2022
In a different clip, Stone said: "F*** the voting, let's get right to the violence. We'll have to start smashing pumpkins, if you know what I mean."

Stone invoked the 5th Amendment when asked by the panel in previous testimony about the violence during the Jan. 6 attack.

The committee also played audio from another Trump adviser, Steve Bannon, who refused to testify before the committee and is awaiting sentencing for contempt of Congress. In the audio, Bannon describes a premediated plan to declare the election invalid.

"What Trump's gonna do is just declare victory, right? He's gonna declare victory. But that doesn't mean he's a winner. He's just gonna say he's the winner," he said.

"If Trump is losing by 10 or 11 o'clock at night, it's going to be even crazier. Because he's going to sit right there and say, 'they stole it.'"

Despite publicly declaring he won, Trump privately admitted he lost the election. Testimony from former White House officials demonstrate that while the president was publicly forging a campaign to overturn the election, he privately was acknowledging his loss.

In an audio clip, Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that while in the Oval Office, Trump said something to the effect of "We lost, we need to let that issue go to the next guy."

Communications Director Alyssa Farah recalled this comment from Trump: "I popped into the Oval just to give the president the headlines and see how he was doing. And he was looking at the TV and he said, 'Can you believe I lost to this f***ing guy?' "

At times, President Trump acknowledged the reality of his loss after the election. Although he publicly claimed that he had won, privately, he admitted that Joe Biden would take over as President. pic.twitter.com/urgTGKVD3y

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) October 13, 2022
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, in video testimony, said Trump and attorney John Eastman called her to ask her to arrange a fake elector scheme.

"I vaguely remember him mentioning that he was a professor, and then essentially he turned the call over to Mr. Eastman, who then proceeded to talk about the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather these contingent electors in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing changed the result of any of the states," McDaniel said.

Secret Service had tips about expected violence on Jan. 6. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said on Dec. 26, a Secret Service field office shared a tip that had been received by the FBI. The source said the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, planned to march into D.C. with weapons.

"They think that they will have a large enough group to march into D.C. armed and will outnumber the police so they can't be stopped," a Secret Service email read.

"Their plan is to literally kill people," the source wrote. "Please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further."

On Dec. 31, 2020, agents had sent out reports that Trump supporters planned to march and occupy the Capitol.

On Jan. 5, 2021, the agency flagged a social media account that said someone threatened to bring a sniper rifle to a rally the next day.

In previous hearings, the panel described how the crowd that arrived on Jan. 6 was heavily armed, and that many wouldn't enter into the Ellipse because they would have to go through magnetometers, a fact Trump was aware of.

The committee shared a text from Jason Miller, a communications adviser to Mark Meadows, that read: "I GOT THE BASE FIRED UP," and sent a link to a webpage that had violent comments about Jan. 6.

One comment read: "Our lawmakers in Congress can leave one of two ways. One, in a body bag. Two, after rightfully certifying Trump the winner."

New footage was played of lawmakers as they were taken to a secure location during the attack. The committee showed video footage of House and Senate leaders of both parties meeting in a secure location as the attack raged on.

"Do you believe this?" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., can be seen saying to House Majority Whip Rep. Jim Clyburn, after being informed that members on the House floor were donning tear gas masks in anticipation of a breach.

Pelosi was also showed talking on the phone to then-Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia about sending reinforcements to the Capitol. Other footage showed Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaking to acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen.

The footage of congressional leaders mobilizing to ensure that Congress could both fulfill its constitutional duty by certifying the election results and protect the Capitol and the people inside provides a stark contrast to the actions of Trump that day. The committee shared evidence that Trump ignored the pleas from his advisors to make a statement to put an end to the violence.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard chief of staff Mark Meadows say Trump didn't "think they're doing anything wrong."

Secret Service feared for Pence's safety. New documents from the agency show that after Trump tweeted his disappointment with his no. 2 on Jan. 6, an agent warned that it was "probably not going to be good for Pence." Another agent noted there were 24,000 likes on Trump's tweet within two minutes.

Anika Navaroli, a former Twitter employee, testified that the rioters were "literally calling for assassination" as Trump's tweet on Pence went out.

Mick Mulvaney confirms GOP Rep's account of McCarthy's call to Trump. GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington had previously shared details of a conversation between Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump on Jan. 6, in which McCarthy asked Trump to call off his supporters as his staff was "running for their lives."

She said the president responded: "I guess they're just more upset about the election theft than you are."

Mulvaney, a former chief of staff to Trump, corroborated that account in video testimony that was shared Thursday.

"The president told them something along the lines of, 'Kevin, maybe these people are just more angry about this than you are. Maybe they're more upset.' "

'Trump was central player'. The hearing went into more details on then-President Trump's state of mind after he lost the election and continued to pursue avenues to overturn the election results.

"[Trump] tried to take away the voice of the American people in choosing their president and replace the will of the voters with his will to remain in power," said Thompson. "He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6."

Even when top law enforcement officials told the President his election-fraud claims were false, Trump still repeated the nonsense to a wide audience, over and over again. pic.twitter.com/PIRy9XSF3O

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) October 13, 2022
In these hearings, Cheney has repeatedly put the investigation into the larger context of American democracy.

"Our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our Capitol," she said. "With every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former president, we chip away at the foundation of our Republic."

She warned that without accountability, another insurrection and assault on democracy could recur.

She added: "Please consider where our nation is in its history. Consider whether we can survive for another 246 years."

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1125333531/jan-6-hearing-recap-takeaways-trump-subpoena

You must have missed the fact that almost everything trump tells you is a lie. Try to keep up.

Don't worry. they won't say anything about it. They won't comment on it and will act like it's no big deal. They're too focused on Joe's gaffs. Apparently they're happier with a psychotic idiot that tries to overthrow our elections as president.

Your feelings for Trump should in no way excuse the fact that Biden is showing signs of dementia and has obviously lost mental acuity. He has gotten worse since taking office and covering for that is merely partisan politics.

Sadly, in his diminishing state he might still be a better choice than #2 in line.

Somewhere along the line I think would be psychiatrists may wish to not try and diagnose people. I, nor you, or anyone else on this board as far as I know has the ability or education to diagnose anyone about their mental state. There is no doubt that he is getting forgetful. There's also no doubt he has gaffs in the things he says. But those things come with age in almost everyone of his age. I have a mother in law who is 85. She too has similar things happening with her. But guess what? As far as functioning and getting her business done she is fine. She also doesn't have dementia.

I'm actually not excusing anyone. I'm saying that people who are in no way qualified to diagnose people are simply saying the most damning things they can think of undermine Biden.

He has proclaimed the same thing before - then pleaded the 5th. Pffft.

Just to add, the reason you see me comparing the two is because that was the only two legitimate choices we had that stood a chance of being elected with which to vote for. At that point one had to compare the choices and choose between the lesser of two evils. That certainly doesn't mean either choice was a good one.

Please post your resume with your areas of expertise and your accreditations so when you post outside of that we can remind you that you are not allowed to have an opinion on the subject. Until then, please don't post any opinions as you might not be qualified to think for yourself.

Oh my...check this out:

Trump to Accept Jan 6 Committee Subpoena on One Condition: He Testifies on Live TV
David HawkinsOctober 14, 2022

President Donald Trump has responded after the Democrats’ Jan. 6 Committee officially issued a subpoena for him to testify before Congress.

Trump has reportedly said that he will accept the subpoena and is happy to testify, provided he can do it on live TV.

According to reports, Trump will agree to testify but doesn’t want the Democrats and their allies in the media to selectively edit his video testimony to make him look bad.

NYT correspondent Michael Schmidt said: “Since it became public that the House select committee planned to subpoena Trump for his testimony, the former president has been telling aides he favors doing so, so long as he gets to do so live, according to a person familiar with his discussions.”

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who has long-term cooperation with Trump, told CNN’s Jake Tapper:

“In terms of the subpoena, for him, that is actually one of the things that has animated him.

“He’s been talking to advisers about how, you know, he would consider testifying if they would air it live, which is also not surprising…it seems hard to imagine the committee would go for that.”



TAPPER: That’s — that’s interesting. Do you think his lawyers would let him testify live? I mean, I can’t imagine that — I mean, it might feel good for him, but I can’t imagine that making him look sane, rational, reasonable.

I mean, I don’t see any scenario in which he ends up looking good there.

HABERMAN: I think that it would be — I also don’t see a scenario where he doesn’t potentially get himself into a fraud situation when he’s testifying under oath.

And I think it would depend on which lawyers he is listening to, Jake.

He has different lawyers in different cases, and he seeks them out for different things. And they are not always on the same page.

TAPPER: Well, right, that’s the thing. Because he would be under oath. Often when he testifies under oath, he just ends up saying, “I don’t recall, I don’t recall, I don’t recall.” Because he’s being told by lawyers that he has to do that.

But I don’t think he would do that before the committee. I just can’t imagine any attorney — although, I don’t know how he’s picking his attorneys these days. It doesn’t seem like he’s exactly going to…

HABERMAN: Right.

TAPPER: … the Harvard Law Review. So do you think — I mean, among these lesser attorneys who are giving him advice these days, do you think somebody would actually tell him, “Go ahead, do that; that’s going to be great?”

HABERMAN: At least one of his lawyers was sounding people out about the idea today of him — of him testifying and agreeing to it as long as the committee would let him do it live.

And so I certainly don’t think they’re all shutting him down.

I do think that there are people who would be concerned about it, for the same reason that his lawyers, when he was being investigated by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, were concerned about him meeting with Mueller and testifying, which Trump wanted to and they did not want him to, for the reasons you just said.

https://slaynews.com/news/trump-to-...n-one-condition-he-testifies-on-live-tv/

This thread is about the traitorous ex-POTUS and his insurrection on Jan 6th. Biden's health and medical licenses are off-topic. If you want to distract or troll, go back to 4chan.

You clearly know more about 4Chan than I do.

I was responding to a statement that included references to Biden. Might be you start there with your attempt to control what people post.

So you've got nothing. That's what i thought.

Deal. I would love to see that on live TV.

Trump writes letter to Jan. 6 committee after its vote to subpoena him and boasts about crowd size

A day after the House Jan. 6 select committee voted unanimously to subpoena former President Trump, he responded with an angry letter to committee Chairman Bennie Thompson to complain about its work. The select committee has been investigating the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and its root causes, with the aim of determining who was responsible for the mayhem and preventing it from happening again.

Trump did not mention the subpoena, and instead railed at the committee; he said he was writing "to express our anger, disappointment, and complaint that with all of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on what many consider to be a Charade and Witch Hunt." He also attacked the committee for not looking into election fraud and appeared to defend the targets of the committee, who, he claimed were just acting "as concerned American Citizens, protesting the Fraud itself."

Thompson said in Thursday's hearing that Trump "is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6. So we want to hear from him."

The former president also brought up crowd size in the letter, complete with an appendix of photos of the crowd, and assailed the committee in his first line in all capital letters: "THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN!"

The ex-president's attempts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election have all failed in court, and election security officials nominated or appointed by Trump declared the 2020 election the "most secure in history."

Trump claimed he recommended and authorized "thousands of troops to be deployed to ensure that there was peace, safety and security at the Capitol and throughout Washington, D.C., on January 6th because I knew, just based on instinct and what I was hearing, that the crowd coming to listen to my speech, and various others, would be a very big one, far bigger than anyone thought possible."

"As it turns out, it was indeed one of the largest crowds I have ever spoken [at] before, a very wide swath stretching all the way back to the Washington Monument," he continued. "The massive size of this crowd, and its meaning, has never been a subject of your Committee, nor has it been discussed by the Fake News Media that absolutely refuses to acknowledge, in any way, shape or form, the magnitude of what was taking place."

Here is trump's insane letter.....


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-...fOQqJKcektF9vROnVMnItOFAIE7N_ljEGYirrSU8

Your old tired stand by.

What's your credentials since it seems to matter for everyone else. Please dazzle us. Personal attacks? That's about it.

This is what I get for trying to have an actual discussion with you. Then you use deflection to blame others for wanting to fight. Like I've said many times, you're not very good at this. I'm not the one who pretended to be a Psychiatrist by diagnosing Biden. Try again.

But YOU tried being a psychiatrist by saying it's just "age".

I said many people of that age have the same issues. In case you missed it, that's not a diagnosis. Everyone knows these issues are often seen in people of his age. A diagnosis is the determination of why a person is having those issues. Another swing and a miss.

In case you missed it that would exactly be a diagnosis.
the identification of the nature of an illness or other problem by examination of the symptoms.

You has said his symptoms are merely old age. That is "determining why a person is having issues".

Did you want to show us those credentials now or do you want to stop with telling us your expert opinions?

Lets see...

Bidden..old Guy with tons of experience who loves America...

VS...

Trump...old Guy who is undeniably a mentally ill, illiterate crook and who is always on the take to bilk as much money as he can from the American people...


hmmm...not a hard choice for me, a true blue AMERICAN..

Now now, you are not a Doctor, you can't diagnose Trump with mental illness.... tsk tsk tsk.

And Biden obviously loves him some Biden. They are all in it for the power and money.

No - and you are on the wrong end of a bad roll of trying to pick fights with Pit "just because" ...

Stating many people of a certain age suffer similar symp[toms is not a diagnosis - it's a generalization. Just because YOU wanted to diagnose Biden with a condition doesn't mean others are doing it too.

BS! Any remotely sane person can see that Trump is nuts.

I can, I have the degree.
Trump is clearly a narcissist and a sociopath.
I am not completely sure yet but also probably a psychopath. but I need to see more.
At minimum he is hypomanic, but more likely bipolar
He also has features of paranoid schizophrenia.

Dude is totally messed up. And that is just from what can be seen publicly.

Boy oh boy... pit is gonna have a field day explaining to you both you aren't doctors. I mean anything less than full bore snark mode will just point out his hypocrisy.

Yeah, I know it won't happen.

Bluster.. Nothing but Bluster. Trump will NEVER agree to testify. NEVER.

He knows that all he can do is use the 5th. That's it. Anything else is puts him away for a long time.

the J6 has him.. But in the end, I fear it just won't matter. Too many republicans willing to look the other way,. it's not like the old days when politicians would put one of their own away for doing things trump has done.

Now this is funny stuff



‘I’m Sorry ... Mr. Snowflake’: Trump Gets Stark Reality Check From Rep. Jamie Raskin


Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Friday dismantled former President Donald Trump’s 14-page response to a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the deadly U.S. Capitol riot.

Raskin, a member of the committee, told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that Trump was already “playing his silly games” with his reply.

“I mean, that letter, including the use of the royal ‘we,’ which was pretty jarring, is just an outrageous distraction from the reality to the extent that there’s anything substance or substantive there,” he continued.

Raskin reality-checked Trump over his claim that Republicans “feel” the election was rigged, saying MAGA Republicans have as yet been unable to pinpoint to him how the vote was actually stolen.

“They can’t say. They just have a feeling. And in fact, Trump uses that too in this enormously revealing letter, where he says lots of people ‘feel’ that there was fraud,” he added. “I’m sorry. Your feelings, Mr. Snowflake, cannot dictate the course of the future of the republic. No, your feelings cannot dictate our elections.”


https://www.yahoo.com/news/m-sorry-mr-snowflake-trump-082224856.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-signed-order-immediate-large-182426010.html

Having issues pasting the full article because I’m on my phone, but this is concerning. Everyone who got after Biden for the Afghanistan withdrawal - and I’m one of them - should also be livid about this.

I said the symptoms could simply be old age. Let me try to explain this to you in language even a child can understand. For any healthcare professional to understand what tests they must run, what problems they are dealing with, they can't make a diagnosis without asking about and finding out what the symptoms are. Symptoms are simply a tool healthcare professionals use in order to make a diagnosis. They actually ask patients and sometimes even their family members what symptoms they have seen or have suffered with in order to help them.

In the case of Biden we constantly see him and watch him speak. That makes it easy to see such symptoms. Patients and their families are not healthcare professionals but every doctor asks these people about symptoms they have witnessed or changes in a patients health.

A diagnosis is what doctors arrive at after tests and procedures have been conducted based on the symptoms reported to them by those non healthcare professionals.

I hope that helps you. If not I think you are beyond help.

You're still not very good at this.

Put this in context. Before the election trump stated (paraphrasing) we will declare we won no matter the outcome.

This came out in the hearings yesterday.

trump's complete disregard for democracy, the constitution, and rule of law is blatant.

Everything he has done points to one conclusion. trump is a party of one. He cares about nothing else. His 14 page letter with pictures of crowd size?

What? His mind is like a vinyl record with a deep scratch.

30 people in trump's inner circle have been subpoenaed. They have taken the 5th. They feel their response will incriminate them.

To actually consider any vote to put these people in power is close to treason.

Democracy is not a given. It will not last if the votes of the people are not honored. trump wanted to stop all voting when he was ahead and all the votes were not counted. He wanted to throw away the votes not counted. Think about that.

The whole movement of MAGA is cancer. It should be stomped out of our government, and if need be, people.

For every soldier who has fought and died for this country the reason behind their sacrifice was the protection of democracy.

The foundation of "for the people and by the people" is the right to have your vote counted. And when the votes are counted the people have spoken.

If a new president is elected there is then the transfer of office to the new president.

Not in trump world. He said we will say I won no matter what the vote says. I will remain in power. He incited a crowd to stop the transfer of power.

He was behind a scheme of fake electors to say he won. He tried to pressure the Georgia election officials to get him the votes to win the state.

He refused to stop militias acting on his command from resorting to violence and death.

Then forced from office he stole government property. When asked to give it back. He hide classified documents.

This traitor was the president.

He should be in prison for life.

He was using any means available to block Thomas. Regardless how much of a stretch. Kinda like Herchel Walker saying he was in Law Enforcement then pulling out a badge from a cracker jacks box.. But that's just a guess on my part.

There was a part of the hearings the other day where Bannon was speaking to a group from China. He explained what trump would do no matter the outcome. (keep in mind, this was before the election even took place) His plan was to deny the loss, declare he won no matter what. The plan was to allow that to happen and when it went before SCOTUS, they would vote in Trumps favor and cause Trump to remain in power. Hell of a plan...


Early voting showed Trump ahead, remember he said he wanted all vote counting to cease at that point. Of course, that's not how it works in the US.

Trump needed to win to avoid all the legal hassles he's under now.


Ya know,, ANY ONE of us that either spent time in the military or intel community or even worked as an employee or contractor (as I did), understands that NOBODY messes with Top Secret, Secret or even confidential documents. They are always supposed to be housed in specific places. There are rules to these things and they are there for a good reason.

And NO,, You can't do a Jedi Mind Trick to declassify things. You can't think about it and have it done. There are Rules and methods and procedures to these things. There are document trails.

THEY WERE NOT HIS TO TAKE.. THEY DO NOT BELONG TO HIM!

Just some of my random thoughts on the Trump.

You have discounted Biden having anything but old age as his problem, because you agree with Biden. You don't like anyone having an opinion that differs from your own. You also, in you haste to jump on everything you don't agree with, don't realize you don't use the same bar for other situations. Watson and Kraft ("OH THE WOMEN!!!"), Biden and Trump ("IT'S JUST OLD AGE!! DPN"T DIAGNOSE!!")

All you have is hypocrisy and your condescending nonsense. You really should grow up.

I'm sorry you have a comprehension problem. I'm saying you have no idea whether or not it's dementia or not. Dear Lord you're like a brick wall.

hey Fankz Remember when? Probably not. But nice try making a speech impediment into a mental debilitating issue. Typical GOPer’s can’t debate real issues.


Trump details ‘difficult’ cognitive test he says he aced


“The first questions are very easy. The last questions are much more difficult. Like a memory question,” the president said.


President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his mental fitness to hold office and described the exam he allegedly took assessing his cognitive capabilities, claiming the doctors administering it were amazed by his ability to recall a simple string of words.

In an interview with Fox News medical contributor Marc Siegel, the president said he asked his physician upon his last hospital visit “a little less than a year ago” whether there was “some kind of a cognitive test that I could take” in order to “shut these people up,” referring to critics who had questioned his mental acuity.

trump set the bar for a cognitive test. Betcha you GOPer’s will try and raise that bar for Biden if or when he takes a cognitive test, right? mega Americans crack me up.

No you are saying I can't diagnose him with dementia but you are allowed to diagnose him as just being old.

You are trying, yet again, to spin and deflect because your ability to make cogent arguments that address the point is limited to 3rd grade personal attacks.

The funny part is I am only stating my opinion, I have not declared a diagnosis. Ironically a medical doctor would not state a diagnosis. You spin opinions to have something to fight about. You spin things so you can insult and attack because you all you have is the misery of not still being in the third grade.

Grow up.

Just remember FrankZ if you were not standing behind President Biden he would still try to shake your hand.

Joy?

Rut ro!



lmao, Trump is on the hot seat.

I diagnose you with being obtuse.

Factually he is old. That may or may not be the only cause of the symptoms we are seeing. Try comprehending again and read that quote again. I'll bold it for you in an effort to be helpful.

"you have no idea whether or not it's dementia"

I never said it was just because he was old or not. I said you have no idea either way and neither do I.

And you use one of your first posts back to be insulting and try to get your last word.

You will continue to tune the argument to continue to try and win something. I have expressed my opinion. He is showing signs of dementia. Take it or leave it. I don't care. Try and see if you can make a point without being insulting. I don't think you can.

The English language is not an opinion. Try again. I see you haven't gotten any better at this.

I expressed an opinion in English. You expressed and opinion in English. No one has questioned what language we are using. Well, you have since you seem to think that is some massive mic drop insult.

But again, I can see you think insult and snark work. You are, once again, wrong.

No, that's not what you said in the beginning. You did however change it over the course of the thread to what you are saying now. He is exhibiting signs that might be linked to dementia. They also may not be linked to dementia. Had you of said that in the first place we would not be where we are now.

Had you not tried to twist what I said as a medical diagnosis on an Internet forum instead of a statement of opinion we would not be where we are.

Own the fact you look for ways to get a fight.

I've heard the term useful idiot but until now never thought about what an unuseful idiot would be like. Now I know. Thanks!

Back to the actual topic rather than people attacking Biden in a thread that has nothing to do with that... But you know, that happens when people just come here to fight.

Man who stormed Capitol with father sentenced to 2 years

Hunter Seefried, 24, and his father, Kevin Seefried, 53, were among the first rioters in the Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors say. Kevin Seefried carried a Confederate flag.

A Delaware man who, along with his father, was among the first people in the U.S. Capitol when a pro-Trump mob attacked it last year was sentenced to two years in prison Monday, prosecutors said.

Hunter Seefried, 24, in June was convicted by a Washington, D.C., judge on a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding and other misdemeanor counts.

His father, Kevin Seefried, 53, who carried a Confederate flag during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was convicted at the same trial, which was decided by a judge rather than a jury.

Hunter Seefried told U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden he was “deeply sorry for my actions” and “very ashamed of how I carried myself that day.”

He said that every day he carries the “shame and realization” that he participated in an event that’s a “stain” not only on his character, but on U.S. history.

Hunter Seefried cleared a piece of glass from a window as a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was formally counting the electoral votes affirming that Trump had lost the presidential election, officials said.

The Seefrieds, of Laurel, Delaware, “were among the first people to enter the Capitol on January 6,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement.

Kevin Seefried's sentencing is scheduled for January in front of McFadden, a 2017 Trump appointee.

When asked Monday by McFadden how he came to participate in the events of Jan. 6, Hunter Seefried responded: “The crowd, the energy. It’s just very overwhelming.”

Hunter Seefried and his lawyer, Edson Bostic, also partially blamed the elder Seefried for encouraging his son’s behavior, although Hunter Seefried, who was 21 on Jan. 6, admitted he was old enough to know better.

“The common charge of a parent is to help prevent a young child from acting impulsively,” Bostic told McFadden earlier in the hearing, implying that Kevin Seefried had failed at that parental duty by pressuring his son to storm the Capitol.

Kevin Seefried was photographed carrying a large Confederate flag through the halls of the Capitol, instantly becoming the subject of an iconic image from the riot.

McFadden called Jan. 6 a “national embarrassment” that Hunter Seefried participated in. “I believe you are a good man who messed up badly,” McFadden said.

Prosecutors had asked that Hunter Seefried be sentenced to 64 months, or over 5 years, in prison, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by the government ahead of Monday’s hearing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...LtRQVTTIl1D_1deP9QCrVUWQg3q7HjW43YS_U3dw

‘He was your prey’: Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted officer gets 90 months

Albuquerque Cosper Head is the latest Jan. 6 defendant to face a lengthy jail sentence for physically assaulting police.

A Jan. 6 rioter who committed one of the day’s most brutal assaults against a police officer has been sentenced to 90 months in prison, the second-longest sentence yet for a member of the mob that stormed the Capitol.

Albuquerque Cosper Head of Tennessee pleaded guilty to yanking Washington Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone away from police lines — shouting “I got one!” before other violent actors in the crowd dragged him away, tased him and robbed him of his badge and radio. Head engaged in a prolonged confrontation with police in the Capitol’s lower west terrace tunnel, the site of the day’s worst violence.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson described Head’s attack on Fanone as among the most chilling moments of violence on a dark day for the country.

“He was your prey,” Jackson said. “He was your trophy.”

Head is the latest Jan. 6 defendant to face a lengthy jail sentence for physically assaulting police. Jackson recently sentenced Kyle Young — who also pleaded guilty to his role in the assault on Fanone — to 86 months. And in her sentencing, she made waves by calling out congressional Republicans for being “afraid” to challenge Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election even amid rising threats to democracy.

Jackson delivered a similarly stark warning at Head’s sentencing.

“The dark shadow of tyranny unfortunately has not gone away,” she said. “Some people are directing their vitriol at Officer Fanone and not at the people who summoned the mob in the first place.”

Only Thomas Webster, a former NYPD officer who was convicted at trial of brutally assaulting a Metropolitan Police officer attempting to hold the line outside the Capitol, has faced a longer sentence so far. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta sentenced him to 10 years in prison last month.

Nearly 900 people have been charged for their actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and more than 400 have pleaded or been found guilty, primarily to misdemeanor offenses. But the number of defendants facing sentences for more serious crimes, like assaulting police officers or seeking to disrupt Congress’ session to count electoral votes and affirm Joe Biden’s presidency, has begun to climb as those slower and more complicated cases near their conclusions.

In delivering her sentence, Jackson noted that Head — unlike Webster — pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for his crime. She also acknowledged his fiancee, who was in the courtroom, and the hardship his lengthy incarceration would cause for her and their three daughters. Head battled addiction for much of his life and appeared to overcome it seven years ago, in part after meeting his now-fiancee, she said.

“By all accounts, you are a committed and involved father, a loving and loyal and attentive son,“ she said, also acknowledging that his father passed away while he was incarcerated. “I respect that your conduct that day and this sentence are not all there is to you as a human being.”

Jackson also acknowledged the defense’s concerns that Head’s absence would create a hardship for his fiancee and children, who relied on his financial support and presence.

“Whether someone commits a robbery in an urban alley or a rural minimart … It is the partners who love them, the daughters and the sons … who bear the burden of carrying on for a while without them,” she said, but added, “It was the defendant who made the decision to leave them behind and face the real risk he could get arrested.”

Jackson also noted that many of the police officers assaulted on Jan. 6 lost their livelihoods as well.

“The people who are upset need to understand that no matter how outraged they are … when they decide to do battle with the officers who are doing their duty, they will be held accountable,” she said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/...nK4LpYxxomN7XwzyQHucp_fkYB7RxPP-jSZrsNm4

Trump political action committee paid more than $120,000 to law firm representing witnesses in Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago investigations

Michael Isikoff·Chief Investigative Correspondent
Thu, October 27, 2022, 3:50 PM·6 min read

Former President Donald Trump’s political action committee (PAC) has paid more than $120,000 to a law firm representing multiple witnesses before the Jan. 6 committee, as well as, more recently, the Justice Department investigation into the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., according to a Yahoo News review of campaign finance reports.

It is not clear what the payments are for, but any evidence of a financial tie between Trump’s Save America PAC and the law firm could pose problems for Justice Department prosecutors seeking to obtain cooperation from witnesses in the Mar-a-Lago probe, according to legal experts.

A review of campaign finance disclosures shows that Trump’s Save America PAC has made two payments — one for $95,525 in February this year and another for $25,000 in October 2021— to the law firm of the criminal defense lawyer Stanley Woodward. Woodward and his law partner, Stanley Brand, the former chief counsel to the House under then-Democratic Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, have represented witnesses before the House Jan. 6 select committee, including former White House social media chief Dan Scavino and former trade adviser Peter Navarro.

A New York Times story this week revealed that Justice Department prosecutors in the Mar-a-Lago probe have been actively seeking the cooperation of two other clients of Woodward: Walt Nauta, a former military aide who served as Trump’s presidential valet, and Kash Patel, the former chief of staff at the Defense Department who was designated by Trump as one of his representatives to the National Archives.

Prosecutors were reported to have been concerned that Nauta “misled” them when he was questioned about the removal of documents from a storage room in Mar-a-Lago and are seeking to reinterview him. Patel, who has claimed without evidence that Trump declassified all of the documents in his possession at Mar-a-Lago, recently invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent before a federal grand jury, prompting the Justice Department prosecutors to ask a federal judge to compel his testimony.

The campaign finance reports filed by Save America do not reflect whether the payments to Woodward’s law firm specifically cover his representation of Nauta and Patel. But the financial payments to the firm “raise a lot of questions,” said Michael Luttig, a retired federal appellate judge and former senior Justice Department official. “This smacks of obstruction of justice.”

If the witnesses’ legal fees are being paid by Trump’s PAC, “they have an incentive never to testify against Trump,” Luttig said, adding that such payments could be construed as “hush money.”

Reached on his cell phone, Woodward declined to comment on the Save America payments to his firm. He also declined to answer other questions about his representation of Nauta and Patel in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, including whether he has a “joint defense agreement” with Trump’s lawyers in the case. Under such arrangements, lawyers representing multiple witnesses or potential defendants in an investigation agree to share confidential information and strategy. (A spokesman for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.)

As the lawyer for former White House aides Scavino and Navarro in the Jan. 6 committee probe, Woodward has presided over an aggressive legal strategy marked by attacks on the panel’s legitimacy and a refusal to cooperate based on claims of executive privilege. Scavino and Navarro both refused to comply with committee subpoenas, resulting in the committee’s vote to hold them in contempt of Congress. Navarro has since been indicted by the Justice Department over the matter.

The payments to lawyers made by Trump’s Save America PAC have received increasing attention as the former president’s legal troubles have multiplied. The PAC has raised over $107 million since Trump left the White House last year, bombarding donors in recent weeks with fundraising alerts focusing on the need to “win BIG” in next month’s midterm elections. It has also raised money through a joint fundraising committee that tells donors that “the future of our Country is at stake” and calls on “all Patriots” to join Trump’s “fight to save America.”

Campaign reports suggest the PAC is increasingly being used by Trump to help pay for his legal disputes. The Washington Post recently reported that Save America has doled out $7 million in payments to lawyers representing Trump and his current and former aides in multiple investigations, nearly as much as the $8.4 million it has given to Republican candidates and committees.

Yahoo News reported in September that this includes at least $1.1 million to lawyers representing Trump and his family in a civil suit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James — a case that involves allegations of fraud in the former president’s personal business dealings unrelated to his service as president or to this year’s midterms.

The Mar-a-Lago probe burst into public view on Feb. 9 — just a few weeks before the second $95,525 payment to Woodward’s law firm — when the Washington Post reported that the inspector general of the National Archives had made a criminal referral to the Justice Department over what it suspected was Trump’s failure to return government records, including some classified documents, after he left office, in violation of the Presidential Records Act.

A score of documents, many marked Secret/SCI and some blanked out, lie on a carpet next to a label reading 2A and a bankers box containing six framed pictures, including a cover of Time magazine.

This led to months of negotiations among the Archives, Justice Department officials and Trump’s representatives, culminating in the Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Mary McCord, the former acting attorney general for national security, said that, as the Justice Department seeks to determine if there are grounds for filing criminal charges in the case, the payments by Trump’s PAC to a law firm representing key witnesses could become a problematic issue for federal prosecutors.

“This does raise concerns about a conflict of interest between represented parties and the potential for influence of the witnesses who DOJ seeks to obtain testimony from,” she said.



https://news.yahoo.com/trump-politi...mar-a-lago-investigations-195053847.html

Supreme Court says Lindsey Graham must testify in grand jury Georgia election probe

The Supreme Court said Tuesday that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., must testify before a grand jury in Georgia. He has been subpoenaed for questioning later this month about allegations that then President Donald Trump tried to interfere with Georgia's ballot count after the 2020 election.

Graham filed an emergency request to block the subpoena late last month. Under the Constitution's "Speech or Debate" clause, sitting senators may not be "questioned" about their legislative activity, which protects them from civil and criminal liability in certain circumstances. The purpose of the clause is to shield legislators from unwarranted intrusions on their duties by other branches of government.

Graham argued that the actions he took following the election, which included phone calls to Georgia election officials, were legislative in nature – related to his role as then-chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Therefore, he said, he cannot be called to testify about these actions, even just as a witness. He further argued that the principle of "sovereign immunity" shields him from subpoena.

After granting a brief administrative stay to give Georgia prosecutors time to respond, the court decided to leave intact an Eleventh Circuit order allowing subpoena to remain in effect. The appeals court panel, which included two Trump appointees, said in a unanimous opinion that the lower court had sufficiently limited the range of questions Graham can be asked, in a way that prevents violating his immunity as a senator.

Fulton County, Ga., prosecutors cannot question Graham about "fact-finding inquiries" related to certifying the Georgia election results. Those portions of his phone calls, the district court judge ruled, were part of an "informal legislative investigation." Graham can also contest the legitimacy of questions as they arise.

The prosecutors can, however, question Graham about "non-legislative activity." This includes "communications and coordination with the Trump campaign regarding its post-election efforts in Georgia, public statements regarding the 2020 election, and efforts to 'cajole' or 'exhort' Georgia election officials."

Particularly at issue are phone calls Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the weeks following the 2020 election. Raffensperger reported at the time that Graham had contacted him to suggest that mail-in ballots from certain counties should not be counted.

Court's opinion issued with the order assumes that the limits placed by the district court and the court of appeals are sufficient. The court particularly noted that Graham can return to the District Court to challenge "should disputes arise regarding the application of the Speech or Debate Clause immunity to specific questions." For this reason, the opinion said, a stay is not necessary.

There were no noted dissents.

If anything, the protection provided to Graham may go beyond what was necessary under Supreme Court precedent. Historically, the Speech or Debate Clause has been applied only to actions explicitly authorized by a committee or occurring during a legislative session, and not to other, "political" activities. In refusing to grant a stay, the Eleventh Circuit said that there's no clear requirement for merely "informal" legislative fact-finding to be protected at all, as the district court said it should be when it declared those parts of the calls off limits. The clause does not extend so far as to make members of Congress "super-citizens," the Supreme Court said in 1972.

With Graham's avenues of relief exhausted, he will likely be required to testify on Nov. 17, as scheduled.


https://www.npr.org/2022/11/01/1131776586/supreme-court-lindsey-graham-grand-jury-georgia

I belive things like this are not heard by the entire court and just the justice assigned to that circuit. For the 11th that is Thomas.

Jan. 6 rioter invokes Epstein after getting a five-month sentence for smashing in a Capitol window

Troy Faulkner, who committed his felony while wearing a jacket bearing the name of his company, said he was apologetic for his behavior on Jan. 6.

WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 rioter who smashed in a window at the U.S. Capitol invoked Jeffrey Epstein moments after he was sentenced to five months in federal prison Thursday.

Ohio's Troy Faulkner — who smashed in a window at the U.S. Capitol while wearing a jacket bearing his painting company's name and phone number — was handed a five-month sentence by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell on Thursday.

Faulkner told the court he supported former President Donald Trump because he believed Trump was "combatting human trafficking," a seeming reference to the QAnon conspiracy theory. Faulkner cited inflated numbers about the number of children who go missing every year.

Howell noted that Faulkner burned the "Faulkner Painting" jacket he wore at the U.S. Capitol, and questioned whether Faulkner had actually stopped believing Trump's lies about the 2020 presidential election, as his lawyer had implied in a sentencing memo.

After Faulkner's lawyer John Machado said that Faulkner "was and still is a fan" of Trump, Howell asked whether he still believes everything that Trump says. Machado said his client now knows that Trump is not the legitimate president.

Howell said it was reasonable to question whether Jan. 6 defendants like Faulkner were "still susceptible to a giant lie" and could engage in political violence in the future.

While leaving the courthouse after his sentencing, Faulkner walked about to news cameras outside and made a comment to the media about Epstein.

"How about that Epstein island list? How 'bout that one? Wanna talk about that? Where's the Epstein Island list?" Faulkner said, referring to sex trafficking by the disgraced financier, who has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. Epstein died by suicide while in federal custody, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in the sex trafficking scheme in December 2021.



Faulkner, his attorney said during his sentencing hearing, was "at a better place" than he was when he smashed in a Capitol window. But Faulkner seemed to go a bit off script during his comments to the judge and suggested that rioters were somehow set up by police.

"We were told by the president to go there," Faulkner said before the judge. "I wasn't in my best state of mind. ... I've been remorseful every day."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...DTYI07JZUmQdp2tLGgJvaxmiU7oi9EfsWorDys5o

Yes, they walk among us. But unlike a zombie apocalypse you never know who they are until they begin to speak.

Dude is programmed. 5mo to de-program? Yeah ok, we’ll see.

Pence opens up on Trump and Jan. 6, GOP takes notice, after dismal midterms
Tom LoBianco
Tom LoBianco·Reporter
Thu, November 10, 2022, 2:45 PM·4 min read


In an excerpt of his forthcoming memoir published in the Wall Street Journal, which ran not long after Election Day came to a close, Pence revealed a wealth of new details about his direct interactions with then-President Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The former vice president and potential 2024 contender unloaded at length for the first time. He wrote that in a meeting shortly after the 2020 presidential election, he counseled Trump to accept reality and prepare to run again in 2024, but that Trump sounded “weary.”

Pence went on to say he received a phone call from Trump on New Year’s Day 2021, in which Trump pressured him to sign on to a push by congressional Republicans to overturn the election results. Pence said that was not within his power.

“‘You’re too honest,’” Pence said Trump told him. “‘Hundreds of thousands are gonna hate your guts. ... People are gonna think you’re stupid.’”

He also described a Jan. 4, 2021, meeting in the White House with Trump and his lawyer John Eastman in which Pence chipped away at Eastman’s arguments that a vice president has the authority to unilaterally overthrow election results, until the lawyer "stammered" in protest, “Well, it’s never been tested in courts, so I think it is an open question.”

Seen through French windows behind a tree, Vice President Mike Pence talks to Marc Short, who is carrying a file of official papers.
Vice President Mike Pence, left, and his chief of staff, Marc Short, in the Oval Office on Jan. 4, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
When Pence motioned to Trump, he noted that the president did not seem to be paying attention as his vice president dismantled Eastman’s arguments.

Pence aides and advisers have long said that Trump's former second-in-command would never reveal any private conversations he had with Trump during their four or so years of working together. But after months of sharing little of his feelings about the Capitol attack and of Trump persistently targeting him, Pence has been gradually revealing more, in advance of the publication of his memoir next week.

On Wednesday, after the midterm elections, an excerpt of Pence’s book, "So Help Me God," was passed around between Republicans watching the fast-developing 2024 field.

The timing, according to Indiana Republicans who spoke with Yahoo News, seemed a perfect chance to capture Trump at his weakest moment and potentially to elevate Pence as a 2024 prospect at a moment when some Republicans were looking for an alternative to Trump for the GOP nomination.

In the excerpt, Pence delivered a gripping account of how, on Jan. 6, he jabbed his finger at his Secret Service detail, demanding that they not leave the Capitol and that they walk calmly to a secure location, even as rioters bore down on him and his team.

And for the first time, Pence also detailed Trump’s surprisingly sheepish encounter with him days after the insurrection. “I met with the president on Jan. 11. He looked tired, and his voice seemed fainter than usual,” Pence wrote. Trump asked about him and his family, he wrote, inquiring whether he had been “scared” on Jan. 6.

“No,” Pence said he replied. “I was angry. You and I had our differences that day, Mr. President, and seeing those people tearing up the Capitol infuriated me.”

The schedule for Pence’s book launch next week is already packed with plenty of chances for him to make news. He’ll sit down for an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir Monday night. On Wednesday, he'll be the subject of a CNN town hall hosted by the anchor Jake Tapper. He is also expected to attend a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition and to mingle with party megadonors on the subsequent weekend.

It could also get a boost from Trump himself, who has repeatedly teased his formal launch of a 2024 bid for the White House. The latest tease date for Trump’s launch is on Tuesday, the publication date of Pence’s book.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/pence-op...ice-after-dismal-midterms-194545404.html

Barr's response to the question of supporting trump if he were to win the primary after how he prefaced that question.

That really is disturbing. He states trump is unfit for the position. Then says he basically would be forced to support him "if" the democrat was progressive.

Progressive versus a failure to republicans and a traitor.

I can not for the life of me understand that kind of thinking.

They're nuts.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/a-plot-to-overturn-an-american-election

THE MEADOWS TEXTS
A Plot To Overturn An American Election
TPM Has Obtained Explosive Evidence Uncovered By The January 6 Select Committee
By Hunter Walker | December 12, 2022 3:31 p.m.
57

TPM Illustration/Getty Images
The messages you are about to read are the definitive, real-time record of a plot to overturn an American election.

TPM has obtained the 2,319 text messages that Mark Meadows, who was President Trump’s last White House chief of staff, turned over to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Today, we are publishing The Meadows Texts, a series based on an in-depth analysis of these extraordinary — and disturbing — communications.

The vast majority of Meadows’ texts described in this series are being made public for the very first time. They show the senior-most official in the Trump White House communicating with members of Congress, state-level politicians, and far-right activists as they work feverishly to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. The Meadows texts illustrate in moment-to-moment detail an authoritarian effort to undermine the will of the people and upend the American democratic system as we know it.

The text messages, obtained from multiple sources, offer new insights into how the assault on the election was rooted in deranged internet paranoia and undemocratic ideology. They show Meadows and other high-level Trump allies reveling in wild conspiracy theories, violent rhetoric, and crackpot legal strategies for refusing to certify Joe Biden’s victory. They expose the previously unknown roles of some members of Congress, local politicians, activists and others in the plot to overturn the election. Now, for the first time, many of those figures will be named and their roles will be described — in their own words.

Meadows turned over the text messages during a brief period of cooperation with the committee before he filed a December 2021 lawsuit arguing that its subpoenas seeking testimony and his phone records were “overly broad” and violations of executive privilege. Since then, Meadows has faced losses in his efforts to challenge the subpoena in court. However, that legal battle is ongoing and is unlikely to conclude before next month, when the incoming Republican House majority is widely expected to shutter the committee’s investigation. Earlier this year, Meadows reportedly turned over the same material he gave the select committee to the Justice Department in response to another subpoena. These messages are key evidence in the two major investigations into the Jan. 6 attack. With this series, the American people will be able to evaluate the most important texts for themselves.

Meadows has not, thus far, responded to multiple requests for comment. The texts Meadows provided to the select committee encompass the period from election night in 2020 through President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. It is not clear which, if any, texts Meadows withheld from the committee, but the text message log offers multiple hints it is only a partial record of his conversations. There are discussions that clearly lack prior context and messages where participants indicate there is further communication taking place on encrypted channels.

But despite the seeming gaps, Meadows’ text record is still incredibly revealing. Some of the contents of the log were published in “The Breach,” a book about the Jan. 6 attack that I co-wrote with Denver Riggleman, a former Republican congressman and senior technical adviser to the committee. In our book, Riggleman described how he and his fellow committee investigators dubbed Meadows’ text log “the crown jewels” because they served as the “road map to an insurrection.” Along with the text messages that appeared in “The Breach,” some of Meadows’ messages have also been revealed by media outlets. The Washington Post published his exchanges with Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Some of Meadows’ conversations with Fox News personalities and other members of the media were disclosed by the select committee. CNN and I have published Meadows’ conversations with some Republican members of Congress including; Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Additionally, CNN has published Meadows’ texts with Fox News personality Sean Hannity and his messages from the period directly surrounding the Jan. 6 attack. However, there’s more. So much more.

TPM is kicking off this series with an exclusive story showing that the log includes more than 450 messages with 34 Republican members of Congress. Those texts show varying degrees of involvement by members of Congress, from largely benign expressions of support for Trump to the leading roles played by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Jody Hice (R-GA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the plot to reverse Trump’s defeat. We reached out to all these legislators, and will be detailing their roles and responses to our questions in the first installment of the series, which is coming later today.

Committee investigators received the text messages from Meadows’ legal team without names associated with the individual texts, only phone numbers. They tied phone numbers to individuals based on law enforcement databases of public records and their own intelligence work. For these stories, we are relying on the identifications of those texting with Meadows that were made by the committee’s investigators. We have indicated where we were able to independently confirm their work through our own public records searches and reporting. The text message contents received by the committee contained tokens that replaced emojis and certain punctuation. They also include many typos and grammatical errors. Other than replacing tokens where they seemed to clearly be standing in for apostrophes, we have strived to present these texts in their original format as received by the committee. TPM has conducted an in-depth review of Meadows’ entire text log with a team of reporters and editors working over five weeks.

Much of the undemocratic attempt to reverse Trump’s defeat played out in the public eye. Lawyers allied with Trump and his campaign launched a failed legal blitz that sought to challenge the election results based on questionable evidence. Republican politicians and activists staged months of rallies around the country to protest the vote. It all culminated on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump appeared at a rally on the Ellipse and urged his die-hard supporters to “fight like hell” as his loss was being certified at the U.S. Capitol. Thousands of Trump supporters, including many who marched directly to the Capitol from Trump’s speech, stormed into the building, smashed windows, and fought brutally with law enforcement, leading to multiple deaths and a brief interruption in the electoral certification. That evening, surrounded by National Guard troops and broken glass, 147 Republicans voted to overturn the results

Meadows’ text log shows what the scheme to subvert the 2020 election looked like behind the scenes. It reveals the roots of the violence and its key enablers in Washington. The messages show the plot began well before Jan. 6 and continued afterward. They are essential documentation of a dark day in American history.

Nobody on the right is going to believe anything written by a guy named Hunter.

Let's face it, they just don't care.

I don't think that's true at all!

They misspelled Donald Trump Jr at the bottom of your meme.

How do you know it's a "they"? That's offensive.

Well of course it is.

‘Marshall Law!’: Dozens of GOP Politicians Texted Meadows About Overturning 2020

“When we lose Trump we lose our Republic,” one current congressman texted Trump's chief of staff.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows texted with at least 34 members of Congress about both legal and extralegal means that could be used by former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election, according to a new report from Talking Points Memo. 

South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman, for example, called for “invoking Marshall [sic] Law!” in a Jan. 17 text to Meadows, three days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Texas Rep. Brian Babin, meanwhile, told Meadows on Nov. 6 that “when we lose Trump we lose our Republic.” 

“We’re with you down here in Texas and refuse to live under a corrupt Marxist dictatorship,” Babin wrote. “Fight like hell and we’ll find a way.”

Meadows received at least 364 text messages from GOP members of Congress about overturning the results and sent nearly 100 of his own, Talking Points Memo reported. Meadows’ texts were obtained by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the events leading up to it. 

The text messages provide further evidence that the Trump administration’s effort to steal the 2020 election was backed by many rank and file House Republicans, most of whom are still in Congress. Come January, these Republican politicians will find themselves in the House majority. 

The messages with Meadows are replete with the far-right conspiracy theories that began popping up immediately following the election. Norman, for example, cited disproven claims about Dominion Voting Systems’ voting machines in his Jan. 17 message to Meadows.

“Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic !!” Norman wrote. 

In a statement to VICE News Tuesday, Norman said that “Martial Law was never warranted.” 

“That text message came from a source of frustration, on the heels of countless unanswered questions about the integrity of the 2020 election, without any way to slow down and examine those issues prior to the inauguration of the newly elected president,” Norman added.

By the time Norman had sent those messages, though, there were no legal means remaining to challenge the results—Biden had already been certified as the winner for more than a week. Trump himself conceded on Jan. 7 that Biden would take office and that his focus at that point was “ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.” 

Meadows apparently received text messages from members of Congress just repeating claims they heard as a pretext for the federal government to call for an audit. “I know of at least 2 people who told me they mailed in their ballots and voted in person so you can tell them they might be interested in going over all votes in Nevada,” Missouri Rep. Billy Long reportedly wrote.

“Ok,” Meadows responded, according to TPM. (Long’s office did not respond to a request for comment, according to TPM.)

The Jan. 6 committee—which is made up of primarily Democrats as well as two Republican critics of Trump’s efforts to block Biden from taking office—is expected to approve a report of its findings at a public meeting on Dec. 21, prior to Republicans taking control of the House in January. The committee is considering criminal referrals for Trump, Meadows, and lawyers John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, and Jeffrey Clark, CNN reported last week. 

The overwhelming majority of Republicans who reportedly tried to overturn the election, however, will likely never face any sort of repercussions for their efforts. 

North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd, for example, voted to deny certification of Pennsylvania and Arizona’s electoral votes. Budd reportedly texted Meadows on Nov. 7 alleging ties between Dominion and liberal billionaire George Soros, the target of a plethora of right-wing conspiracy theories. “Praying for your health!” Budd told Meadows. “FYI Dominion Voting Systems is owned by State Street Capital, which are Carlyle (Rubenstein alums), Rubenstein is a longtime co-investor with Soros Capital.”

Budd won’t be in the House next year—but only because the Trump-backed congressman won election to the Senate last month.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7..._CcnOEfGKTanfFsYlhtm72qAae10nosTWRaUEwdQ

It's odd how people will ignore important topics like this while focusing on stolen luggage and what happened to some panties. It says a lot about what they actually value and their priorities.

“It was a peaceful demonstration and the documents found at trump palace were planted and should be returned immediately”

It's easy to hate gender pronouns when all you have is nouns like idiot, zealot, and fascist to work with.

Trial starts: Alaska lawmaker with Oath Keepers ties

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska lawmaker may be unfit to hold office because he’s a member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group that has either advocated for or engaged in concrete action to overthrow the U.S. government, a lawyer said Tuesday in opening arguments for a case against state Rep. David Eastman.

“We are going to present overwhelming evidence on both those elements,” said Goriune Dudukgian, a lawyer with an Anchorage civil rights law firm. Dudukgian represents Randall Kowalke, a Wasilla resident whose lawsuit seeks to disqualify Eastman from holding office.

The bench trial before Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna will determine whether Eastman, a Wasilla Republican, will be allowed to be seated in the Legislature next month after winning reelection last month. McKenna earlier ordered the state Division of Elections not to certify the results of the race pending an outcome in this case.

Kowalke’s lawsuit points to a provision in the Alaska Constitution stating that no one who “advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party or organization or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States or of the State shall be qualified to hold” public office.

Stewart Rhodes, a founder of the Oath Keepers, and Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs were convicted last month of seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol for what prosecutors called a violent plot to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. They were among 33 Oath Keepers charged after the insurrection, Dudukgian said.

Eastman, represented by attorney Joe Miller, has admitted to being in Washington, D.C., that day, but only to witness an address from then-President Donald Trump that preceded the attack on the Capitol.

Eastman said he did not take part in the riot, and that he has not been accused of any crime.

Miller did not give opening arguments Tuesday, and chose to deliver those before he presents the defense’s case.

Eastman is a member of the Oath Keepers and has contributed more than $1,000 in support of the group, Dudukgian said.

“And even after the events of the Jan. 6 insurrection and the recent conviction of founder Stewart Rhodes, he still has not taken any steps to resign his membership or renounce his membership, either publicly or privately,” Dudukgian said.

He said they would present evidence that the Oath Keepers combined extremist rhetoric about the insurrection with seditious conduct, and claimed the group would fight either with or without Trump’s support.

“And on Jan. 6, they did exactly what they said they were going to do,” Dudukgian said, later adding: “They had a singular purpose, which was to stop the transfer of presidential power.”

Dudukgian’s first two witnesses were to be experts on terrorism who have studied the Oath Keepers extensively.

Miller objected to the plaintiff's selection of experts, saying they should only bring in people who could testify to the facts of the case.

“They would have subpoenaed, for example, various Oath Keepers, they would have subpoenaed people that had actually witnessed what happened on Jan. 6 or any other individual that had evidence that they believe relevant to the ultimate issue in the case, and that is whether or not the Oath Keepers is, in fact, an organization that advocates by force of violence the overthrow of the government,” Miller said.

McKenna said he agreed with Miller that as a general proposition, an expert cannot be used as a conduit for hearsay, but he said he needs to see the evidence and hear the testimony before deciding on Miller’s standing objection.

Eastman, who sat with Miller in a Palmer courtroom, is on a list of witnesses that Miller plans to call, along with Oath Keepers members.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/trial-starts-alaska-lawmaker-oath-002347136.html

I know it's not stolen luggage worthy but still......

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Eastman was the sole vote in the Alaska House of Representatives against a non-binding resolution to supply military aid to Ukraine.

Eastman is against abortion in all forms. He tried to add a right-to-life amendment to a non-controversial resolution in 2017 that designated April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and filed a complaint when the committee wouldn't consider his amendment.

In May 2017, Eastman was involved in a controversy regarding his remarks suggesting that native Alaskan women in villages try to get pregnant on purpose to get a "free trip to the city" for abortion. He claims there are too many "incentives" to get an abortion and said, "We have folks who try to get pregnant in this state so that they can get a free trip to the city, and we have folks who want to carry their baby past the point of being able to have an abortion in this state so that they can have a free trip to Seattle." He provided no evidence for these statements, but asserted, "a number of people have come to (his) office with stories, experiences."The Alaska House of Representatives voted to censure Eastman because of his remarks.

In April 2017, Eastman voted against a bill to honor Hmong veterans and the more than 100,000 Hmong people who died in the Vietnam War supporting the United States. He also voted against a bill honoring black soldiers who worked on the Alaska Highway. He has also opposed the recognition of Black History Month.

Eastman was an activist for the Tea Party movement.

In late September 2021, following a hack of the group's internal data, it was revealed that Eastman's name was among the some 38,000 people whose names appear on a lifetime membership roster of the Oath Keepers; a far-right militia organization. Records show that Eastman is a lifetime member of the Oath Keepers, as reported by BuzzFeed News and other organizations.

As a consequence of his membership, on January 31, 2022, five members of the seven-member Committees on Committees, two Republicans, two Democrats and an Independent, all members of the House majority coalition, voted to remove Eastman from his membership on some committees.


Following Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 United States presidential election, Eastman posted on his website that, "The election process that has been observed thus far by the American people has been abused to such a degree that, in my view, it can no longer be called an election. To call what the American people have observed 'an election', under the United States Constitution, would be fundamentally dishonest."

Eastman traveled to Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, to protest the Electoral College vote count which confirmed Joe Biden's victory, and to see Trump speak at the "Stop the Steal" rally. He spoke to Alaska Public Radio as he walked from the rally to the Capitol and was photographed a few hundred feet from the Capitol building. He later described the storming of the Capitol building as "pretty terrible."The next day he promoted false claims that the attack on the Capitol was the work of antifa. These claims were debunked by multiple sources.

On November 11, 2021, sixty-nine local and other graduates of West Point, New York wrote a letter published in Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Eastman's local paper, to demand that he resign from the legislature since, though he had stressed his military credentials and training at the United States Military Academy, he had dishonored the ideals of The Long Gray Line, that is, those who had matriculated at the USMA.

A letter written on behalf of a group of 750 West Point alumni harshly decried any attempt to run Eastman out of office, and its author noted: "There are in excess of 54,000 living graduates of the academy. The idea that 70-odd people represent us is a concern and kind of laughable when you think about the vanishingly small portion of living graduates that they represent.”



May not? Definitely not fit for office. Sit down Mr. Eastman

Not Jan. 6th but a similar act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on America by the enemies of Democracy.....

Men convicted of supporting Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot given lengthy prison sentences

December 15, 2022 / 12:25 PM / CBS/AP

A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020. Pete Musico was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison, followed by Joe Morrison at 10 years and Paul Bellar at seven.

They did not have a direct role in the conspiracy but were members of a paramilitary group that trained with Adam Fox, who faces a possible life sentence in a separate case in federal court.

Morrison, Musico and Bellar will be eligible for parole after serving their terms.

The trio was convicted in October of providing material support for a terrorist act, which carries a maximum term of 20 years, and two other crimes.

Whitmer spoke in a recorded video before Jackson County Judge Thomas Wilson set the sentences, saying the actions of the three was a "threat to democracy itself."

After the convictions of Fox and Barry Croft Jr. in August, Whitmer said the verdicts proved "that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable."

Wilson presided over the first batch of convictions in state court, following the high-profile conspiracy convictions of four others in federal court. Fox and Croft were described as captains of an incredible plan to snatch Whitmer from her vacation home, seeking to inspire a U.S. civil war known as the "boogaloo."

Whitmer, a Democrat recently elected to a second term, was never physically harmed. Undercover FBI agents and informants were inside Fox's group for months, and the scheme was broken up with 14 arrests in October 2020.

Musico, 45, Morrison, 28, and Bellar, 24, were members of the Wolverine Watchmen. The three held gun training with Fox in rural Jackson County and shared his disgust for Whitmer, police and public officials, especially after COVID-19 restrictions disrupted the economy and triggered armed Capitol protests and anti-government belligerence.

But defense attorneys argued that the trio had cut ties with Fox before the Whitmer plot came into focus by late summer of 2020; Bellar had moved to South Carolina in July. The three men also didn't travel with Fox to look for the governor's second home or participate in a key training session inside a "shoot house" in Luther, Michigan.

"Mr. Bellar is clueless about any plot to kidnap the governor," attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick said again in a court filing last week.

A jury, however, quickly returned guilty verdicts in October after hearing nine days of testimony, mostly evidence offered by a pivotal FBI informant, Dan Chappel, and federal agents. The jury agreed with prosecutors that the Wolverine Watchmen constituted a criminal gang.

Separately, in federal court in Grand Rapids, Fox and Croft face possible life sentences in two weeks. Two men who pleaded guilty received substantial breaks: Ty Garbin is free after a 2 1/2-year prison term while Kaleb Franks was given a four-year sentence. Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris were acquitted by a jury.

When the plot was foiled, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given "comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division." In August, after 19 months out of office, Trump said the kidnapping plan was a "fake deal."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gretch...Ms2BAoxAuNlSy9ZOxCXHIkl6x0fAv6t44jRRuFO4

everything is fake to trump, unless it comes directly out of his butt or pie hole.

QAnon follower who led mob sentenced in Jan. 6 Capitol attack

He led rioters who chased Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/qan...zhBXaoYNQ3j0PnJdc-ULnaPJyiXxJ96haxX49sVM

Five years. Another one bites the dust.

Only five years Pfft.

Tennessee men, including suspected Jan. 6 rioter, charged with plotting attack on FBI Knoxville office

A suspected Capitol rioter facing charges for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection is accused of plotting attacks on law enforcement personnel and an FBI field office in Tennessee.

Edward Kelley, 33, was arrested along with 26-year-old Austin Carter, both Tennessee residents, in connection with a plan to attack law enforcement personnel involved in the Jan. 6 criminal investigation, the Justice Department said.

"Federal law enforcement agents put their lives on the line every day to protect the public," said U.S. Attorney Francis Hamilton III. "Planning and threatening violence against them is among the most serious of crimes. It is absolutely unacceptable and will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted."

Both men are charged with conspiracy, retaliating against a federal official, interstate communication of a threat, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence. They appeared in federal court Friday in Knoxville.

At some point, Kelley obtained a list of law enforcement personnel involved in the Jan. 6 criminal investigation, federal prosecutors said. Kelley, Carter and a cooperating witness discussed killing the law enforcement personnel and planning an attack on the FBI's Knoxville Field Office, prosecutors said.

"Today's allegations that individuals sought to attack and hurt or kill FBI personnel are sickening," FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

Kelley's arrest came as he fights charges related to his alleged assault on a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

In that case, he is charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, destruction of government property related to his alleged actions on Jan. 6.

Both men were ordered detained Friday. Carter has a detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 21.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tennessee-men-including-suspected-jan-013351861.html

Murica!

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and subordinates go to trial in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/enriqu...cNjoRQ9JRWq9AR9n01XLnh1A4NMaeuxq4LKg30GU

This must be one of the things they're proud of.

tHeY’rE pATriOTs

Isn't justice like this something we endorse? I was under the impression it was. Justice sometimes takes time. You seem to elate at every prosecution, and that's fine.

I have no idea what you are trying to say here with this Tshirt....

I have no idea why you would say that. Of course it takes time. And the more money you have the longer you can use legal maneuvers, delay and appeal decisions. Where did I indicate that it didn't take time? I'm all for allowing the legal process to play its course. And the reason I point out these charges and convictions is because you had many people claiming that Jan. 6th was no big deal. They were carrying on talking about how nobody had been convicted of any serious crimes. That nobody was being given long sentences. It was as if they didn't comprehend or were trying to downplay just how serious this all was.

Well it was a big deal and quite serious. It was an attempt to undermine and subvert our election process. Some including myself feel these convictions are newsworthy and I think the history books will show just how serious this was.

Did they have their Trump NFT card to keep cops repelled. I can't believe the stuff the idiot Trumpites buy.....damn he's a hell of a con man. And he was elected by the idiots.....amazing.

Elected by idiots? How's this for idiot: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/joe-biden-uncle-purple-heart/

There are so, so many more examples of this idiot thinking whatever he says is golden, and true.

Corn pop anyone?

Corn pop was a bad dude. I have it on good authority.

Corn pop ran a bad gang. They were waiting outside the pool for little Joey..........sharpening their knives on the cement curb. All he had was a 'length' of chain, but he somehow got corn pop to back down.

Just like his first wife was killed by a drunk driver. Except his wife pulled in front of the truck, and no alcohol was involved. Other than the sadness of the deaths, it's a great story. STORY.

And his son was killed in Iraq? No, his son died of brain cancer, years after Iraq.

There is no story this guy tells that is true, but so many buy into it.

Just like him bragging about getting a prosecutor in Ukraine fired. You know, the prosecutor that was investigating his son. Lil Joey bragged about holding the money back unless the dude was fired. And "son of a B, he was fired before I left."

https://heavy.com/news/2020/08/neilia-hunter-biden-joe-first-wife/

Awe... You're trying to compare a president who has actually done something to guy who tried to overturn our election process to remain in power. Bless your heart.

From PBS News Hour https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-the-jan-6-committees-summary-of-its-final-report

Read the Jan. 6 committee’s summary of its final report

Updated on Dec 19, 2022 4:38 PM EST — Published on Dec 19, 2022 3:09 PM EST
LINK

The House committee investigating Jan. 6 on Monday recommended criminal charges for former President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol insurrection and released the initial summary of its final report. The full report is expected to be released on Wednesday.

Read the summary by clicking on the document below.

LINK


The recommendations and key findings come two months after the committee’s last hearing, when it subpoenaed Trump to testify as part of the probe. In response, Trump filed a lawsuit to fight the subpoena.

READ MORE: Key takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee report summary

Over 18 months, the committee has spoken to more than 1,000 witnesses, including many in Trump’s inner circle, such as his children, high-level Trump administration officials and former aides, as well as former members of his White House legal team.

The nine-member House committee is composed of seven Democrats, led by chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who lost her bid for reelection earlier this year.

READ MORE: Key takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee report summary

In its 10 previous public hearings, which started in early June, the committee has revealed new information from its depositions, playing witness testimony of the day of the insurrection and hearing from journalists, law enforcement officials, lawyers and others about how the events of Jan. 6, 2021 unfolded.

Over the months, the Jan. 6 committee has methodically laid out its case that Trump made repeated and purposely false claims of election fraud, stoking the ire of his supporters and encouraging rioters at a rally on the morning of Jan. 6.

Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested for their actions on Jan. 6. More than 500 people have been convicted, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy. On Monday, jury selection began in the trial of former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the right-wing extremist group.

By — Hannah Grabenstein
@hgrabenstein

It's just my opinion, but Biggs, Gosar, Boebart, Greene and Gaetz have done as much damage to the American Democracy as Trump has and should face the same criminal prosecution as Trump. They should all be tried and hopefully convicted of fostering an insurrection. They also, with their words, caused many folks to turn on America. For my money, if that isn't a crime, it should be.

The 800 + pages of the J6 final report dropped last night and from what's been put out there, it's a stunning piece of work that shows, in a step by step, day by day fashion exactly how Trump and his cronies decided Months and Months prior to the 2020 election that they were going to deny the value of the election. They started (especially/mostly Trump) to set up the loss for Trump and set blame on Democrats committing fraud.

What's really funny is that he had 4 years to make sure the election system was repaired.. Instead state by RED state tried to GerryMander and limit the ability to those in minority neighborhoods to vote. Florida, Georgia, Arizona, PA, Wisconsin.. All tried to make it harder for some folks to even vote.. Texas eliminated all but ONE voting location in a county that was mostly democrat.

They tried, they failed and still complained about it and blamed others for their failure. Typical Trump and typical radical right wing nut bags like those mentioned above.

My hope is that they all end up in jail.. or at least out of public office.

J6 Committee reveals Paul Gosar was texting with 'Stop the Steal' group while locked down in Capitol

On Wednesday, transcripts released by the House Select Committee on January 6 revealed, in an interview transcript with Donald Trump ally Alexander Bruesewitz, that far-right Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), an ardent ally of the former president, texted with a "Stop the Steal" group while he was locked down in the Capitol.

Asked about this, Bruesewitz declined to give any details, and invoked his constitutional rights.

"Can we pull up exhibit 9 again which is the Stop the Steal DM chat, and let's go to page 62," said investigators in the transcript. "So we're still on January 6, and it looks like at 5:15 p.m. eastern time. Again, Representative Gosar sends the group a direct message that says, 'We're still on lockdown in the congressional office.' And he sends it to the entire Stop the Steal group. So were you in communications with Representative Gosar throughout January 6th?"

"I respectfully plead the Fifth," replied Bruesewitz.

Bruesewitz responded the same way to the question, "To the best of your knowledge, why is Representative Gosar sharing that his office was on lockdown with this Stop the Steal group?"

Last year, reporting revealed that Gosar, a committed election conspiracy theorist, also told perpetrators of the January 6 attack that they could receive a blanket pardon from Trump if he reclaims the presidency.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...while-locked-down-in-capitol/ar-AA15xUIC

They don't care OCD. they just don't give a damn.

The worst part of this is that his die hard followers believe him rather than their lying eyes....

Way back in 2017, I got into a spirited back&forth with 40YEARSWAITING. In that exchange, I made a three-fold prediction about this man:

1. He's too stupid/uninformed/uninvolved to avoid impeachment.
2. He's too corrupt to avoid legal entanglements/problems.
3. When he finally flames out, it will be in spectacular fashion.

Now, a certain % of DT/PP posters will (and have) attribute(d) this to Clemdawg's blind hatred of Donald J. Trump. I can understand that. I've said a great many unflattering things about the man over these past years. It would be natural for a good many folks to think that of me. After all, they have my own words as their proof. I've even stated outright that I don't like him, using this as my rationale: "This man's life is an example of every human trait that my Baptist faith and My Parents trained me to loathe and reject.


When I first saw this man, I recognized him as someone My Faith and My Parents trained me to be on the lookout for... decades before he was even on any political stage. At 22 years of age, I'd already seen scores of guys just like him, from the annual county fair midway barker to the mansion-owning MegaChurch pastor-for-profit.

By the time I made my predix to 40¢, I already knew that no reputable bank in Manhattan/USA would float him a loan (enter: sketchy-ass DeutcheBank). I already knew that he would do/say anything to stay on a page- ANY page- of the New York Times. I already knew that he would do/say anything on Howard Stern's syndicated radio show to remain the news. I already knew that his public relations campaign regarding the Central Park 5 ran into a slight snag when the defendants were acquitted of any and all criminal culpability- and that he doubled-down on his claims, counter to all facts and evidence to the contrary. I already knew that he'd always stiffed contractors/vendors that he owed, that he'd run a casino into bankruptcy, he'd been busted for running a phony for-profit private 'college' (Trump University) and that he'd been running his life one half-step ahead of The Law for the past 40+ years.

So it's been actually pretty easy for me to play the role of SemiNegrodamus© in 2022, regarding the subject matter. Because, seriously- it really was only a matter of time, with this one. He has shown us who he is, for more than 40 years in America's headlines.


1. I wasn't just right about him, I was right X2.
2. I wasn't just right about him, I was also right to the extent that he's currently being investigated by not only federal law enforcement, but also multiple state law enforcement agencies.
3. This predix is the only one not yet borne out.


10:10 in the vid tells us all we need to know.


Only predix3 remains to be seen.
Anyone wanna bet against Clemdawg's 2017 predix?



This isn't about politics.
This is about character.
And what America is willing to tolerate as her basement floor of citizenry.


RLOne and Juanita raised their boy to see what's in front of him.

when one politician spells Marshall wrong in this context, it can be passed off as fat fingering your keyboard.. When they all spell it incorrectly, it demonstrates a concerted effort to lie. Wondering if this falls under RICO...... Just wondering...

Not this dawg. I got you.

https://www.businessinsider.com/gin...meadows-coup-january-6-committee-2022-12

Ginni Thomas told the Jan. 6 committee she 'regret' texting Mark Meadows about a 'coup' and pushing Sidney Powell's 'Kraken' plan

Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, told the January 6 committee that she regretted her post-2020 election texts and statements that warned of Democrats trying to steal the election, messages that sparked outrage and questions of Thomas' standing on the court.

"I regret all of these texts," Thomas, who goes by Ginni, told the panel during a closed-door deposition in September. The transcript of her testimony was released on Friday morning.

Thomas, who is 65, repeated multiple times that she regret words when she was "clearly emotional" as she traded messages with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

"It was an emotional time. I was probably just emoting, as I clearly was with Mark Meadows somewhat," Thomas said when asked of her conversations with another top Trump aide.


Among the things Thomas wrote were her frustration about the "whole coup," initial support for Sidney Powell, a later embattled Trump lawyer who promised for months to "release the Kraken" of supposed evidence of widespread voter fraud, and criticism of Vice President Mike Pence sent after the January 6 Capitol riot. (Thomas told the panel she was unclear what she meant by a "coup.")

Thomas also repeated her public claims that there is a "wall" between her conservative activism and Thomas' work on the nation's highest court in the land. She repeatedly denied discussing any of the post-2020 election cases with her husband. Thomas claimed that the most senior justice on the court is simply "uninterested in politics."

The closest Ginni Thomas came to acknowledging any political conversation with Justice Thomas was a reference to her "best friend" bucking her up on November 24th. Thomas had just texted Meadows that she was considering leaving politics "if you all cave to the elites."

"I wish I could remember, but I have no memory of the specifics," Thomas told the panel of the conversation with her husband. "My husband often administers spousal support to the wife that's upset. So I assume that that's what it was."


The Washington Post and CBS' publication of Ginni Thomas' texts with Meadows in March caused a public firestorm, especially among Democrats. Multiple Democratic lawmakers called on Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to January 6 after the texts came to light.

Thomas also discussed in greater detail with the panel her attendance at the January 6 rally where President Donald Trump spoke before the Capitol riot began. Thomas said she traveled from her Virginia home and "left when I got cold." She wasn't even sure if she stayed for Trump's now infamous speech.

Asked about her views on the election in retrospect, Thomas said that Joe Biden is the president. But despite repeated questioning from Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, Thomas refused to concede her view that widespread fraud tainted the outcome. Multiple Republicans, including then-Attorney General Bill Barr, have said that widespread fraud did not alter the 2020 presidential election.

"I worried that there was fraud and irregularities that distorted the election but it wasn't uncovered in a timely manner, so we have President Biden," Thomas told the panel at another point during her interview.

Former Trump White House aide told Jan. 6 panel Mark Meadows burned documents a dozen times during the transition period

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/27/politics/january-6-transcripts-key-findings/index.html

They just don't care. All of the things that have been exposed and they don't give a damn. Then they claim they're on the side of Christianity and Patriotism. It's sickening. All they care about is Hunter's laptop.

"Ginni Thomas told the Jan. 6 committee she 'regret' texting Mark Meadows about a 'coup' and pushing Sidney Powell's 'Kraken' plan"

Cute,, she regrets texting Meadows about his matter, but doesn't regret lying that Trump Lost and the "coup".....

She needs to be looked into,, so does her husband.

j/c:

'I Also Orchestrated It': Uncharged J6 Witness Ray Epps Transcript Released

https://www.zerohedge.com/political...-j6-witness-ray-epps-transcript-released

Release Of Ray Epps’ Transcript Again Deflates Right-Wing Claims About Jan. 6

Right-wingers finally got what they asked for: Epps' transcript.

This week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson had a critique of the January 6 report: there was no mention of the supposed federal provocateur that the right held responsible for the whole event!

Carlson was referring to Ray Epps, a former Oath Keeper who was caught on video on Jan. 5 urging the MAGA faithful to march on the Capitol, before wisely choosing not to enter on Jan. 6 itself.

Epps has become the center of a right-wing conspiracy theory which casts him as Exhibit #1 supporting the idea that Jan. 6 was a “fedsurrection,” as some call it — a government-instigated attempt at discrediting the Trump movement.

“Even by their own standards, they’re inconsistent because the committee did not send a criminal referral about Ray Epps,” Carlson said this week.

He then remarked that Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) “himself thanked Ray Epps,” before adding a trademark closer with his befuddled glare: “What is going on here?”

Now, thanks to the latest batch of transcripts from the January 6 Committee, we know.

The panel on Thursday released a transcript of its interview with Epps, alongside many other as-yet-unreleased key interviews, including testimony from Donald Trump Jr., White House advisor Stephen Miller and two Georgia election workers targeted by a Rudy Giuliani-boosted smear campaign. Epps was unique among the bunch, however, in that right-wingers have accused him for more than a year of being a federal agent inserted into the riot to instigate violence. Or, as Carlson put it, “if it’s not some sort of op, okay, then what is it?”

When asked repeatedly during his interview with the committee about whether he had ever worked with the FBI or whether any of his activities at the Capitol occurred at the direction or consultation of federal law enforcement, the transcript shows Epps continually said “no, sir.”

The panel also asked Epps if he was affiliated with any of the following agencies: the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. He answered no to them all.

As the committee continues to release the transcripts that underpinned its investigation, some right-wing media personalities have tried to suggest that Epps’s absence in the report and transcripts — until today — was evidence of some kind of conspiracy.



Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) suggested that the panel would “adjourn without fulfilling [its] year old promise to release Epps transcript.”

But in the transcript itself, Epps described genuinely believing that the election was stolen, and deciding to travel to Washington, D.C. to act on that belief. But when the big day came and he saw violence unfolding, Epps claimed that he then decided it was a bridge too far.

“I saw people crawling all over the Capitol, climbing the walls. It made me kind of ill to my stomach,” he told lawmakers. “There was no point in going back. It had gone beyond to what I wanted it to be.”

“They hijacked this cause,” he added later on. “When they hijacked it and it turned the other way, all credibility was lost.”

Epps said in the transcript that he wanted a “peaceful demonstration,” though the Jan. 5 video shows him exhorting Trump followers to “go into the Capitol.” Right-wing website Revolver News later published articles accusing Epps of being part of a federal “breach team” aimed at instigating the violence, and the theory took off.

Epps, a resident of Arizona, was only the latest scapegoat that the right-wing used to blame for the violence of January 6, following claims that Antifa caused the violence and theories about other potential provocateurs.

Ironically, the transcript suggests that Epps himself believed that Antifa may have been behind the violence at the Capitol.

“Who else would it be?” he said. “I didn’t know anybody else that would do it.”

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckr...n-deflates-right-wing-claims-about-jan-6

The New York Times

Jan. 6 Transcripts Reveal Disagreements That Divided Trump Camp

Luke Broadwater, Alan Feuer, Catie Edmondson and Stephanie Lai
Sat, December 31, 2022 at 10:13 AM EST·7 min read

So far, the transcripts have added details to the public’s understanding of how police intelligence failures contributed to the Capitol attack, how former President Donald Trump considered “blanket pardons” for those charged, and how Trump-aligned lawyers allegedly tried to steer witness testimony.

The committee is rushing to publish more interviews before Jan. 3, when Republicans will take control of the House. Although the committee conducted more than 1,000 interviews, many of them were informal; only a few hundred were transcribed sessions.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

Here are some takeaways from the thousands of pages released this week.

Giuliani thought seizing voting machines could be an impeachable offense.

At a chaotic meeting in the Oval Office in December 2020, outside advisers urged Trump to use the military to seize voting machines in a bid to rerun the election.

That was too much for even Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer who had encouraged baseless election fraud claims but told Trump that the plan could be impeachable behavior.

“This may be the only thing that I know of that you ever did that could merit impeachment,” Giuliani recalled telling the president.

In his interview with the committee, Giuliani refused to discuss his role in many aspects of the effort to overturn the 2020 election, although he said he had rejected Trump’s idea of granting him a pardon.

“The president asked me what I thought of it,” he said of the pardon. “And I said I thought it would be a terrible mistake for him.”

Giuliani was less forthcoming when asked if Trump had ever thought of pardoning himself. “That would be privileged, actually, if he raised that with me,” he said.

The Secret Service was concerned about the Proud Boys leader’s White House visit.

On Dec. 12, 2020, hours before hundreds of members of his far-right group took part in a pro-Trump protest, Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, posted a photo of the White House steps on social media.

“Last minute invite to an undisclosed location,” Tarrio wrote on Parler, a right-wing social media app.

Newly released emails and testimony suggest that some Secret Service agents were concerned about how a prominent far-right extremist had so easily gained access to the White House.

Committee investigators later determined that the White House visit had been a public event that was likely arranged by a friend of Tarrio, Bianca Gracia, founder of a group called Latinos for Trump.

In an email obtained by the committee, Ron Rowe, chief of staff to the Secret Service’s director, asked Bobby Engel, a Secret Service agent: “Can we get some specifics on who submitted him for the tour? Why didn’t we pick up on his role/membership in the Proud Boys?”

Anthony Ornato, a former Secret Service agent who was Trump’s deputy chief of staff for operations, told the panel that he did not recall if he knew who the Proud Boys were at the time of Tarrio’s visit. The group’s name notably came up during a 2020 presidential debate.

Tarrio is one of five members of the Proud Boys who are now on trial in Washington, where they are facing charges of seditious conspiracy. Opening arguments are expected to begin next month.

Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas tried to play down her role in contesting the election.

In a wide-ranging interview, Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who is known as Ginni, sought to play down her role in attempts to challenge election results.

Thomas acknowledged that she had exchanged text messages after the election with Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, in which she recommended that he support Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump lawyer who was pushing false accusations that foreign governments had hacked into the country’s voting machines.

Thomas denied that she had discussed her activities with her husband. But she did acknowledge that she had been referring to Justice Thomas as her “best friend” in texts with Meadows, in which she said a talk with her “best friend” had cheered her up while she was distraught over Trump’s loss.

“My husband often administers spousal support to the wife that’s upset,” she told investigators.

Thomas also acknowledged taking part in a project called FreeRoots that had sent mass emails to state lawmakers in key swing states saying they had “power to decide if there were problems in their election.”

In a tense exchange with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the panel, Thomas said that she still believed that the election had been marred by fraud. When questioned further, Thomas could not come up with any specific instances of fraud.

CIA staff had a ‘suicide pact’ to resign if Trump fired the director.

New details also arose this week about plans to replace the director of the CIA with a Trump loyalist in the final stages of the administration. The committee received testimony about a mass resignation plan at the CIA in opposition to Trump’s attempt to replace Gina Haspel as director with Kashyap P. Patel, a lawyer and staunch supporter of the president.

According to Alyssa Farah Griffin, former White House communications director, Haspel had a “suicide pact” in place, in which the entire intelligence community would resign if she were removed from her post.

“Allegedly, for about 14 minutes, Kash was actually the CIA director,” Griffin said.

Trump’s White House was marked by constant infighting.

One theme throughout the transcripts is the intense infighting that was a constant feature of the Trump White House. Lawyers fought with lawyers. Communications staff fought among themselves. The president berated aides of all ranks.

Some examples: Griffin provided a scathing assessment of Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary: “I am a Christian woman, so I will say this. Kayleigh is a liar and an — She’s a opportunist.”

Trump adviser Jason Miller told investigators he was “pissed off” when he learned that Cleta Mitchell, a longtime conservative lawyer, listed his name as the official to contact on a document she circulated denying that President Joe Biden had won the election. “I called Cleta and said, ‘What the hell?’” Miller said. “And she said, ‘Yeah, you guys weren’t moving fast enough, so I just put your name on it and sent it out.’”

Trump didn’t want to do ‘a big PR push’ for a Capitol Police officer who died after Jan. 6.

The transcripts also show the conditional nature of the former president’s support for law enforcement. Trump agreed at the urging of his staff to lower the flag over the White House to honor a Capitol Police officer who died after Jan. 6, but “was adamant that we not do a news release or a big PR push,” Miller wrote in a text message.

“We want to make it clear nobody is a stronger supporter of law enforcement than President Trump but we don’t want to blast it out,” Miller wrote.

A furniture executive bankrolled private jets for Trump’s circle.

Testimony released Friday detailed how Patrick Byrne, a former CEO of the furniture retail company Overstock, took on the role of a financier who chartered private jets for people in Trump’s circle as they fought election results.

Trips included bringing Trump supporters and members of the Proud Boys to attend rallies in Washington before Jan. 6, taking lawyers and cyberexperts to investigate voting machines and transporting people who signed affidavits about election fraud.

Byrne also attended a White House meeting in which participants urged Trump to seize voting machines. In his deposition, Byrne said he had called for the meeting and asked the president to “put us in, coach.”

In one telling, the fake electors scheme originated from a senator.

According to Mitchell, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, came up with the idea to submit alternate electors to cast their ballots for the former president instead of Biden.

“It was actually Mike Lee’s idea,” she told investigators.

Lee has said he was eager to fight alongside Trump, but backed off when evidence of a stolen election did not appear. Lee ultimately voted to certify the election for Biden.

© 2022 The New York Times Company

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jan-6-transcripts-reveal-disagreements-151345971.html

drip Drip DRIP.. We all knew the truth would come out.

I wish we could bring back public gallows for all these trump losers. Each of them deserves their neck stretched.

A slap on the wrist isn’t even likely.

No…”we want Hunter Biden and the big guy”.

I'm all for nailing Hunter Biden if they can prove he did what he's accused of. Same with Joe. It's only fair.

Maybe they can get John Durham on the case. I mean a two year investigation, 6.5 million dollars and one conviction that resulted in no jail time. Sounds like what they should do.. LOL

Other Ray Epps Stories

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/co...mittee-crazy-conspiracy-theori-rcna63615


Apparently far right conspiracy folks tried to use this as some sort of way to defend Trumps actions. Kinda backfired when Epps stated he didn't work for any government agency. Apparently, nobody can prove otherwise.

Why does it matter, Epps merely went along with the rioters. Doesn't change anything,, Trump and his minions still started it.

Pence subpoenaed by Special Prosecutor overseeing Trump cases. Rut-ro! lmao

They still don't care.

You bring up "chump change" issues- Trump business CHEATED taxpayers out of hundreds of millions- was it 24 or 36 real convictions in NY against his businesses- no the Donald- just HIS businesses.

God willing- Smith- charges and convicts his butt. Half the US would go in streets dancing with joy- 30%, the law and order bunch would take out the AR-15s and maybe shot some liberals and then say God made them do it.

So that makes Hannity a liar. A liar on a Mainstream news network. Misleading millions of viewers. And the Goper standard punishment for that would be to step down or retire. Or be fired. Isn’t that correct GOP? Or does it only apply to a libtard?

if that's the case... he should go to jail

For lying on television?

Fox News stars and executives privately trashed Trump’s election fraud claims, court document reveals

New York CNN —

The most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives at Fox News privately ridiculed claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, despite the right-wing channel allowing lies about the presidential contest to be promoted on its air, damning messages contained in a Thursday court filing revealed.

The messages, included in a legal filing as part of Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News, showed that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham brutally mocked lies being pushed by former President Donald Trump’s camp asserting that the election was rigged.

In one set of messages revealed in the court filing, Carlson texted Ingraham, saying that Sidney Powell, an attorney who was representing the Trump campaign, was “lying” and that he had “caught her” doing so. Ingraham responded, “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy [Giuliani].”

The messages also revealed that Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, did not believe Trump’s election lies and even floated the idea of having Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham appear together in prime time to declare Joe Biden as the rightful winner of the election.

Such an act, Murdoch said, “Would go a long way to stop the Trump myth that the election stolen.”

The court document offered the most vivid picture to date of the chaos that transpired behind the scenes at Fox News after Trump lost the election and viewers rebelled against the right-wing channel for accurately calling the contest in Biden’s favor.

Dominion filed its mammoth lawsuit against Fox News in March 2021, alleging that during the 2020 presidential election the talk network “recklessly disregarded the truth” and pushed various pro-Donald Trump conspiracy theories about the election technology company because “the lies were good for Fox’s business.”

Fox News has not only vigorously denied Dominion’s claims, it has insisted it is “proud” of its 2020 election coverage.

In a statement Thursday night, Fox News argued that the court filing contained cherry-picked quotes lacking context.

“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan,” the network said.

But the court document provided a mountain of evidence exposing Fox News as a right-wing talk channel void of the most basic journalistic ethics.

The legal filing also underscored how worried Fox News executives and hosts were in the immediate aftermath of the election of losing its viewership to Newsmax, a smaller right-wing talk channel that was saturating its airwaves with election denialism.

After the election, a furious Trump attacked Fox News and encouraged his followers to switch to Newsmax. And, in the days and weeks after the presidential contest had been called, they did just that. Fox News shed a chunk of its audience while Newsmax gained significant viewership.

In multiple instances, Fox News executives and hosts expressed worry over the matter and started to crack down on those at the network who fact-checked election lies. In one case, after White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich fact-checked a Trump tweet pushing election fraud, Carlson said he wanted her fired.

In multiple instances, Fox News executives and hosts expressed worry over the matter and started to crack down on those at the network who fact-checked election lies — even as the messages show that Fox News’ chief political anchor, Bret Baier, pushed for such fact checks. In one case, after White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich fact-checked a Trump tweet pushing election fraud, Carlson said he wanted her fired.

“Please get her fired,” Carlson told Hannity over text message. “Seriously … what the f**k? I’m actually shocked … It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company.”

Hannity replied that he had already spoken to Suzanne Scott, the network’s chief executive. The next morning, Heinrich’s tweet had been deleted.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN that Heinrich was blindsided reading the details in the legal filing and was not aware of the efforts by top hosts behind the scenes to get her fired.

In another case, when host Neil Cavuto cut away from a White House press briefing where election misinformation was being promoted, senior Fox News leadership were told such a move presented a “brand threat.”

Scott exchanged messages with Lachlan Murdoch, the Fox Corporation chief executive, and outlined a plan to win viewers back. Scott said the right-wing talk channel would “highlight our stars and plant flags letting the viewers know we hear them and respect them.” Murdoch responded that the brand needed “rebuilding without any missteps.”

Soon after, Fox News debuted a new “standing up for what’s right” marketing campaign featuring the network’s top stars.

Despite what appeared on air, Fox News executives and hosts privately criticized the Trump camp for pushing claims of election fraud, the messages showed. Hannity even said Giuliani was “acting like an insane person” and Ingraham described him as “an idiot.” Rupert Murdoch said it was “really bad” that Giuliani was advising Trump.

The court filing also revealed that Fox News executives had criticized some of the network’s top talent behind the scenes. Jay Wallace, the network president, said that “the North Koreans” did a “more nuanced show” than then-host Lou Dobbs. Jerry Andrews, the executive producer of “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” referred to host Jeanine Pirro as “nuts.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/medi...7bB6ZLKYs2YBgGMQsCFpxjs2_7Hw9VFEadsGLIGM

Former FBI agent arrested on Jan. 6 charges

Washington — The Justice Department charged a former FBI agent with illegally entering the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack and three other misdemeanor counts after he allegedly called law enforcement guarding the building "Nazis" and urged the mob outside to "kill 'em," court documents unsealed Tuesday revealed.

Jared Wise, who was arrested in Oregon on Monday, worked for the FBI from 2004-2017, rising through the ranks to supervisory special agent at the time of his departure from the bureau. The FBI did not comment on Wise's arrest beyond referring to public court records.

Investigators say Wise entered the Capitol through a Senate wing door and remained inside for approximately 9 minutes, allegedly raising his hands in "triumph," according to prosecutors, before exiting the building through a Senate window.

Once outside, court records allege Wise remained around the Capitol and, later in the afternoon on Jan. 6, berated police.

"I'm former law enforcement," Wise yelled, according to bodycam video described in the charging documents. "You're disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo."

Prosecutors say Wise then observed members of the mob violently attack law enforcement and urged them on, allegedly shouting, "Kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em!"

Wise's attorney did not respond to CBS News' request for comment.

In November, investigators traveled to New Braunfels, Texas, in search of Wise and ultimately interviewed the manager of a building where he once lived. The building manager identified Wise and told investigators Wise had left an Oregon forwarding address, court documents reveal.

Wise is scheduled to appear in Washington, D.C., federal court for an initial appearance next week.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-fbi-agent-arrested-on-jan-6-charges/

No doubt, some in Law Enforcement are MAGA types. The question is, did the FBI sanction his actions? That's the same question the MAGA heads have about Ray Epps..

That entire Ray Epps BS has been proven to be just that. Just another unfounded conspiracy theory.

Looks fake to me.

It's the FBI agent part that's fake. Not the "he's an idiot" part.

https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-en...y-trial-f8738f17552cda21eef6d89504da2a0e

Ex-Proud Boys leader Tarrio guilty of Jan. 6 sedition plot
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
18 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election.

A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV.

RELATED COVERAGE
– Proud Boys leader was government informant, records show
– EXPLAINER: The seditious conspiracy charges in Jan. 6 trial
– Proud Boys Jan. 6 trial in hands of jury weighing conspiracy
– Prosecutor: Proud Boys viewed themselves as 'Trump's army'
Tarrio was also convicted of obstructing Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory and obstructing law enforcement as well as two other conspiracy charges. He was cleared of an assault charge stemming from a co-defendant who stole an officer’s riot shield.

It’s a significant milestone for the Justice Department, which has now secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the leaders of two major extremist groups prosecutors say were intent on keeping Biden out of the White House at all costs. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Tarrio, behind bars since his March 2022 arrest, didn’t appear to show any emotion as the verdict was read. He hugged one of his lawyers and shook the hand of the other before leaving the courtroom. A few of the people sitting among the defendants’ relatives wiped away tears as the verdict was read.

An attorney for Tarrio declined to comment Thursday.

Tarrio was a top target of what has become the largest Justice Department investigation in American history. He led the neo-fascist group — known for street fights with left-wing activists — when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate with Biden.

Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6, because he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. But prosecutors said he organized and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day.

In addition to Tarrio, a Miami resident, three other Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl.

Jurors have not yet reached a unanimous verdict on the sedition charge for fifth defendant: Dominic Pezzola. The judge told them to keep deliberating.

Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter leader. Rehl led a group chapter in Philadelphia. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Pezzola was a group member from Rochester, New York.

Prosecutors told jurors the group viewed itself as “Trump’s army” and was prepared for “all-out war” to stop Biden from becoming president.

The Proud Boys were “lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe said in his closing argument.

The backbone of the government’s case was hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6 that show the far-right extremist group peddling Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and trading fears over what would happen when Biden took office.

As Proud Boys swarmed the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar, writing on social media: “Do what must be done.” In a Proud Boys encrypted group chat later that day someone asked what they should do next. Tarrio responded: “Do it again.”

“Make no mistake,” Tarrio wrote in another message. “We did this.”

Defense lawyers denied there was any plot to attack the Capitol or stop Congress’ certification of Biden’s win. A lawyer for Tarrio sought to push the blame onto Trump, arguing the former president incited the pro-Trump mob’s attack when he urged the crowd near the White House to “fight like hell.”


“It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city,” attorney Nayib Hassan said in his final appeal to jurors. “It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.”

The Justice Department hadn’t tried a seditious conspiracy case in a decade before a jury convicted another extremist group leader, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, of the Civil War-era charge last year.

Over the course of two Oath Keepers trials, Rhodes and five other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to forcibly halt the transfer of presidential power from Trump to Biden. Three defendants were acquitted of the sedition charge, but convicted of obstructing Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.

The Justice Department has yet to disclose how much prison time it will seek when the Oath Keepers are sentenced next month.

I see you have nothing to show he was an actual FBI informant. Typical.

Over 1000 people have been charged with crimes for January 6th... but not the guy caught on camera numerous times urging people to breach the capital building.

What's your hypothesis for how this could possibly be true? Just curious...

Did he enter the building? Did he do any damage in the building? Did he assault any police officers? Asking me questions isn't you providing any evidence confirming he was affiliated with the FBI. You do understand that, right?

Just curious...........did you expect a truthful answer?

He got one. But neither you or him like it. Neither of you can site any crime Ray Epps committed. As per usual you have nothing of substance to refute that yet wish to act like it's someone else that is at fault.

Pit got it right, stop your trolling. All you come in here for is to stir fights. Then when it gets heated, you get scarce. It’s a bullying thing I guess. But if you just want to fight, I’m your huckleberry. I have ZERO issue setting you straight and bringing facts and receipts.

They struggle differentiating feels from facts bro. It’s part of their TDS.

What a big, scary man you are behind your keyboard.

Listen to this guy lmao. Feelings!!

He's a troll. He comes out of the closet once in a while to "spit truth".

Not really. They both know better when they post it. If they don't their issues run much deeper than even I could have imagined. One would think any rational person knows by now Ray Epps wasn't affiliated with the FBI. One would know that Ray Epps didn't actually commit any criminal acts to be prosecuted for. It's all just a continuation of white noise. Fate and Vers are both smart enough to know this.

So the dude inciting violence, leading the charge to the capital, trying his hardest to get people to break in -- no charges necessary? He didn't "hurt" anyone or anything??

Do you mean like the trolling you're doing now? And how odd it is you have no answer to show what crime Epps should be charged with while attacking the person who has shown you that. Yeah, that's exactly what a troll does.

Fate - what do you think others have been charged with and that Epps has been proven to be guilty of but not charged?

I see video of Epps outside the capitol building - nothing inside the building. I see articles quoting Mr Samuels who, instead of instructing or antagonizing him before he confrontedsays Epps told him to "relax, the police are just doing their job".

I see lot's of conspiracy theories about Epps - but no actual, you know, proof of anything. As for not being charged ... what do you want him charged with?

It's sort of a double edged sword with the Far Right conspiracy theorists that want it both ways - they want to say that the protest was peaceful, we have Republican's stating it was 'just like a normal tourist visit' .... but then when it comes to Epps he is allegedly inciting violence and instigating. How is that possible ? How can you incite a peaceful protest?

Anyway to the best of my knowledge people charged with crimes to date were INSIDE the building, or physically assaulting officers. Epps did neither - but you want to use him to promote what? You'll have to spell it out.

Leading the charge? Where has that been shown to be true? In case you missed it, that's the exact defense the Proud Boys used when naming trump for telling them to march to the capital and "fight like hell". yet he hasn't been charged either.


You mean exactly like the people speaking at the rally who sent those people there in the first place who weren't charged with a crime? Let me guess, you're using the "he told me to jump off the cliff so I did" reasoning?

First, just so we're being fair (you usually show a semblance ), it's pretty lame to paint a picture of hypocrisy when you just lump a bunch of internet comments together to represent a swath of people.

You're probably right. All of you. He didn't go into the building, cause any physical harm or damage anything.

It's hard to prove "inciting violence", but one would think with the thousands and thousands of charges, he would catch some. Especially given the fact that he was doing exactly what we were trying to prove Trump guilty of.

For the record, I wasn't trying to say he was FBI. I was responding to Pit's "100% conspiracy theory" (I know that's not the exact quote).

Of all the J6 stories and coverage, "Ray Epps" has always been the strangest to me. Probably just me.

Carry on.

Not sure I follow the lumping a bunch of people together comment. There are a bunch of Right Wing conspiracies that revolve around Epps being an FBI agent. Trump has repeated/suggested it. Grouping the Alt Right is "legit" - just like grouping or labeling the equal and opposite fringe on the Left would be / is. There's crazies across the spectrum. I've never said anything less.

Maybe in your comments regarding Epps and Pit in his replies - it might have been worth clarifying exactly what you were both referring to. I for one would think only of the claims that he was an FBI plant. To me reading about how he's never been charged is like hearing "he's never been charged because he was an FBI plant" .... maybe a poor assumption on my part. But in my post I think I asked for clarity and avoided assumptions (while also lumping a bunch of internet comments to represent a swath of people )

As you can see in the video and what never seems to get mentioned, is that Epps actively tried to get people not to commit violence (look at the 8:06 time stamp of the video) on January 6th. I understand however that people can't present or know facts that have never been presented to them.

I have no opinion on Epps. I haven't followed the January 6th event at all. I saw it for what it was while the very same people who preached that the aftermath of the Floyd murder were almost all peaceful protests. People in the real world know better. Thus, I can't say a word about Epps. I was just asking you a question if you expected a truthful answer out of Pit? He's not interested in the truth. He's interested in winning arguments that he mostly starts.

Lmao@u. Just can’t take a thing you say serious anymore.

What about my answer wasn't truthful? You must have missed part of Fate's reply....


It sounds as if you're the only one that feels my answer wasn't honest. But we know what you're actually here for and you don't hide it well.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/othe...ity-in-georgia-investigation/ar-AA1aNHXp

How in the world can you say those that participated in the insurrection should be prosecuted but the Jan 6 committee was a farce?

How do you expect to find those responsible if you don't investigate? The J6 committee was a Bi-partisan group of folks. More were asked to join, but McCarthy refused.. Then cut those that did out of the process..


So what it comes down to is Republicans don't want anything they do investigated. If it is, then they call it a Farce.

Trumps words and actions are out there for the world to see and hear. There is no denying he's at the root of the insurrection.. NO doubt. Same with Eastman, McCarthy, Meadows, Guiliani, Thomas (ginni), Powell (sidney), Lindell (pillow guy) and a few others in the Trump Admin.

In the end, the work this "Farce" committee as you call it, did, laid the ground work to a DOJ investigation into the events of J6.

The committee was only a farce to those that want to hide the facts.

As for are there really those that are actually pro insurrection, YES.. and the loudest are elected officials in Congress... Would you like their names?

Man living in Uniontown gets 14 years in Jan. 6 riot, longest sentence imposed yet

May 5, 2023 / 6:17 PM / CBS/AP

(KDKA/AP) -- A man who was living in Uniontown was sentenced Friday to a record-setting 14 years in prison for attacking police officers with pepper spray as he stormed the U.S. Capitol with his wife.

Peter Schwartz's prison sentence is the longest so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. The judge who sentenced Schwartz also handed down the previous longest sentence — 10 years — to a retired New York Police Department officer who assaulted a police officer outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 24 years and 6 months for Schwartz.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Schwartz to 14 years and two months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Schwartz was working as a welder in Uniontown before his arrest in February 2021, but he considers his home to be in Owensboro, Kentucky, according to his attorneys.

Mehta said Schwartz was a "soldier against democracy" who participated in "the kind of mayhem, chaos that had never been seen in the country's history."

"You are not a political prisoner," the judge told him. "You're not somebody who is standing up against injustice or fighting against an autocratic regime."

Schwartz briefly addressed the judge before learning his sentence, saying, "I do sincerely regret the damage that Jan. 6 has caused to so many people and their lives."

The judge said he didn't believe Schwartz's statement, noting his lack of remorse.

"You took it upon yourself to try and injure multiple police officers that day," Mehta said.

Schwartz was armed with a wooden tire knocker when he and his then-wife, Shelly Stallings, joined other rioters in overwhelming a line of police officers on the Capitol's Lower West Terrace, where he threw a folding chair at officers.

"By throwing that chair, Schwartz directly contributed to the fall of the police line that enabled rioters to flood forward and take over the entire terrace," prosecutor Jocelyn Bond wrote in a court filing.

Schwartz, 49, also armed himself with a police-issued "super soaker" canister of pepper spray and sprayed it at retreating officers. Advancing to a tunnel entrance, Schwartz coordinated with two other rioters, Markus Maly and Jeffrey Brown, to spray an orange liquid toward officers clashing with the mob.

"While the stream of liquid did not directly hit any officer, its effect was to heighten the danger to the officers in that tunnel," Bond wrote.

Before leaving, Schwartz joined a "heave ho" push against police in the tunnel.

Stallings pleaded guilty last year to riot-related charges and was sentenced last month to two years of incarceration.

Schwartz was tried with co-defendants Maly and Brown. In December, a jury convicted all three of assault charges and other felony offenses.

Mehta sentenced Brown last Friday to four years and six months in prison. Maly is scheduled to be sentenced June 9.

Schwartz's attorneys requested a prison sentence of four years and six months. They said his actions on Jan. 6 were motivated by a "misunderstanding" about the 2020 presidential election. Then-President Donald Trump and his allies spread baseless conspiracy theories that Democrats stole the election from the Republican incumbent.

"There remain many grifters out there who remain free to continue propagating the 'great lie' that Trump won the election, Donald Trump being among the most prominent. Mr. Schwartz is not one of these individuals; he knows he was wrong," his defense lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors said Schwartz has bragged about his participation in the riot, shown no remorse and claimed that his prosecution was politically motivated. He referred to the Capitol attack as the "opening of a war" in a Facebook post a day after the riot.

"I was there and whether people will acknowledge it or not we are now at war," Schwartz wrote.

Schwartz has raised over $71,000 from an online campaign entitled "Patriot Pete Political Prisoner in DC." Prosecutors asked Mehta to order Schwartz to pay a fine equaling the amount raised by his campaign, arguing that he shouldn't profit from participating in the riot.

Schwartz was on probation when he joined the Jan. 6 riot. His criminal record includes a "jaw-dropping" 38 prior convictions since 1991, "several of which involved assaulting or threatening officers or other authority figures," Bond wrote.

More than 100 police officers were injured during the riot. More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to Jan. 6. Nearly 500 of them have been sentenced, with over half getting terms of imprisonment.

The 10-year prison sentence that Mehta handed down in September to retired NYPD officer Thomas Webster had remained the longest until Friday. Webster had used a metal flagpole to assault an officer and then tackled the same officer as the mob advanced toward the Capitol.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/uniontown-man-sentenced-14-years-jan-6-riot/

For those of you still trying to downplay the severity of January 6th, may the Schwartz be with you.

You can tell just from his posts that the time is coming soon


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...hes-tirade-on-special-counsel-jack-smith

Oath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case

WASHINGTON — The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol following his conviction on seditious conspiracy.

The sentence for Stewart Rhodes is the longest imposed on a Jan. 6 defendant to date. “You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and to the republic and to the very fabric of this democracy," Judge Amit Mehta said before handing down the sentence.

Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November along with Kelly Meggs, a fellow Oath Keepers member who will be sentenced later Thursday afternoon.

"They won't fear us until we come with rifles in hand," Rhodes wrote in a message ahead of the Jan. 6 attack. After the attack, in a recording that was played in court during his trial, he said his only regret was that they “should have brought rifles.”

Rhodes and Meggs were put on trial alongside Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell, fellow Oath Keepers who were convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, but not seditious conspiracy. Watkins and Harrelson will be sentenced on Friday.

Rhodes took the stand in his case, saying that the other members of the Oath Keepers were "stupid" to storm the Capitol and that he disagreed with those who went inside; Rhodes did not enter the building. “I had no idea that any Oath Keeper was even thinking about going inside or would go inside,” Rhodes said.

But the government also produced messages in which Rhodes said he thought that Jan. 6 was the last opportunity to stop what he saw as a takeover of the government.

"On the 6th, they are going to put the final nail in the coffin of this Republic, unless we fight our way out. With Trump (preferably) or without him, we have no choice," Rhodes wrote in a message ahead of Jan. 6.

He also celebrated Oath Keepers' actions in the immediate aftermath of the attack, after meeting with other members of the group at an Olive Garden in Virginia that night.

“Patriots, it was a long day but a day when patriots began to stand," Rhodes wrote the night of Jan. 6. "Stand now or kneel forever. Honor your oaths. Remember your legacy."
Ryan J. Reilly

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...jan-6-seditious-conspiracy-cas-rcna85852

His mugshot will help us all remember his.

Can't wait to see how long "Oath Keepers" leader get....a decade should do the job. Then, I hope we get the big fish, Trump, he needs to go to prison for decade or so too....on treason or classified material or any number of other crimes he has committed. How any sane person can consider him as a LEADER of US is beyond me.

Former Oath Keeper sentenced for role in Jan. 6 Capitol attack

Army veteran Jessica Watkins was given more than eight years in prison.

A former leading member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group was sentenced Friday to eight years and six months in prison for her role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Jessica Watkins led a small group into the Capitol building, but prosecutors said her actions enabled many more to ultimately disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Struggling to express her remorse through her tears, Watkins apologized before the court.

"My actions and behaviors on that fateful day were wrong and -- as I now understand -- criminal," she said.

Watkins' sentencing follows two lengthy prison terms handed down this week to Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and one of his chief lieutenants, Kelly Meggs. Rhodes on Thursday received the longest sentence of any Jan. 6 defendant to date at 18 years, while Meggs was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Last November, Watkins was found guilty of conspiring to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election and actual obstruction of that proceeding. Unlike Rhodes and Meggs, she was acquitted on the more serious charge of seditious conspiracy against the United States.

Once inside the Capitol, Watkins jammed herself in a hallway packed with rioters heading toward the Senate chamber.

Police officers were at the opposite end of the hallway, pressing back against the mob. Officer Christopher Owens tearfully spoke to the court this week about the physical and emotional trauma he and other officers experienced.

"She used her body in that hallway," federal prosecutor Alexandra Hughes told the court Friday. "She bears responsibility for the mental anguish and physical wounds of officers like Christopher Owens."

Watkins founded a separate militia group in Ohio before joining with the Oath Keepers. A veteran and former medic, Watkins said she left the military after experiencing harassment over her gender transition.

"Your story and what you have endured … shows a great deal of courage, resilience, and you've overcome a lot," federal judge Amit Mehta said before handing down her sentence.

"But all that doesn't wipe out what happened that day," Mehta said. "It doesn't wipe out what you did that day."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/for...RrUFWHWJmurhonpCO7TCxE1kJuNTLJKh8Ox7_e_4

Kelly Meggs was sentenced to 12 years.

Court Sentences Two Oath Keepers Leaders on Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/cour...-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related-us

Justice being served I suppose. They should put all these MAGA coup types on a domestic terrorism watch list and make them report to law enforcement (like paroled convicts) on a regular basis. The are the fangs of the MAGA snake.

12 years for a visit just like any other tourist visit while being escorted by police officers who opened doors for them. It can't be.

* Edit - I mean forget the media spin on either side. Just look at the prosecutions and convictions and let that guide you as to what happened that day.... unless the judicial system is also part of the DeEp St@T.ate.

And let's not forget the jury members in over 1000 cases. After having what breaking those laws mean and what a person has to have done to have broken those laws, being shown all of the evidence, they have all been crooked and hate the other side of the political aisle so much that they find all those poor innocent people guilty. But fear not, Trump or DeSantis will be along shortly to pardon them. Because you know, they're political prisoners and all. Murica!

I'm elated these "innocent tourists" are spending significant time behind bars. It should help to prevent similar acts in future. Now if we can get the big dog, Trump- convicted and sentenced to jail- our democracy would truly be safer- money and entitlement- NO ONE is above the law--- God willing it will get done by Smith.

Woman who threatened Nancy Pelosi with hanging during Capitol riot gets over 2 years in prison

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Pelosi’s office suite on Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury. The judge sentenced her to two years and three months of imprisonment, giving her credit for the several months she already has served in jail, court records show.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months for Bauer, 55, of Kane, Pennsylvania.

Bauer was part of the mob that forced police officers on the East Plaza to retreat. After forcing her way into the Capitol, she accosted officers who were trying to secure the Rotunda, shoving one of them, and yelled at police to “bring them out or we’re coming in,” according to federal prosecutors.

“They’re criminals. They need to hang,” she screamed. “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang (her). Bring her out.”

Other rioters shouted threats against Pelosi while they roamed through the Capitol.

“Bauer’s threat to hang Speaker Pelosi was real, imminent, and placed the Speaker of the House in danger,” prosecutor James Peterson wrote in a court filing.

Bauer traveled from her north Pennsylvania home to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 6. She had attended a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a day earlier.

She came to Washington with at least five other people who have been charged in the Capitol riot, including co-defendant William Blauser, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Last year, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 fine but didn’t sentence him to any term of incarceration or probation.

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Pelosi’s office suite on Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury. The judge sentenced her to two years and three months of imprisonment, giving her credit for the several months she already has served in jail, court records show.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months for Bauer, 55, of Kane, Pennsylvania.

Bauer was part of the mob that forced police officers on the East Plaza to retreat. After forcing her way into the Capitol, she accosted officers who were trying to secure the Rotunda, shoving one of them, and yelled at police to “bring them out or we’re coming in,” according to federal prosecutors.

“They’re criminals. They need to hang,” she screamed. “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang (her). Bring her out.”

Other rioters shouted threats against Pelosi while they roamed through the Capitol.

“Bauer’s threat to hang Speaker Pelosi was real, imminent, and placed the Speaker of the House in danger,” prosecutor James Peterson wrote in a court filing.

Bauer traveled from her north Pennsylvania home to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 6. She had attended a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a day earlier.

She came to Washington with at least five other people who have been charged in the Capitol riot, including co-defendant William Blauser, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Last year, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 fine but didn’t sentence him to any term of incarceration or probation.

McFadden convicted Bauer of all five counts in her indictment, including a felony charge that she obstructed the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that certified President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Bauer never intended to interfere with the process of certifying the Electoral College vote. She “genuinely regrets her past actions” and doesn’t pose a threat to the public, her lawyer said.

“The international spotlight showcasing her at her worst has deeply affected her,” Maknoon wrote.

Prosecutors said Bauer lied during her trial testimony, giving a bogus explanation for her confrontation with police and claiming she didn’t remember threatening Pelosi.

Bauer has used “sovereign citizen” extremist rhetoric and filed “nonsense” court documents while defending herself, prosecutors said.

More than a year before the trial, McFadden ordered Bauer to be jailed for several months for violating conditions of her release. She had claimed the court has no authority over her and told the judge that she doesn’t want “any lawyering from the bench.”

During an interview in 2021, Bauer said her arrest on Capitol riot charges led to a mixed reaction from neighbors in Kane, a small town on the edge of the 517,000-acre Allegheny National Forest.

“A lot of people say that they’re proud of me for standing up for my rights,” she told The Associated Press.

Bauer said her restaurant, Bob’s Trading Post, was thriving before the COVID-19 pandemic. She became known in her hometown as an outspoken critic of lockdown measures that cost her business.

More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 500 of them have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from one week to 18 years.

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-...mY9kYEfaOhyiT-1E0Tzzrp1ELdGqwowg8T-UOjNM

#normaltouristvisit #politicalprisoners

Oath Keepers member who sped to Capitol on a golf cart gets more than four years in prison

An Oath Keeper who acted as part of a security detail on January 6 for Roger Stone before rushing to join the riot at the Capitol was sentenced to more than four years in prison Thursday for seditious conspiracy.

Roberto Minuta, who prosecutors described as one of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes’ “most trusted men,” was not initially at the Capitol but sped over in a golf cart when he learned of the breach, prosecutors said.

Once inside, he joined a crowd pushing against police and screamed, “This was bound to happen.”

Prosecutors showed jurors violent messages and videos of Minuta, including one where he screamed that “millions will die…get your f**king soul ready” while driving to Washington, DC for January 6.

“This isn’t about the words themselves,” Judge Amit Mehta said during the sentencing hearing Thursday. “You weren’t charged and convicted because of your words. It’s because your words reflected your state of mind. Your words reflected what you were thinking, and ultimately why you came to Washington.”

“I don’t think this idea that you sort of lost your way for a few hours that day is entirely accurate,” Mehta said.

In addition to the seditious conspiracy charges, Minuta was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, as well as conspiracy to prevent a member of Congress from discharging their official duties. He was acquitted of one charge of tampering with documents.

Before the sentence was handed down Thursday, Minuta told Mehta that he grew angry over Covid-19 restrictions in New York, and claimed he and his family were receiving “in person death threats by Anitfa.”

Minuta said he was “misled and naïve” about the purpose of the Oath Keepers, thinking its purpose was to protect people and businesses against leftist protesters, and that the “deranged leadership” of Rhodes “turned the organization into a political rah-rah disaster.”

“Had I known, I would never have put myself in a situation like that, especially for a president that I had genuine disdain for,” Minuta said, adding that he was “repulsed by Mr. Rhodes’ lack of remorse.”

Before handing down the 54-month sentence, Mehta said he recognized that Minuta’s efforts to keep his business open in light of Covid restrictions were an “act of civil disobedience,” but said that “the one line that can’t be crossed is to use violence about that very government.”

“Cloaking yourself in this tradition of the founders and violent uprising and believing that the Second Amendment allows individual citizens to gather up arms to battle their government? The law doesn’t permit that,” Mehta said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/poli...-zPs4qjoZG7hdyLn1gpoX--rcr8nDFW6YqYL2T_E

"A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison."

I've gotta ask, exactly what the hell was this idiot thinking? She had to know that threatening a member of congress would land her in hot water... Right? She had to know...

These people that stormed the capitol on J6 were fools.... Fools following a fool...

I have no idea what they were thinking. For myself - and my opinion - i think that some of them, the hardest core of the protesters, Trump's most faithful, the one's who believed everything they heard Trump and Trump's sycophant's spewed .... I think they thought they were there to save America. To save American values from communists who wanted to destroy everything that America stands for. I think they thought the election was stolen by mass voter fraud, that Trump won the election by a huge margin and that they were helping to restore justice. I think all of those thoughts were wrong, gullible and misguided ... but it's what I think drive people that if you'd met them 8 years before, you probably would have assumed they were nice, awesome people. I think social media, right wing media, Trump and Trump cronies - even influencers like Virginia Thomas - all brainwashed and helped lead to that. . . . Not a very revolutionary opinion, but feel free to disagree and convince me otherwise.

And yet we’ll let these fools out in a year or two to follow the same fool that should be in jail with them. Only in Murica

That is a sad truth. But my understanding of the sentences handed down is that they follow established sentencing guidelines. If thats the case, then maybe what we need is stiffer sentencing guidlines.

Does that really make any difference? Will giving those Proud Boys years and years for the crimes they committed make any difference if trump or desantis win the presidency? Both have stated they will probably pardon most or all of them. Once again it's not about justice. It's about Just Us. They call these criminals political prisoners and their minions believe it.

I think they actually bought into all the BS including Trump being chosen by God… It’s a cult, and they acted like the Manson Family, following the words of dear leader. I would round up everyone who breached the building and hang them to the man, if I had my way. These sentences are more or less a slap on the wrist for most.

Four Additional Oath Keepers Sentenced for Seditious Conspiracy Related to U.S. Capitol Breach

Four members of the Oath Keepers were sentenced this week on seditious conspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Roberto Minuta, 39, of Prosper, Texas, was sentenced June 1 to 54 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release.

Edward Vallejo, 64, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced on June 1 to 36 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release, including the first 12 months to be served on home confinement.

David Moerschel, 45, of Punta Gorda, Florida, was sentenced on June 2 to 36 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release.

Joseph Hackett, 53, of Sarasota, Florida, was sentenced on June 2 to 42 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release.

The four defendants were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent Members of Congress from discharging their official duties on Jan. 23, following a seven-week trial. Hackett was also found guilty of destruction of evidence.

According to the evidence, in the months leading up to Jan. 6, the defendants and their co-conspirators plotted to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power, including by amassing an armed “quick reaction force” on the outskirts of the District of Columbia. Beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, the defendants and various co-conspirators coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., on or around Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the certification of the electoral college vote. The defendants made plans to bring weapons to the area to support the operation. The co-conspirators then traveled across the country to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early January 2021, with paramilitary gear and supplies including firearms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, and radio equipment.

The defendants conspired through a variety of manners and means, including: organizing into teams that were prepared and willing to use force and to transport firearms and ammunition into Washington, D.C.; recruiting members and affiliates to participate in the conspiracy; organizing trainings to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics; bringing and contributing paramilitary gear, weapons, and supplies – including knives, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection and radio equipment – to the Capitol grounds; breaching and attempting to take control of the Capitol grounds and building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the electoral college vote; using force against law enforcement officers while inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; continuing to plot, after Jan. 6, 2021, to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power and using websites, social media, text messaging and encrypted messaging applications to communicate with co-conspirators and others.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security and Criminal Divisions. Valuable assistance was provided by numerous U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, as well as the Metropolitan Police Department, with significant assistance provided by the FBI’s New York, Dallas, Tampa and Phoenix Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Secret Service.

In the 28 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four...ous-conspiracy-related-us-capitol-breach

3-5 years pffft. A hanging offense no doubt, if BLM organized a breach on the capitol killing policemen.

A 'lifelong criminal' who told his wife — and a jury — that he had 'fun' on January 6 was sentenced to 6 years in prison for attacking cops

Markus Maly said he merely "occupied space" on Jan. 6 and denied attacking and pepper-spraying cops.

A prosecutor described Maly as a "lifelong criminal" with 33 prior convictions.

He was convicted of all 8 charges against him, including impeding police using a dangerous weapon.

A Virginia man who told his wife — and a federal jury — that he had "fun" at the Capitol riot was sentenced on Friday to six years in prison for attacking police as he stormed the building.

Markus Maly's prison sentence is significantly lower than the punishment prosecutors sought for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The Justice Department had recommended a prison sentence of 15 years and eight months for Maly, a flooring installer.

A prosecutor described Maly, 49, as a "lifelong criminal" with 33 prior convictions on his record, including two for battery of a law enforcement officer. But the judge who sentenced Maly noted that most of his crimes date back to his 20s.

Maly told US District Judge Amit Mehta that he regrets traveling to Washington and following the mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters to the Capitol. But he insisted that he merely "occupied space" in the crowd and denied attacking and pepper-spraying police.

"I went to a rally. That's what I did," he told the judge.

The judge said jurors had ample evidence to convict Maly of assaulting police.

"It's not that you were there and 'occupying space.' It's that you did these things and kept doing them that day," the judge told him.

Prosecutors say Maly is one of many Capitol rioters who have tried to profit from their notoriety, portraying themselves as patriots, martyrs, or political prisoners as they solicit donations from supporters. While prosecutors acknowledge that defendants have a right to raise money for legal defenses, they're increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison terms to claw back donations used for personal expenses.

Maly has raised over $16,500 through a GiveSendGo donation page, referring to himself as a "January 6 P.O.W."

Prosecutors asked the judge to fine him an amount commensurate with his fundraising haul, noting that he had a public defender and didn't owe any legal fees.

The judge declined to impose a fine. He said Maly's fundraising activities may have been "unseemly," but he questioned whether there was a legal basis for clawing back the money.

Maly testified at his trial that participating in the Capitol riot was "fun" for him. He also described the events of Jan. 6 as "fun" and "awesome" in messages sent to his wife and others.

"Maly admitted to being proud of what he had done at the Capitol and that he had bragged about it," prosecutor Stephen Rancourt wrote in a court filing. "Despite seeing police officers assaulted, injured, and distressed on January 6, and knowing that it was a bad day for members of Congress and the police officers who had to live through the riot, Maly reiterated that his experience that day was 'fun.'"

The judge at Maly's trial previously handed down the longest sentence for a Capitol riot case: 18 years for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of orchestrating a violent plot to keep Trump, a Republican, in the White House after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Maly has been jailed since a jury convicted him in December of all eight charges against him, including felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding police using a dangerous weapon.

On the morning of Jan. 6, Maly took a bus from his home in Fincastle, Virginia, to Washington to attend Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally. He later joined the mob that attacked police on the Capitol's Lower West Terrace, one of the day's most violent clashes.

Maly sprayed a chemical, possibly pepper spray, at Metropolitan Police Department Officer Christopher Boyle as he and other officers retreated into a tunnel and guarded an entrance. Maly passed a spray canister from one rioter to another, joined a coordinated "heave ho" push against police, and left the tunnel with a stolen riot shield as a "trophy," Rancourt said.

Maly was charged and tried with co-defendants Peter Schwartz and Jeffrey Scott Brown. Schwartz passed the spray canister to Maly, who passed it to Brown. The jurors who convicted Maly also found Schwartz and Brown guilty of related charges.

The judge sentenced Schwartz last month to 14 years and two months in prison, the longest for a Jan. 6 case before Rhodes, and sentenced Brown in April to four years and six months in prison.

Prosecutors say Maly lied on the witness stand when he testified that he only showed a canister to Boyle but didn't spray the officer.

"Maly claimed that the stream of liquid coming out of the canister was actually a piece of fringe on his hat. However, his hat didn't have a fringe," Rancourt wrote.

Defense attorney Benjamin Schiffelbein said Maly believed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.

"He fervently believed that he was protesting in the name of liberty and freedom. His motives, however (factually) wrong they may have been, were based in values this country celebrates," Schiffelbein wrote. "What is more American than fervently defending democracy — even from one's own government — and perhaps especially then?"

More than 100 police officers were injured during the riot. More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to Jan. 6. Over 500 of them have been sentenced, with more than half getting terms of imprisonment, according to an Associated Press review of court records.

https://www.businessinsider.com/mar...vtzOf6M0SnMLXV_SEsDrdJcmw4ZtZfyZG4nE6yOo

Trump only hires the best.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/...SzCSUqva8P8d4xzJ5to9zRTKiSawPwSBwMyurpmA



TRUMP INDICTMENT

Judge required Pence to answer most of special counsel’s questions, newly unsealed court docs show
“The bottom line is that conversations exhorting Pence to reject electors on January 6th are not protected,” D.C.’s federal district court’s chief judge wrote in April.



By KYLE CHENEY

06/09/2023 10:18 PM EDT

The figures pressuring Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden’s electoral votes on Jan. 6 were asking him to act “unlawfully,” the chief judge of Washington D.C.’s federal district court ruled in a secret April decision.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg’s 19-page opinion — which the judge partially unsealed Friday at the urging of media organizations — cleared the way for special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors to question the former vice president about his conversations with a wide array of figures who leaned on him to reject Biden’s electors, possibly including Donald Trump.



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“The bottom line is that conversations exhorting Pence to reject electors on January 6th are not protected,” Boasberg wrote in the ruling, dated March 27, adding, “There is no dispute in this case that Pence lacked the authority to reject certified electoral votes.”


Pence appeared for that closed-door testimony on April 27 and answered questions for more than six hours. The substance of the questions and answers remain almost entirely shielded from public view but nevertheless marked a historic moment in Smith’s unprecedented criminal probe of Trump and his allies’ efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

Pence ‘deeply troubled’ over Trump indictment


Boasberg’s newly unsealed ruling reveals that he required Pence to answer nearly every category of questions prosecutors intended to pose, including about the pressure by those who asked him to simply throw out or refuse to count Biden’s electors.

Both Trump and Pence had fought to sharply restrict questions that Smith’s team could pose to the former vice president. Trump claimed his conversations with Pence were shielded by executive privilege — an argument Boasberg squarely rejected. Pence, however, took a different tack, arguing that he should be afforded the same immunity from DOJ questioning that members of Congress receive.



That immunity, afforded by the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause” is meant to shield lawmakers and congressional officials from compelled testimony to the Executive Branch. Pence emphasized that on Jan. 6, 2021, he was fulfilling his constitutional role as “president of the Senate,” presiding over both houses of Congress to count electoral votes. That role entitles him to congressional immunity, he contended.

Boasberg agreed with Pence — and his ruling is a first-of-its-kind finding that vice presidents should be treated as hybrid members of the Executive and Legislative, deriving protections from both, depending on the context. But he also noted that the ”speech or debate” clause has strict limits, and doesn’t protect efforts by outside actors to coax legislators to act “unlawfully.”

In his ruling, Boasberg said Pence was required to answer questions on virtually all topics proposed by Smith’s team with the exception of inquiries about his preparation and planning to perform the actual task of counting electors.

In the final frenzied weeks before Jan. 6, Trump leaned on Pence to single-handedly disrupt the transfer of power by refusing to count Joe Biden’s electors on Jan. 6, when Pence was tasked with presiding over Congress to count electoral votes and finalize the results. Trump called Pence on the morning of Jan. 6 and berated him for refusing to acquiesce, urging him to reconsider just minutes before Pence traveled to the Capitol.


Pence’s refusal shattered Trump’s last-ditch bid to cling to power and became fuel for an angry mob of Trump supporters that subsequently ransacked the Capitol that day.

Despite Smith’s clear win, Boasberg at times took the Justice Department to task for making sweeping arguments about the limits of the speech or debate clause, which he said were far too narrow.



In a redacted brief that Boasberg unsealed on Friday as well, DOJ attorney James Pearce argued that Pence shouldn’t enjoy protections from the speech or debate clause at all. In fact, Pearce’s position was at odds with one the Justice Department had taken repeatedly in recent years to fend off lawsuits against vice presidents and other congressional officers, a reversal Pearce acknowledged. He attributed the change to what he said was a lack of a thorough analysis in the previous cases.

Pence, in his own newly unsealed brief, argued that the speech or debate clause provided him expansive protections — which Boasberg ruled was far too broad of an interpretation.

Pence, however, took a different tack, arguing that he should be afforded the same immunity from DOJ questioning that members of Congress receive.

That immunity, afforded by the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause” is meant to shield lawmakers and congressional officials from compelled testimony to the Executive Branch. Pence emphasized that on Jan. 6, 2021, he was fulfilling his constitutional role as “president of the Senate,” presiding over both houses of Congress to count electoral votes. That role entitles him to congressional immunity, he contended.

I don't see why Pence would want to shield the truth from coming out. Pence has thrown his hat into the ring for the GOP nomination - he's clearly tried to differentiate himself from Trump and stated Trump should never be POTUS again because he wanted to act outside the constitution ... why would anyone then try to prevent facts about a momentous event from coming out. Total BS.

Simple, Pence is scared of trump’s murderous minions still on the streets of murica.

i still can't believe not one person arrested has had a wooden stump for a leg. i mean we already had the path keepers leader with the eye patch. we need a wooden stub, a parrot, and a pirate flag

J/C



Just to prove you can't fix stupid, this guy shouts out "Trump Won" after being sentanced to 12.5 years. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...ichael-fanone-sentenced-125-ye-rcna89388

Nope, you can’t fix stupid but you can pardon it. Pffft Goper’s

Former California police chief found guilty of conspiracy over role in Jan. 6

A former California police chief was found guilty Thursday of four felonies, including conspiracy to obstruct Congress, over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Alan Hostetter, 56, was convicted of conspiring to obstruct and obstructing an official proceeding, as well as entering a restricted area and engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct with a dangerous weapon, after defending himself at a bench trial.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, Hostetter “coordinated and conspired” with several other rioters from California to travel to Washington, D.C., for the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

On Jan. 6, the 56-year-old carried a hatchet in his backpack as he breached a police line and made his way to the upper west terrace of the Capitol.

He later posted a photo of himself on the terrace on Instagram, saying, “This was the shot heard round the world!…the 2021 version of 1776. That war lasted 8 years. We are just getting started.”

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth noted Hostetter’s past career in law enforcement as he handed down his ruling Thursday. Hostetter briefly served as chief of police in La Habra, Calif., according to NPR.

“No reasonable citizen of this country, much less one with two decades of experience in law enforcement, could have believed it was lawful to use mob violence to impede a joint session of Congress,” Lamberth said in court, according to The Washington Post.

“Belief that your actions are for a greater good doesn’t negate consciousness of wrongdoing,” the judge added.

https://thehill.com/regulation/cour...QdT-JXEEtzenVamYeBPmVV19johIS5c-c2X8J2vw