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Ladybbird 04-01-22 09:58

CAPITOL Riot: Convicted Felon Wants to Storm Capitol Again -As Congressman
 
'This is BAD News for TRUMP: Reporter Reveals NEW 6 Jan Info

4 Jan 2022 CNN



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Correspondent Jamie Gangel and CNN political commentator Scott Jennings react to new information that there are "multiple sources" with firsthand knowledge of former President Donald Trump's activities during the Capitol insurrection on 6 January.




Ladybbird 06-01-22 09:13

re: CAPITOL Riot; FBI Charges Oath Keepers Leader & 11 Others
 
Capitol Riot: Biden to Blame TRUMP For Carnage One Year On

President Joe Biden will blame Donald Trump for the US Capitol riot as he marks the anniversary of the attack on the seat of American democracy.

BBC .6 JAN 2022.



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Speaking at Congress, Mr Biden will say his predecessor holds "singular responsibility" for the "chaos and carnage", said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.



Investigators have so far arrested 725 suspects in connection with the attack.

Trump supporters stormed the building as Congress was meeting to certify Mr Biden's presidential election victory.

Images of US lawmakers cowering from the mob in the gallery of the House of Representatives on that afternoon of 6 January 2021 shocked the world.

Mr Trump had urged protesters at a rally outside the White House shortly beforehand to "peacefully" march on Congress, but he also exhorted them to "fight" and stirred up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud in the election he had just lost.

The former president had planned to host a competing news conference on Thursday from his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Palm Beach, Florida. But he cancelled the event after aides reportedly warned of negative press coverage.

A spokesman for Mr Trump, Taylor Budowich, said it was "unsurprising" that Mr Biden would spend the day "trying to further divide our nation" in an attempt to distract voters from rising inflation and crime and coronavirus school closures.


'A Nation in Decline' - How Yhe Eorld Saw The Capitol Riot


President Biden - who rarely mentions his predecessor - will speak on Thursday morning in Statuary Hall, a section of the Capitol complex that was breached by rioters.

The White House press secretary said the president's speech "will lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol, and the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw".

"He will forcibly push back on the lies spread by the former president - in an attempt to mislead the American people, and his own supporters, as well as distract from his role in what happened," she added.

"President Biden has been clear-eyed about the threat the former president represents to our democracy," Ms Psaki continued.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will preside over a moment of silence at noon on the chamber floor.

An inquiry into the riot is being conducted by a House committee, which is dominated by President Biden's Democrats.

The panel is chasing phone records, visitor logs and other White House documents that could shed light on events leading up to the attack on Congress. They have issued legal summonses to members of Mr Trump's inner circle.

Senior Republicans will mostly be outside of Washington on Thursday, with the party's Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, heading a delegation to the funeral of a former senator in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr McConnell said in the immediate aftermath of the riot that Mr Trump was "practically and morally responsible".

Some Republican lawmakers have portrayed the invasion of Congress, in which rioters engaged in hand-to-hand combat with police, as a peaceful protest that was spoiled by a few troublemakers.

But conservative Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was lambasted on the right on Wednesday after he labelled the riot "a violent terrorist attack".

US Attorney General Merrick Garland gave an update on the FBI inquiry on the eve of the anniversary, calling the law enforcement operation "one of the largest, most complex and most resource-intensive investigations in our history".

"The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last," he said. "We will follow the facts wherever they lead because 6 January was an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy."

He said 140 police officers had been assaulted, including one who was beaten and zapped repeatedly with a stun gun until he had a heart attack.

Another screamed for help as rioters crushed him between doors and bludgeoned him with his own weapon, said the attorney general.


When a Mob Stormed the US Capitol


Mr Garland is facing pressure from the left to prosecute the rioters more aggressively, as well as charge the former president himself and his allies.

"We build investigations by laying a foundation," Mr Garland said. "We resolve more straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more complex cases."

Most of the charges so far have been misdemeanours that often entail no jail time in the event of a conviction.

These suspects have been charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, and obstructing congressional proceedings.

But 325 suspects are facing felonies - more serious counts - such as using a dangerous weapon to assault officers.

Mr Garland said 300,000 tips had been submitted by private citizens, and the FBI were still hunting about 2,500 suspects.

One rioter, an unarmed woman, Ashli Babbitt, was shot by an officer while trying to breach the House chamber. Two others died from natural causes related to cardiovascular disease and another succumbed to a drug overdose.

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died a day later of natural causes after suffering two strokes while defending the building, according to medical officials.

In an opinion piece for the New York Times on Wednesday, the oldest-living former US President, Jimmy Carter, warned that the country "now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss".

"Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy. Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late."

A week after the riot, Mr Trump was impeached by the House for incitement of insurrection, but acquitted by the Senate, which was then controlled by his fellow Republicans. He is still seen as holding sway over the party.

Of 10 Republicans who sided with Democrats in the lower chamber vote, two have resigned amid death threats, three others are facing Trump-backed election challenges, and four more have kept a low profile.

Wyoming's Liz Cheney was stripped of her Republican leadership position in the House, but is spearheading the congressional inquiry into the Capitol riot.


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A protester holds a Confederate flag inside CongressImage source, Reuters


National divisions over the invasion of Congress are underscored by BBC interviews with American voters.

James Clark, 69, a life-long Republican voter in Virginia, said: "It was truly shocking. President Trump seemed intent on burning down the house before leaving Washington."

But Trump voter Keri Smith, 42, of Texas, argued that the Black Lives Matter protests were worse.

"We've seen stuff crazier than that happening on a weekly basis for the past two years," she said.

Laura Powers, a disaffected Republican, says she is "still horrified" by what she watched on TV that day.

"It was a horrible, dark day for democracy and it should never ever happen again," she said.

The riot has been described as the worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812. It is not the only such attack since that era.

In 1983 a female-led communist group bombed the US Senate. No-one was injured.

One of the co-defendants in that attack had her sentence in another case commuted by US President Bill Clinton.


Ladybbird 06-01-22 09:27

re: CAPITOL Riot; FBI Charges Oath Keepers Leader & 11 Others
 
Capitol Riots Timeline: How The Day Unfolded... Key Moments From That Day


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The Evidence Presented Against Trump


Democrats have made their case against Donald Trump at his impeachment trial by showing chilling recordings - including previously unseen video - from the Capitol riot.

The goal of the prosecution has been clear - to link Mr Trump and his words to the deadly riot that followed.

They also want to ensure the jury of senators - and, importantly, Americans watching at home - see the brutal violence of the mob, the panic of police, and the fear of lawmakers.

Democrats opened the trial on Tuesday with a 13-minute montage of the day.

They changed their tactics slightly on Wednesday, and offered up a nearly minute-by-minute look at the violence, including Mr Trump's tweets.



Here Are the Key Moments From the Day

08:17

President Donald Trump tweets allegations of vote fraud ahead of his rally in Washington DC.


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10:58

Members of the Proud Boy movement, a right-wing militia, are seen heading towards the Capitol. Speaking to Newsnight's US correspondent David Grossman, one member of the group says: "We're taking our country back."

One of the group has a radio. "It was clear he was communicating - getting messages, sending messages to somebody," our correspondent said.

12:00

President Trump begins his speech to supporters in Washington. Some 15 minutes into it, he starts urging them to converge on the Capitol.

"I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," he said. Some have argued in court that they went to the riot because Donald Trump told them to

Minutes later, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi commences the certification process.

13:10

Mr Trump ends his speech with the words: "We fight. We fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue."

Shortly afterwards a Capitol police officer calls for backup.

"They're throwing metal poles at us," he says. "Multiple law-enforcement injuries," he adds in a panicked voice.

Capitol police send an evacuation warning.

13:45

Protesters surge past Capitol police protecting the west steps, the side facing the White House.

Minutes later, an officer declares there is a riot at the Capitol. "We're going to give riot warnings," he says. "We're going to try to get compliance but this is now effectively a riot."14:13

Secret Service quickly and suddenly evacuate Mr Pence from the Senate floor.

The protesters break through the windows. They push inside, hopping through the broken glass. They then kick open the doors to let others in. Some wear hoods and helmets, some hold cameras or Confederate flags.

An immediate recess of the Senate is called.

A minute later, Officer Eugene Goodman runs to respond to the initial breach. He warns Senator Mitt Romney that the mob is approaching. Mr Romney turns and runs through a capitol hallway to safety.

The mob, a floor below them, has already begun to search for the Senate chamber.

Officer Goodman makes his way down to the first floor where he encounters the mob

Meanwhile Vice President Mike Pence is continuing to preside over the session.

12:53

As the president speaks, a crowd outside the Capitol is swelling. They begin marching towards the police barrier and get past officers. The police, outnumbered, try to contain them.

Trump supporters wield flags and weapons. One man stands on a makeshift gallows, complete with a noose.



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The crowd chants: "Fight for Trump."


14:13

Secret Service quickly and suddenly evacuate Mr Pence from the Senate floor.

The protesters break through the windows. They push inside, hopping through the broken glass. They then kick open the doors to let others in. Some wear hoods and helmets, some hold cameras or Confederate flags.

An immediate recess of the Senate is called.

A minute later, Officer Eugene Goodman runs to respond to the initial breach. He warns Senator Mitt Romney that the mob is approaching. Mr Romney turns and runs through a capitol hallway to safety.

The mob, a floor below them, has already begun to search for the Senate chamber.

Officer Goodman makes his way down to the first floor where he encounters the mob


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The officer was seen confronting a rioter during the attack


He lures the armed rioters away from the upper chamber. Many of these individuals have been calling for Mr Pence to be hanged.



By that point, the rioters are "within 100ft" (30m) of Mr Pence and a foot away from one of the doors to the chamber. Many senators are still inside.



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President Trump tweets about Mr Pence.



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At the same time, Ms Pelosi is rushed from the house floor. She is evacuated entirely from the Capitol complex to a secure off-site location.

Her staff barricade themselves into a conference room, hiding under a table.

Staff members of the House leader speak softly, frantically, to each other. Just outside, rioters are spreading out across the building, searching for Ms Pelosi herself.

The rioters chant: "Where are you Nancy?" In an audio clip, we hear one staff member whisper: "They're pounding on doors trying to find her."

One man breaks open the outer door to the office where the staff are hiding, but not the inner door. Another tries as well, but eventually moves on.

14:24

At the same time, Mr Pence is evacuated to a secure location.

Rioters start to spread through the buildings. Others break in from outside through various doors around the building.

They open the east side door of the rotunda to let more people in, flooding through the doors and overwhelming the officers.



The House floor debate is suspended to update members. House members are told to reach for tear gas masks and be prepared to use them.

The House is called back into session in the hope of continuing the count.


But minutes later the House is abruptly recessed. Members are told to get down under their chairs if necessary.

"Folks have entered the rotunda and are coming this way," lawmakers are told.

Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell sends a text to his wife: "I love you and the babies. Please hug them for me".

The mob outside the chamber grows larger and they get within feet of the house door.
14:26

President Trump called Senator Mike Lee, according to the Utah Republican who has provided the trial lawyers with a copy of a log from his mobile phone.

According to his office, he received a call from the White House switchboard number - and the call lasted four minutes. Mr Lee has said that apparently the call was meant for Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville, and that he handed his phone to his colleague.

Mr Tuberville told reporters that he informed Mr Trump that Mr Pence had been evacuated from the Senate floor. "I said: Mr President, they've taken the vice-president out. They want me to get off the phone, I gotta go."

House impeachment managers say it is further evidence that the president knew how much danger his vice-president was in.


14:41

Ashli Babbit is seen turning the corner towards the House lobby doors as members are leaving.

House Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern is spotted by the mob as he leaves the House floor.

In a hallway outside the House chamber, a group attempts to force its way through a set of locked doors. The glass window panes on the doors are shattered. A rioter uses a baton to smash through as the crowd around him chants "break it down, break it down".

Footage shows the hands of an officer on the other side, holding a gun and pointing it toward the mob. We hear a shot and see Babbitt fall to the ground.

People still inside the gallery of the chamber are trapped. They tell each other to take off their congressional pins.

In the meantime, a number of rioters reach the inside of the Senate gallery.

"Is this the Senate?" one demands to know. "Where are they?" another asks, apparently referring to the evacuated senators.

Video footage shows some rioters rifling through papers and materials left behind by lawmakers. "There's got to be something we can use against these scumbags," one says.



15:13

Trump tweets asking for people to "remain peaceful".

Presentation by the Democrats shows Donald Trump's tweet and footage of the attack




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Meanwhile the mob are still at the Capitol.

Footage shows a sprawling mob, a sea of people on the Capitol grounds. A Confederate flag waves in the foreground.
16:17

Trump releases a video in which he tells the mob to go home.

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18:00


Fifteen minutes after police confirm Ashli Babbitt has died, Trump tweets again.


He refers to those at the Capitol as "great patriots".


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The defence denies Mr Trump incited the riot, and argued at the trial on Tuesday that the impeachment was unconstitutional.

A majority of senators, including six Republicans, voted for the trial to go ahead

Ladybbird 09-01-22 14:49

re: CAPITOL Riot; FBI Charges Oath Keepers Leader & 11 Others
 
Reflecting on the US Capitol Riot One Year On

BBC News 9 Jan 2022


This week marked the first anniversary of the storming of the US Capitol in Washington DC by supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump.




Ladybbird 10-01-22 10:26

re: CAPITOL Riot; FBI Charges Oath Keepers Leader & 11 Others
 
Base of Hate: Inside Accelerationism:

Violent NAZI THUGS Who Stormed Capitol Building.

You’re likely to see significant news coverage reflecting on what happened exactly one year ago in Washington, as thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol building.


The Fifth Estate 10 JAN 2022.



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Many of those who rushed past security said they were angry about the vote underway inside that would formally validate the presidential election of Joe Biden and wanted it stopped.

But others had a more sinister motivation.



And that brings us to our episode called “Base of hate: Inside accelerationism”.

The movement is one that aims to disrupt and dismantle governed society as we know it. The Base connected people who wanted to accelerate that collapse. One of those men was Patrik Mathews, a Canadian military reservist now serving a nine-year prison sentence in the U.S. for his role in trying to stage a violent attack.

You will hear from another man — he infiltrated the group and has shared with The Fifth Estate exclusive access to hundreds of hours of screen grabs and audio recordings of Base members being recruited and vetted. We also have the first-ever television interview with the infiltrator, whose identity we are protecting out of concern for his safety.

As executive producer of the program, I can tell you we have had countless conversations about how much of that material we should air. We believe we’ve struck a balance between letting Canadians see just how vile and violent the views of groups like this are and why it should concern us all — while not giving these groups a platform they crave.

The group featured in this episode is now considered largely defunct and many of its members are in prison, but as host Gillian Findlay makes clear in one of the final moments of this documentary, the threat from those who share their views is real.

Ladybbird 12-01-22 12:43

re: CAPITOL Riot; FBI Charges Oath Keepers Leader & 11 Others
 
Capitol Attack Panel Closes in on TRUMP Inner Circle With Three NEW Subpoenas

Subpoenas suggest committee examining whether Trump’s rally speech suggests White House had prior knowledge of attack plans

The Guardian UK 12 JAN 2022




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The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack closed in on Donald Trump’s inner circle on Tuesday, issuing subpoenas to three new White House officials involved in planning the former president’s appearance at the rally that preceded the 6 January insurrection.

At the Madison Cawthorn rally, Cawthorn made baseless claims that the election had been stolen from Trump.



The new subpoenas show the select committee is moving ever nearer to Trump in its investigation and suggests the panel is now examining whether the former president’s speech suggested that the White House had advance knowledge of plans to attack the Capitol.

Congressman Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select committee, issued subpoenas to the former White House strategists Andy Surabian and Arthur Schwartz, suggesting they helped coordinate Trump’s appearance by communicating with the organizers and speakers at the rally.

The chairman also authorized a subpoena for Ross Worthington, the former White House official who drafted the speech Trump delivered at the rally, during which the former president lied that he won the 2020 election and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol.

“The select committee is seeking information from individuals who were involved with the rally,” Thompson said. “Protests that day escalated into an attack on our democracy. Protesters became rioters who carried out a violent attempt to derail the peaceful transfer of power.”

The rally at the Ellipse has grown in significance for the select committee in recent weeks, as it examines whether Trump obstructed a congressional proceeding by inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol and stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win.

The Guardian first reported last week that the panel is also examining whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy that connected his plan to have then-Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify Biden’s victory with the extremist groups that attacked the Capitol.

Thompson said in the subpoena letters to Surabian and Schwartz that they were targeted since they appeared to have repeated communication with some of the top organizers and speakers at the rally, including Trump’s eldest son Don Jr, and his fiance Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The chairman added that they also had contacts that touched on securing the participation of far-right activists such as Ali Alexander and Alex Jones at the rally, discussed media coverage of the rally, and appearance fees for others who did speak at the rally.

Thompson said in the subpoena letter to Worthington that he was being targeted since he helped draft Trump’s speech for the rally, where the former president urged his supporters to “fight much harder” and “stop the steal” – before promising to march with them to the Capitol.

The select committee gave the three former Trump aides until 24 January to produce documents detailed in the subpoenas, with deposition dates set from the end of the month through the first week of February.

Ladybbird 13-01-22 21:43

re: CAPITOL Riot-Reffitt Accused of Being Tip of Spear & Oath Keepers Leader Charged
 
FBI Charges Oath Keepers Leader and Others Over Capitol attack

13 Jan 2022 CNN


The Justice Department has charged 11 defendants with seditious conspiracy related to the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, including the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes

Ladybbird 19-01-22 09:48

re: CAPITOL Riot-Reffitt Accused of Being Tip of Spear & Oath Keepers Leader Charged
 
US Capitol Riot Committee Targets Rudy Giuliani

Committee issues subpoena to Rudy Giuliani

The congressional panel investigating last year's US Capitol riot have issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.


BBC News 19 JAN 2022.



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The House of Representatives committee demanded Mr Giuliani and three others hand over documents and sit for depositions on 8 February.




Mr Giuliani travelled the US after the 2020 election to promote the baseless claim that Mr Trump had won the vote.

The riot on 6 January 2021 was stoked by falsehoods about mass voter fraud.


Subpoenas were issued on Tuesday to three other Trump associates:


Jenna Ellis - Mr Giuliani's assistant who the committee says prepared memos claiming that the election could be legally overturned

Sidney Powell - A former lawyer to Mr Trump who claimed that a court filing would unleash a "Kraken" of evidence, but it never materialised

Boris Epshteyn - A Trump campaign strategist who the panel says held a call with Mr Trump on the morning of the riot to discuss tactics to delay certification


Bennie Thompson, the Democratic lawmaker who is leading the House select committee, said in a statement that all four aides "advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes".

It is not clear whether the four of them intend to comply with the committee. If they refuse, they could be held in contempt of Congress and face possible criminal prosecution.

The subpoena calls on Mr Giuliani - a longtime ally of Mr Trump - to submit a sworn testimony and provide documents.

The document charges that Mr Giuliani and Ms Powell urged Mr Trump to seize voting machines around the country after being informed by the Department of Homeland Security that it "had no lawful authority to do so".

On the day of the riot, Mr Giuliani addressed the crowd of Trump supporters outside the White House and called for "trial by combat".

Later, as the mob was storming the building, he called senators in a further effort to halt Joe Biden's certification as president.

According to CNN, the panel has also obtained phone records of the former president's son, Eric Trump, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to another son, Donald Trump Jr.

The seizure of the phone records is the first time such a legal summons has been issued to a member of the Trump family, the network reported.



Ladybbird 21-01-22 08:19

re: CAPITOL Riot-Reffitt Accused of Being Tip of Spear & Oath Keepers Leader Charged
 
Capitol Riot Inquiry Asks Ivanka Trump to Voluntarily Testify

US congressional investigators have asked Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the former president, to testify about the 6 January riot at the US Capitol.

BBC News 21 JAN 2022.


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Ivanka Trump speaking at a campaign event in Georgia


The move to request testimony from a Trump family member marks an escalation of the committee's probe of the riot.

In a letter, lead investigator Bennie Thompson said Ms Trump was there when her father allegedly pressed his vice-president to reject election results.

A mob stormed the Capitol as lawmakers met to confirm President Biden's win.

Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's eldest daughter, served as one of his senior advisers during his presidency, alongside her husband Jared Kushner.

The committee says she participated in efforts to convince Mr Trump to call off his supporters during the violence.

"The Committee would like to discuss any other conversations you may have witnessed or participated in regarding the President's plan to obstruct or impede the counting of electoral votes," says the nine-page letter to Ms Trump from Mr Thompson, a Mississippi congressman.

"Testimony obtained by the Select Committee indicates that members of the White House staff requested your assistance on multiple occasions to intervene in an attempt to persuade President Trump to address the ongoing lawlessness and violence on Capitol Hill," he adds in the letter, which asks her to speak to the committee next month.



A representative for Ms Trump told US media that she had just learned that the 6 January committee had issued a public letter asking her to appear.

"As the Committee already knows, Ivanka did not speak at the January 6 rally," the spokesperson said.

"As she publicly stated that day at 3:15pm, 'any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable. The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful.' "

The representative did not say whether she would comply with the voluntary request.

The panel is also seeking the phone records of Mr Trump's son Eric Trump, as well as Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Mr Trump's other son, Donald Trump Jr.


According to testimony by Keith Kellogg - an adviser to former Vice-President Mike Pence who was also with Mr Trump in the White House during the riot - Mr Trump called Mr Pence that day to say he was "not tough enough" to block the congressional certification of the election.

"Mike, it's not right. You can do this. I'm counting on you to do it. If you don't do it, I picked the wrong man four years ago. You're going to wimp out," Mr Trump reportedly said, according to Mr Kellogg's interview transcript.

He also said that Ms Trump was present during the call, and turned to him afterwards to say "Mike Pence is a good man".

In an interview earlier this month, committee vice-chairwoman Liz Cheney said that the committee heard that Mr Trump denied multiple requests from aides to step in to attempt to halt the violence.

"We have firsthand testimony that his daughter Ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence," the Republican congresswoman told ABC News.


Ladybbird 28-01-22 05:43

re: CAPITOL Riot-Reffitt Accused of Being Tip of Spear & Oath Keepers Leader Charged
 
Camp Auschwitz Shirt Capitol Rioter Pleads Guilty

An intruder who was seen wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt during the US Capitol riot last year has pleaded guilty to entering the building.

BBC News 28 JAN 2022.



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Robert Packer's shirt referred to the Nazi death camp where more than 1.1m people, mostly Jews, were murdered during World War Two.


On Wednesday he admitted to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol - a misdemeanour charge.

Packer, 57, now faces up to six months in jail when he is sentenced in April.

Prosecutors say Packer travelled from Virginia to attend a pro-Trump rally on 6 January 2021 that ended in rioters invading Congress as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden's election victory.

Packer entered the building as the mob fought with law enforcement, and was near the area where protester Ashli Babbitt was shot by police. He left the building after 20 minutes.



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A search of Packer's home turned up other anti-Semitic and racist materials, including more Nazi imagery.


More than 725 suspects have been arrested so far.

Robert Packer's shirt referred to the Nazi death camp where more than 1.1m people, mostly Jews, were murdered during World War Two.


The sweatshirt worn by Packer included a graphic of a skull and crossbones, and bore an English translation of the Nazi slogan that appeared on the gates of the concentration camp.
=

More than 200 people have pleaded guilty to participating in the riot.

Most have been given relatively lenient sentences so far, for minor offences such as trespassing.

However, felony prosecutions - including seditious conspiracy charges against 11 alleged militia members - have also been filed. Most of the 225 defendants accused of violence at the Capitol have yet to see trial.
More than 725 suspects have been arrested so far.


More



Ladybbird 31-01-22 07:15

Re: CAPITOL Riot-TRUMP Hints at Pardons For Rioters-70% GOPS Dont Want Him Back in 20
 
TRUMP Hints at 2024 Run and Dangles Pardons For 6 JAN Rioters

Donald Trump gets brutalized by Republicans in the polls. John Iadarola and Brett Erlich break it down on The Damage Report.

Daily Mail 31 Jan 2022



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Donald Trump says he will pardon January 6th Capitol rioters if he is re-elected president. Trump spoke at a rally in Texas.


Brian Stelter discusses former President Trump's rally in Texas where he disparaged the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection





NB; He needs more fools to DONATE -His next repayment is due on his $300+ mil loans....:whistle:

Ladybbird 06-02-22 10:00

re: CAPITOL Riot-Reffitt Accused of Being Tip of Spear & Oath Keepers Leader Charged
 
America's Crazy Ex':

DC Cop Badly Beaten During Capitol Riot, Reacts to TRUMP Remarks


6 Feb 2022 CNN


In an interview with Anderson Cooper, former Washington, DC, police officer Michael Fanone discusses former President Donald Trump encouraging protests against law enforcement



Ladybbird 04-03-22 10:11

re: CAPITOL Riot-TRUMP Likely Committed Felony-FED Judge Rules-DoJ Must Act
 
Capitol Riots: Guy Reffitt Accused of Being 'Tip of Spear' in 6 January Mob

The first defendant to stand trial over the Capitol riots said that he would drag lawmakers "kicking and screaming" from the building, prosecutors say.

Oath Keepers Leader Charged With Seditious Conspiracy


BBC News 4 MAR 2022




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Court documents say Guy Reffitt was seen on video on the west front of the US Capitol on 6 January


Guy Reffitt, 49, is accused of carrying a handgun on to the Capitol grounds, obstruction of an official proceeding and obstruction of justice among other charges.


Opening remarks for his criminal trial began on Wednesday.


The Texas man has pleaded not guilty to the five charges against him.

On 6 January, 2021, a mob of pro-Donald Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol as lawmakers gathered to certify Joe Biden's presidential election win. Prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler described it in opening remarks for Mr Reffitt's trial as "worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812", a date when British forces set fire to the White House.


He is accused of driving from Texas to Washington.

The prosecutor described Mr Reffitt as a "leader", saying he was "the tip of this mob's spear" that day.

He said that Mr Reffitt, who federal prosecutors accuse of being part of the Three Percenters militia group, had led rioters up the Capitol's stairs to storm the building.


The prosecutor said the Texas man, a drilling rig worker, had also texted a friend about plans to drag Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers from the Capitol that day.


William Welch, the lawyer representing Mr Reffitt, gave a short opening statement, where he noted his client "does brag, he exaggerates and he rants" but that the "trial will be about fact versus hype". He also said Mr Reffitt had never entered the building.

More than 750 people have been arrested since the Capitol attack last year. Most have been charged with misdemeanours, but at least 40 have received prison sentences.

More than 200 people have pleaded guilty to various charges. Mr Reffitt, who was arrested on 19 January, 2021, is the first person facing criminal charges to stand trial. The trial is expected to be watched as a test case for future prosecutions.

Mr Reffitt's son and daughter are both expected to testify against him. According to a justice department affidavit, Mr Reffitt is accused of threatening his children if they turned him in to authorities for his alleged role in the Capitol riots.

Earlier this week, nine men and seven women were selected to serve on the jury, four as alternates.


Separately on Wednesday, Joshua James, a man with alleged ties to the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, pleaded guilty in federal court as part of a plea agreement to a seditious conspiracy charge related to the Capitol riots.

A sedition charge is defined as attempting "to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States".

The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and 11 others including James were charged in January with the crime over last year's attack.

The Department of Justice accuses Mr Rhodes of working with other Oath Keepers - a loosely knit militia that believes the US government has been corrupted by elites - to transport weapons and ammunition to Washington DC in their effort to block Mr Biden's presidency. Mr Rhodes has pleaded not guilty.






Oath Keepers Leader Charged With Seditious Conspiracy

The leader of far-right militia group the Oath Keepers has been charged with seditious conspiracy over last year's attack on the US Capitol.


Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is a former US paratrooper


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Stewart Rhodes was among 11 people to be charged with the crime on Thursday. He was arrested at his home in Texas, according to his lawyer.

This is first time the sedition charge has been applied over the deadly riot.


Trump supporters stormed Congress in January 2021 as it was meeting to certify Joe Biden's victory.

More than 725 people have been arrested for the attack, which shocked the world.



Mr Rhodes, a 56-year-old former US paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, is accused of conspiring with others to "oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power".


The sedition charge is defined as attempting "to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States".


The Department of Justice accuses Mr Rhodes of working with other Oath Keepers - a loosely-knit militia that believes the US government has been corrupted by elites - to transport weapons and ammunition to Washington DC in their effort to block Mr Biden's presidency.

Prosecutors say that starting in late December 2020, Mr Rhodes used encrypted communications to plan the attack on Congress, although he himself is never said to have entered building.

He is accused of creating several "quick reaction force" teams, which "planned to use the firearms in support of their plot to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power".




The charges allege that Mr Rhodes split members into different "stacks," who went into the Capitol heavily clad in riot and tactical gear.



The first "stack" split up after entering the building and went separately to the House and Senate chambers, while the second "stack" confronted officers in the Capitol Rotunda, according to prosecutors.

Mr Rhodes has said in previous interviews with conservative groups that the members who entered the Capitol had "gone off mission" and were not acting on his orders.

Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, was also arrested on Thursday. The others charged with seditious conspiracy were already facing separate criminal charges in relation to the attack.

Lawyers for several of the accused have argued that they were present at the Capitol to provide security for high-profile conservatives, including Roger Stone - an ally of Mr Trump, whom he pardoned in the final days of his term.

Sedition charges are exceptionally rare in modern US history, and were last applied by federal prosecutors to a Michigan militia in 2010. The group, who were alleged to have plotted an attack on police officers, were acquitted by a judge who ruled that their violent rhetoric did not indicate a "concrete agreement to forcibly oppose the United States government".


Members of the Oath Keepers were seen in groups at the Capitol riot


Separate to the law enforcement operation, an inquiry into the riot is being conducted by a House of Representatives committee.

The committee has issued a subpoena to Mr Rhodes, as well as the ex-leader of the far right Proud Boys.

The letter to Mr Rhodes says: "You repeatedly suggested that the Oath Keepers should, or were prepared to, engage in violence to ensure their preferred election outcome."

It also quotes him telling members of the militia to "stock up on ammo" and gear up for a "full-on war in the streets".

At least a dozen other members of the Oath Keepers are facing charges in relation to the Capitol riot.

A growing number of Republicans has questioned the seriousness of the Capitol riot, given the lack of sedition or treason charges. This may in part be an answer to that argument, reports the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in Washington.

Alex Friedfeld, a researcher for the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said the new sedition charges were a "big deal" that marked an "escalation" by the prosecution.

"Up until this point, people have been charged for interrupting a federal process, or for violence that they did outside. This is the first time that they're acknowledging a plot against the government on that day," he said.

Ladybbird 29-03-22 03:42

Re: CAPITOL Riot-TRUMP Likely Committed Felony-FED Judge Rules-DoJ Must Act
 
Judge Makes Remarkable Ruling About TRUMP

Felony.- TRUMP Likely Committed Felony Over Jan 6, U.S. Federal Judge Rules

-The Department of Justice Must Act

- Attorney Client Privilege Does NOT Apply

TRUMP Hints at 2024 Run and Dangles Pardons For 6 JAN Rioters

AP.29 MAR 2022.



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Attorney John Eastman





Remarks by a federal judge who said that former President Donald Trump and right-wing attorney John Eastman may have been planning a crime as they sought to disrupt the January 6 congressional certification of the presidential election are unprecedented,
--but ultimately won’t mean much if the Department of Justice doesn’t act.



At times, the case has appeared to be the clearest route for the House to obtain Trump’s financial documents. But it has moved slowly, and moved forward only after Trump left office. Meanwhile, Trump and the House have faced off in a handful of other cases where Democratic-led legislative committees have subpoenaed his records.

Judges David Sentelle and Robert Wilkins also heard the case. Henderson and Sentelle are senior judges who initially took the bench during the Reagan administration, while Wilkins is a Barack Obama appointee.

In this case, the House Ways and Means Committee cited a law to obtain financial information from the IRS about Trump as a way to look at auditing presidents.

The lower court judge, Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, ruled the court couldn’t block Congress from getting the tax returns, because of the separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislative branches and binding Supreme Court rulings that give Congress broad latitude to pursue its inquiries.


Ladybbird 06-04-22 05:58

CAPITOL Riot; Ivanka Trump Testifies-TRUMP Felony-FED Judge Rules
 
Ivanka Trump Testifies to Capitol Riot Committee

Former White House adviser Ivanka Trump testified for hours on Tuesday to the congressional committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.


BBC News 6 APR 2022.




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Ms Trump, 40, was asked for her account of her father's activities as the crisis unfolded.



She was one of several aides said to have tried to convince the president to condemn the violence.





Her appearance comes days after her husband Jared Kushner, also an ex-White House adviser, met investigators.

The questioning lasted up to eight hours, US media reports. Unlike other witnesses called before the committee, Ms Trump never attempted to invoke her right to remain silent, according to the panel's top chairman.

"She's answering questions," congressman Bennie Thompson said. "Not in a broad, chatty term, but she's answering questions."

The committee has also subpoenaed White House records of Mr Trump's meetings and actions on 6 January, but documents acquired by BBC media partner CBS News show no presidential contacts for more than seven hours, as the battle in the Capitol was at its most intense.

That runs counter to multiple reports of presidential phone calls to Republicans in the US Capitol, including a heated conversation with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy. Ms Trump could shed light on the methods her father used communicate that day.

One Democratic member of the committee described Mr Kushner's testimony as "helpful" in reconstructing the events of the day.

As with Mr Kushner and the more than 800 other individuals called by the committee, Ms Trump's testimony has taken place in private.

Public hearings are expected in May.


Ladybbird 08-04-22 07:53

Re: CAPITOL Riot; TRUMPs' 6 Jan Call Logs Show Seven-Hour Gap
 
TRUMPs' 6 January Call Logs Show Seven-Hour Gap

Official White House logs from 6 January, 2021 - the day the US Capitol was breached by a mob of Donald Trump's supporters - show a seven hour and 37-minute gap in presidential phone activity while the assault was at its height.


BBC News 8 APR 2022.



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The bipartisan congressional committee investigating the attack had fought a lengthy legal battle to obtain the presidential records, which could shed light on the activity of the president and his closest aides on the day.


The logs show the president contacting at least eight people in the morning - including former White House advisor Steve Bannon and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who were both organising attempts to overturn Mr Trump's presidential defeat, according to records obtained by CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, and the Washington Post.


It also records calls with 11 people in the evening. But they document no contacts from 11:17 am to 18:45 pm local time (16:17 to 23:45 BST).





This runs counter to accounts from several Republican members of Congress - including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama - that they spoke with the president by phone that afternoon.

The logs also do not show a reported late morning phone call between Mr Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence, where the latter again refused the president's increasingly angry demands to delay the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory.

It could be an indication that the president was communicating through unofficial channels, such as an aide's device or an undisclosed "burner" personal mobile phone.

The gap may raise concerns that records of presidential contacts during key moments - as US Capitol police were in a melee with Trump supporters and Secret Service officers were evacuating Mr Pence from the Senate chamber - have been withheld or destroyed.


If so, it could prompt accusations of a cover-up reminiscent of the one revealed in the 1973 Watergate investigation, when Oval Office audio recordings provided to congressional investigators contained 18-and-a-half minutes of missing audio.


Accusations of presidential involvement in a criminal conspiracy led to Richard Nixon's resignation the following year.

A Trump representative told the Washington Post that the former president believed all of his phone records had been recorded and preserved.

As the congressional investigation into the 6 January attack approaches its ninth month, a growing number of documents obtained by the committee are finding their way into the public eye.

Last week, text messages from Virginia Thomas to former Trump Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows revealed the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was heavily involved in attempts to dispute the 2020 election results and appeared to push related conspiracy theories. The committee is now considering whether to call her to testify.

More documents may be on the way, as a federal judge on Monday ruled that the congressional committee could have access to dozens of emails sent to Mr Trump by John Eastman, a California law professor who was researching ways the then-president could block Mr Biden's victory certification.

The judge, in dismissing Mr Eastman's claims of attorney-client privilege protections in his communications with the president, said it was "more likely than not" that the two men had engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the US by disrupting election certification.

"Their campaign was not confined to the ivory tower — it was a coup in search of a legal theory," he wrote.

The ruling may increase pressure on the Biden Justice Department to advance a criminal case against the former president.

Members of the congressional committee also called on the justice department to prosecute witnesses who were not co-operating with the investigation. So far, the House of Representatives has held two close Trump advisors, Mr Meadows and Mr Bannon, in contempt of Congress for defying committee subpoenas. Only Mr Bannon has faced criminal charges so far, however.

On Monday night, the committee voted to hold two more close Trump associates, communications aide Dan Scavino and trade advisor Peter Navarro, in contempt. Both claim their communications with Mr Trump are protected by presidential privilege - a claim the committee dismisses.

"The Department of Justice has a duty to act on this referral and others that we have sent," Congressman Adam Schiff, a member of the committee, said. "Without enforcement of congressional subpoenas, there is no oversight, and without oversight, no accountability - for the former president, or any other president, past, present, or future."

More on this story


Ladybbird 05-05-22 06:14

re: CAPITOL Riot; EVIDENCE & NEW Videos Show How TRUMP Attempted Coup
 
Donald Trump Jr Testifies Before The Committee on The Events of 6 January

House panel also released text messages in which Donald Trump’s son begged the White House to get his father to condemn the Riot

The Guardian UK 5 MAY 2022





Donald Trump’s oldest son has met with the congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection,


The interview Tuesday with Donald Trump Jr comes as the bipartisan House committee moves closer to the former president’s inner circle of family members and political advisers.

The younger Trump is of likely interest to the committee because of his proximity to his father on the day of the riot. Donald Trump Jr was seen backstage at the rally on the White House Ellipse that took place shortly before supporters of the then-president marched to the Capitol and breached the building.
Trump supporters clash with police and security as they force their way into the US Capitol building.
Militia group leader tried to ask Trump to authorize them to stop the transfer of power
Read more

In several social media videos posted at the time of the January 6 attack, Trump Jr was seen with Kimberly Guilfoyle – then his girlfriend, now his fiancee – and other members of his family as his father prepared to make a speech that investigators believed rallied supporters to act violently that day.

The House committee has also released text messages from 6 January 2021 in which Trump Jr pleaded with the White House to get his father to forcefully condemn the riot.

“We need an Oval address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,” Trump Jr wrote to Mark Meadows, then the White House chief of staff.

Trump Jr is one of nearly 1,000 witnesses the committee has interviewed as it works to compile a record of the worst attack on the Capitol in more than two centuries. He is the second of Trump’s children known to speak to the committee; Ivanka Trump sat down with lawmakers for eight hours in early April. Her husband, Jared Kushner, has also been interviewed by the committee.

Other allies of the former president have defied subpoenas from the committee and been referred to the justice department for potential prosecution on contempt of Congress charges. One of them, Stephen Bannon, was indicted last year after he refused to cooperate. That case is pending.

The committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans is looking to wrap up its nearly 11-month investigation and shift into the public hearing phase. Hearings are set to begin 9 June and go on for four weeks. Lawmakers expect to bring out witnesses and present evidence in an effort to educate the public on the full scope of the attack and Donald Trump’s role in it.

Trump Jr is no stranger to congressional investigations, having testified at least three times in House and Senate investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The two people who confirmed Trump Jr’s interview were granted anonymity to discuss the private session, which was not announced by the committee.




Ladybbird 30-05-22 09:46

re: CAPITOL Riot; EVIDENCE & NEW Videos Show How TRUMP Attempted Coup
 
NUTTY TRUMP Calls Capitol Attack an Insurrection Hoax as Public Hearings Set to Begin

Former president intensifies attacks on Liz Cheney at Wyoming rally and endorses her Republican primary challenger in midterm elections

The Guardian UK 30 MAY 2022


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Trump's nutty gun plan: More guns, more powerful guns, and civilian crime-fighting...

As the House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump prepares to start public hearings next week, the former president called the insurrection on January 6, 2021, a hoax.


Trump spoke at a rally in Wyoming on Saturday night in support of the Republican primary challenger in the midterm elections to congresswoman Liz Cheney. Cheney sits on the committee and has been vilified by Trump since she voted in favor of his historic second impeachment over the insurrection.

Addressing the sub-capacity crowd at a rally in Casper for Republican candidate Harriet Hageman, Trump slammed Cheney, saying: “As one of the nation’s leading proponents of the insurrection hoax, Liz Cheney has pushed a grotesquely false, fabricated, hysterical partisan narrative.”

He added: “Look at the so-called word insurrection, January 6 – what a lot of crap.”

Capitol attack panel to hold six public hearings as it aims to show how Trump broke law



Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives a week after a violent mob broke into the US Capitol to try in vain to prevent a joint session of congress certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Republican Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump was accused of inciting the deadly insurrection because he held a rally near the White House that morning, during which he urged the crowd to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to overturn the election result.

Then as the violent mob, many carrying Trump banners, broke into the Capitol and rampaged through corridors, offices and chambers, attacking vastly outnumbered police officers and sending Democrats and Republicans fleeing for their lives, Trump ignored calls from colleagues and relatives to publicly call his supporters off and only hours later went on TV mildly telling people to “go home”.

Trump was acquitted at his impeachment trial by the US Senate. A bipartisan Senate report later linked seven deaths to the Capitol attack on January 6.

Lawmakers called for an independent commission to be created, similar to one set up after the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11 2001, to investigate the events on and leading up to January 6 and the involvement of the Trump White House.

Republicans in the Senate killed that move so the House last summer formed a select committee to investigate the insurrection, chaired by Mississippi Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson but also including Republicans Adam Kinzinger and Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney.

The committee has since gathered mountains of evidence and taken testimony from numerous witnesses behind closed doors, while being stonewalled by many senior Republicans, and accuses Trump of attempting to lead a type of coup.

January 6 ‘was a coup organized by the president’, says Jamie Raskin


The committee is due to hold a series of public hearings beginning 9 June and expects to present a report before the midterm elections in November. Separately, the Department of Justice is also investigating events on and surrounding the Capitol attack, led by the US attorney general, Merrick Garland.

At the rally in Wyoming , Trump appeared to lament the treatment of those arrested for taking part in the Capitol attack, while falsely claiming that anti-fascist and Black Lives Matter movement anti-racism activists “have killed plenty”.

“Look what they are doing to these people,” he said.

More than 800 people have been charged with federal crimes relating to the riot on January 6, in the biggest federal criminal investigation since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

At least 300 have already pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and nearly 20o have been sentenced. Approximately 100 others have trial dates.

In the latest court cases, Matthew Mark Wood, of North Carolina, pleaded guilty last Friday to charges that he stormed the Capitol, including a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding, and will be sentenced in September.

He entered the Capitol by climbing through a smashed window and followed others who had overcome police through corridors and into House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s offices.

Also last Friday Matthew Joseph Buckler, of Maryland, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in July for “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building” after also entering through a window breached by the mob.

It was ruled in court that the former top leader of the far right, violent group the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, will remain jailed while awaiting trial on charges that he conspired with other members of the extremist group to take part in the insurrection.

Tarrio, a south Florida resident, has been indicted on charges including conspiracy.


Ladybbird 07-06-22 08:13

re: CAPITOL Riot; EVIDENCE & NEW Videos Show How TRUMP Attempted Coup
 
TRUMP Mobilizing His MAGA Allies to Defend Him Ahead of January 6 Hearings

AP. 7 JUN 2022.



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Former President Donald Trump has made it clear he is looking for cover from his closest allies around the upcoming public hearings by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection - and some prominent names in Congress and the Republican Party are answering the call.

Trump's team has communicated to some of his most loyal acolytes on Capitol Hill that the former president wants people vigorously defending him and pushing back on the select committee while the public hearings play out, according to GOP sources familiar with the request.

Committee members have teased that the hearings could be focused on Trump's direct role in undermining the election results. The committee has been working toward a thesis that Trump's obsession with losing the election and his peddling of false claims about the results is what laid the groundwork for the violent and deadly riot at the Capitol.

Ladybbird 10-06-22 11:09

re: CAPITOL Riot; EVIDENCE & NEW Videos Show How TRUMP Attempted Coup
 
January 6 Hearing: TRUMP Accused of Attempted Coup

Former US President Donald Trump orchestrated last year's Capitol riot in an "attempted coup", a congressional inquiry has heard as a hearing opened into the raid.

BBC News 10 JUN 2022


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Among the most widely shared images was that of Jacob Anthony Chansley, a 34-year old who referred to himself as the "QAnon Shaman". An ardent Trump supporter, Chansley was pictured wearing horns and a bearskin headdress during the riot, quickly becoming one of the most recognisable figures from the siege.


Chansley was arrested just days after the riot. In November, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his involvement, in addition to 36 months of supervised release. In court, Chansley said he now believes it was "wrong" to enter the Capitol and that he hopes to "evolve".



Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair of the committee, said Mr Trump had "lit the flame of this attack".

Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, said the riot endangered American democracy.

Trump supporters stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's election victory.

After almost a year of investigation, the Democratic-led US House of Representatives select committee opened on Thursday evening by showing clips from interviews it conducted with members of Mr Trump's inner circle.

The timing was geared to reach huge evening TV audiences across the US.

Footage was aired of testimony by former US Attorney General Bill Barr saying he had repeatedly told the former president that he had lost the election and his claims of fraud were wrong.

"We can't live in a world where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its view, unsupported by specific evidence, that there was fraud in the election," said the former attorney general.

The hearing also featured a recording of testimony by Ivanka Trump, the ex-president's daughter, saying she "accepted" Mr Barr's rejection of her father's conspiracy theory.

And there was an audible gasp in the committee room as Ms Cheney read an account that claimed Mr Trump, when told the rioters were chanting for Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged for refusing to block the election results, suggested that he "deserves it".


Before the House inquiry opened on Thursday evening - the first of six hearings expected this month - Trump dismissed it as a "political HOAX".


The former president has been publicly hinting about another White House run in 2024. He continues to peddle unsubstantiated claims that the last election was rigged by mass voter fraud.

The congressional committee is led by Democrats, who formed the panel after Republicans blocked attempts to set up a full independent inquiry. Just two Republicans - the staunchly anti-Trump Reps Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney - are taking part.

The goal of the committee is to provide a comprehensive account of not only the 6 January riot but the "coordinated, multi-step effort" to "overturn" the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Members plan to produce a report and possibly hold another hearing in September to outline their findings and offer suggestions for reforms to the US electoral process.

Mr Thompson, the committee's chairman and a Mississippi lawmaker, told the hearing: "Jan 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one writer put it shortly after Jan 6, to overthrow the government.

"The violence was no accident. It was Trump's last stand."



Ms Cheney, the vice-chair of the committee and a Wyoming congresswoman, said: "Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them: that the election was stolen and that he was the rightful president.

"President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack."

At no point did he ask law enforcement services to protect the Capitol, Ms Cheney said, instead it was Mr Pence who did that.



Ladybbird 11-06-22 10:02

re: CAPITOL Riot; TRUMPS' Coup & His 'S***-Faced' Lawyer
 
Blockbuster EVIDENCE & NEW Videos Show How TRUMP Attempted Coup

Former US President Donald Trump accused of attempted coup


BBC News 11 JUN 2022



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This is being called the most significant Congressional hearing in US political history. It is certainly the best chance to persuade Americans that January 6 was a coup attempt orchestrated by Donald Trump.


The aim is to shock America out of its complacency about that day, and to persuade Trump's potential voters that the former president can never again be trusted with power.

But Republican leaders denounced it as a witch-hunt. Trump dismissed the hearing as the work of political thugs.


We also heard for the first time from the former Attorney General Bill Barr.


He told Trump bluntly before January 6th that the 2020 election was not stolen. Ivanka Trump said she also knew that the election was legitimate.




The point the Committee was making with the release of this evidence was clear: Trump knew he had lost the election and he was simply trying to seize power and shred the constitution.

The big question about this prime time TV spectacle is whether Americans were watching and willing to absorb new information.

Ladybbird 14-06-22 09:57

re: CAPITOL Riot; TRUMP Called VP Pence Wimp & P**** & Put Him in Danger
 
January 6 Hearing: TRUMP Slams Inquiry as 'Kangaroo Court'

Former US President Donald Trump has blasted the congressional inquiry into the Capitol riot as a "Kangaroo Court".


BBC News 14 JUN 2022.




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Donald Trump addressing supporters in Washington DC hours before the 6 January 2021 riot



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In a 12-page statement, he said the investigation was designed to distract Americans from the "disaster" of Democratic-led governance.



It came after the committee held two public hearings accusing Trump of an attempted coup to remain in power.

The panel on Monday detailed evidence of divisions among Trump aides over whether to accept his election loss.



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Supporters of Trump stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 in a bid to thwart certification of Joe Biden's election victory. A separate ongoing criminal investigation has led to more than 800 arrests in nearly every state.



"Seventeen months after the events of January 6th, Democrats are unable to offer solutions," Mr Trump, a Republican, said in a statement released through his Save America PAC.

"They are desperate to change the narrative of a failing nation, without even making mention of the havoc and death caused by the Radical Left just months earlier," he continued, alluding to the rioting that erupted during US racial justice protests over the summer of 2020.

"Make no mistake, they control the government. They own this disaster. They are hoping that these hearings will somehow alter their failing prospects."

Mr Trump accused the "unselect pseudo-committee" of treason, referring to the Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee that has been conducting the inquiry for the past year.

For much of the statement, Mr Trump relitigated his unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. A handful of such cases, representing a tiny number of ballots overall, have been prosecuted since the November 2020 election, but nothing on any scale that could have tipped the election either way.

Trump labelled the current president as "Basement Biden". "Our country is in a nosedive," he concluded, dismissing the congressional inquiry as a pretext to prevent him running again for the presidency in 2024.

Earlier on Monday, the House committee was shown video testimony on its second day of public hearings from former campaign manager Bill Stepien, who said the aides had split into two teams after the election.

He described a "team normal" of those who accepted the results of the election, and "Rudy's team", who followed the claims of election fraud peddled by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.



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Trump's 's***-faced' lawyer

Rudy Giuliani had three triple Scotches in 90 minutes hours before infamous hair dye-dripping press conference


Both Mr Stepien and another witness, former Trump adviser Jason Miller, testified that Mr Giuliani appeared to be inebriated on the night of the election.


Mr Miller said that even with results still coming in, Mr Giuliani suggested that Trump "go and declare victory and say that we'd won it outright".

Through a spokesman on Monday, Mr Giuliani denied that he was intoxicated on election night, adding that he did not know why Mr Miller would "make such a false claim".


In videotaped testimony also aired at Monday's hearing, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he had repeatedly told Trump there was no basis to claims of rigged voting machines or ballot "dumps" - which he referred to as "crazy stuff".

Trump, however, refused to acknowledge these concerns and continued to spread fraud claims, Mr Barr said. He testified that he was "demoralised" by his boss' claims.


"I thought, 'Boy if he really believes this stuff, he has lost contact with - he's become detached from reality, if he really believes this stuff,'" he said.


The 6 January select committee is seeking to show that the ex-president's election fraud claims led directly to an attack on the US Capitol.

But the panel will not refer Mr Trump or anyone else to the justice department for criminal prosecution, committee chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, told reporters on Monday.

"If the Department of Justice looks at it, and assumes that there's something that needs further review, I'm sure they'll do it," he said, according to CNN when asked about the chance of prison time for Mr Trump or his inner circle.

Republican vice-chairwoman of the committee, congresswoman Liz Cheney, seemed to contradict Mr Thompson moments later by tweeting that the committee "has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals".

"We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time."

The committee is scheduled to hold more hearings on Wednesday and Thursday later this week.

Ladybbird 17-06-22 12:51

re: CAPITOL Riot:TRUMP KNEW Mob Was Armed-'Get MeTo My People' & Tried to Grab Wheel
 
Trump Put VP Mike Pence in Danger During Capitol Riot, Says Panel

Trump Called Pence a Wimp’ & P****' Amid Pressure to Overturn Election - Jan 6 Hearing


BBC News 17 JUN 2022.




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During a Jan. 6 Committee hearing on June 16, the committee played edited testimony from witnesses to a phone call, in which President Donald Trump pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to change his position on counting electoral votes.





Several people in the room, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, testified to how “heated” the telephone discussion became. Aides said Trump used words like “wimp” and the “p-word” against Pence.

Former President Donald Trump pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to overturn his 2020 election defeat despite being told repeatedly Pence had no authority to do so, aides to Pence told the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.

Chairman of the House of Representatives select committee Bennie Thompson said Trump continued his pressure campaign even as a violent mob of his supporters descended on the Capitol as Pence and lawmakers met to formally certify President Joe Biden's election victory.

"Mike Pence said no. He resisted the pressure. He knew it was illegal. He knew it was wrong. That courage put him in tremendous danger."





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Committee members reconstructed the events of January 6th, showing how close Pence came to real danger as he fled from the rioters chanting "hang Mike Pence" -- a gallows erected outside.


"Approximately 40 feet. That's all there was. Forty feet between the vice president and the mob."






Among the mob - members of the far-right militia the Proud Boys, some of whom are now charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the attack.

"A recent court filing by the Department of Justice explains that a confidential informant from the Proud Boys told the FBI the Proud Boys would have killed Mike Pence, if given a chance."

While several aides and advisors testified that Pence told Trump repeatedly that he did not have the authority to stop the vote certification, the origin of the idea was placed squarely by witnesses at the feet of attorney John Eastman.

Eastman had argued Pence could reject results from certain states if he thought they were illegitimate.

Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann described a call with Eastman, in a recorded video testimony.

“And I said to him, ‘are you out of your effing mind?’ I said, ‘I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition."

Advisers to Pence, including conservative former U.S. Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig told the committee that idea had no basis in LAW

"That declaration of Donald Trump as the next president would have plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a constitutional crisis."


Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, while repeating his false accusations that he lost the election only because of widespread fraud. He is widely expected to run for president again in 2024. Witnesses warned that he would not accept defeat no matter the actual outcome.

"Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy."


The committee showed an email Eastman sent to Trump's attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, asking for a presidential pardon. Eastman never received one.





Trump Called Pence a Wimp’ & P****' Amid Pressure to Overturn Election

Ex-President Donald Trump put his Vice-President Mike Pence in danger during the January 6 Capitol riot as he illegally pressured him to quash the 2020 election, says a congressional panel.


Lawmakers have heard from Pence aides who described White House efforts to reject President Joe Biden's victory.

US democracy "withstood Trump's scheme" because Mr Pence refused to bow to Mr Trump, said chairman Bennie Thompson.

The committee has accused Trump of an attempted coup to remain in power.


Watch day 3 highlights from the January 6 public hearings



Ladybbird 21-06-22 11:18

re: CAPITOL Riot:TRUMP KNEW Mob Was Armed-'Get MeTo My People' & Tried to Grab Wheel
 
Lawmaker Reacts to TRUMP Asking for Equal Time at Jan. 6 Hearings

21 Jun 2022 CNN




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Victor Blackwell talks to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) about the potential benefits and drawbacks of having former President Donald Trump speak under oath at the January 6 hearings after he publicly asked for "equal time" to share his side of the story.







Ladybbird 21-06-22 18:57

re: CAPITOL Riot:TRUMP KNEW Mob Was Armed-'Get MeTo My People' & Tried to Grab Wheel
 
US House Select Committee Continues Hearing on January 6 Capitol Attack - DAY 4

Guardian News 21 JUN 2022



The US House of Representatives' select committee hears the latest in a series of public hearings into the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

This round is expected to look into Donald Trump's efforts to cajole state officials as part of his attempt to remain in office for a second term after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden


First Thing: Donald Trump plotted fake electors scheme, panel set to show

January 6 committee to investigate Trump’s pressure campaign on election officials




Ladybbird 23-06-22 22:33

re: CAPITOL Riot:TRUMP KNEW Mob Was Armed-'Get MeTo My People' & Tried to Grab Wheel
 
TRUMP Told Justice Department Official;

'Call 2020 Election Corrupt and Leave The Rest to Us'


US House Select Committee Continues Hearing on January 6 Capitol Attack - DAY 5


Ladybbird 24-06-22 09:00

re: CAPITOL Riot:TRUMP KNEW Mob Was Armed-'Get MeTo My People' & Tried to Grab Wheel
 
Capitol Riot Hearing: TRUMP Election Challenge a Murder-Suicide Pact

Lawyers Threatened to QUIT Over
TRUMP Election Pressure and Bullying

BBC News 24 JUN 2022.






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US government lawyers threatened to quit en masse as then-President Donald Trump hounded them almost daily to help overturn his 2020 election defeat, a congressional inquiry has heard.


Justice department officials said they told Trump there was zero evidence for his claims of mass voter fraud.

The attorneys also testified that the president's plan to reverse his loss in key states was "a murder-suicide pact".

The panel is investigating last year's US Capitol riot as an attempted coup.




The House of Representatives select committee is seeking to build a case that Mr Trump's efforts to stay in power in the lead-up to the violent raid by a horde of his supporters on Congress on 6 January 2021 amounted to illegal conduct.

Trump, a Republican, has described the inquiry as a "kangaroo court" designed to distract Americans from the "disaster" of Democratic-led governance and spiralling inflation ahead of November's mid-term elections.

With President Joe Biden's popularity at an all-time low, Trump has been indicating he may run for president again in 2024.

Thursday's public hearing, the fifth so far, focused on a pressure campaign waged by Trump against the Department of Justice - the federal agency that enforces US law and is supposed to be independent from the White House.

Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said Trump had reached out to him "virtually every day" before the attack on the Capitol, where lawmakers were assembled to certify Mr Biden's election win.

According to Mr Rosen, Trump asked that the justice department issue a statement calling the election results into question, adding "leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen".

Mr Rosen said he refused. "We did not think they were appropriate based on the facts or the law," he told the committee.

Former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue testified that he had knocked down Trump's "arsenal of [voter fraud] allegations" one by one in a 90-minute conversation in December 2020.

Committee member Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, noted that Trump administration officials had at one point investigated a bogus claim that Italian satellites switched votes from Mr Trump to Mr Biden.

"This is one of the best examples of the lengths to which President Trump would go to stay in power, scouring the internet to support his conspiracy theories," he said.

The session heard that at least five allies of Mr Trump, who had supported his attempts to overturn the election, had asked for presidential pardons to protect them from any future prosecutions.


The session also heard of an explosive Oval Office showdown on the night of 3 January 2021 between Trump and three top justice department officials.



Trump outlined a plan during the meeting to replace Mr Rosen with a loyalist named Jeffrey Clark, an environmental lawyer, who had no relevant experience to run the department, the committee heard.

On official headed paper, Mr Clark had drafted a memo advising lawmakers in states that Mr Trump narrowly lost on how to throw out their election results.

Pat Cipollone, then the White House counsel, had warned the letter would be "a murder-suicide pact", Mr Donoghue said.

He testified that he, Mr Rosen and another senior official, Steven Engel, warned the president there would be a mass exodus from the justice department if he installed Mr Clark. Mr Trump ultimately backed off the plan.

The committee said Mr Clark had refused to answer its questions, invoking his right not to self-incriminate. Thursday's hearing was held shortly after it was reported that the FBI had raided Mr Clark's home.

The BBC's Tara McKelvey, who was at the hearing, said the search of Mr Clark's property raises the possibility of criminal charges over the alleged election plot, including against the former president himself.

Thursday's session also heard claims that six congressional Republicans had requested pre-emptive presidential pardons from Mr Trump in case they were prosecuted after he left office for having backed his challenge to the election results.

Ex-White House aides named the lawmakers as Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona. None of them received pardons.

Two more open hearings will take place next month before the committee prepares a report on the Capitol attacks.


The panel cannot bring charges against the former president, but is expected to refer its findings to the justice department.


More

Ladybbird 29-06-22 08:57

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
TRUMP Tried to Grab Limo Steering Wheel in US Capitol Riots 'To Join His People' -TRUMP Aide Testified

Donald TRUMP barked "I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now" at his Secret Service agents before trying to grab the steering wheel after being told he couldn't join supporters marching towards the US Capitol

January 6 Committee Shows How TRUMP Tweet Triggered Violence

Guardian News 29 JUN 2022




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Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Donald Trump was aware that protesters on January 6th were armed
.





Hutchinson said she overheard Trump say

‘I don’t f’ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f’ing mags [metal detectors] away. Let my people in. They can march the Capitol from here. Let the f’ing people in. Take the mags way.’


Trump still instructed the crowd to head towards Capitol Hill, telling them he'd be there with them.
Trump knew supporters had guns when he urged march on Capitol, aide testifies to Jan 6 committee hearings.



MORE;


Jan 6 Hearings: Ex-Aide Paints Devastating Picture of TRUMP

Up until now, the congressional committee investigating the 6 January attack on the Capitol was missing a key piece of the puzzle - the testimony of someone who could offer a first-hand account of the situation in the White House in the hours before and during the attack.

BBC News 29 JUN 2022



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Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, filled in the blanks. And she has painted a devastating picture, including an allegation, which Trump denies, that he tried to grab the steering wheel of the car he was travelling in and wrestled with a Secret Service officer in an attempt to divert his motorcade to the Capitol, where his supporters were gathering.



A Threat of Violence Ignored


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Very early in the proceedings, the committee went to lengths to establish how the White House, and the president himself, knew that there was a very real threat of violence on 6 January - and did nothing to stop it.


Ms Hutchinson testified that Mr Meadows told her he thought, days before the attack, that things "might get real, real bad".


She spoke of how White House officials were warned of the potential for violence. And, in perhaps the most damning testimony so far, she said Donald Trump personally knew that members of the crowd at his morning rally near the White House were armed because they were being turned away by Secret Service officers - and directed them to the Capitol anyway.

"I don't [expletive] care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me," Ms Hutchinson said she heard the president say. "Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here."




A President Enraged


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Some of Ms Hutchinson's most damning testimony came second-hand, however. She recounted how a White House official told her that the president had insisted on travelling to the Capitol after his White House rally - something he said he would do during his speech. When he learned the motorcade was going back to the White House, he attempted to grab the steering wheel and wrestled with a Secret Service officer.

"I'm the [expletive] president," Trump said, according to Hutchinson. "Take me up to the Capitol now."




Since Ms Hutchinson's testimony, a source close to the Secret Service has told CBS News that both the agent and driver travelling in the car with Mr Trump were willing to testify under oath that the former president did not physically attack either of them and never attempted to grab the steering wheel.


Later in the day, Ms Hutchinson recounted hearing Mr Meadows say that, upon learning that rioters were calling for Vice-President Mike Pence to be hanged, Mr Trump expressed approval.

"He thinks Mike deserves it," Ms Hutchinson said she overheard her boss say. "He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong."



In a trial court, such evidence would be considered hearsay and treated with scepticism. In the hearing room, however, it was explosive - and will be used by the committee to pressure senior Trump officials who have so far refused to testify, like White House top lawyer Pat Cipollone, to come forward and either corroborate or refute her accounts.

"If you heard this testimony today and suddenly you remember things you couldn't previously recall, or you discover some courage you had hidden away somewhere, our doors remain open," committee chair Bennie Thompson said at the conclusion of the day's hearing.



A Composed Witness

The January 6th committee, with its surprise announcement of a mystery witness and new evidence unearthed, set a glaring spotlight on Ms Hutchinson during her in-person testimony on Tuesday.
Trump and Meadows on big screen at Jan 6 hearingImage source, Getty Images

For a 25-year-old woman who four years ago was a White House college intern, she held up to the pressure remarkably well.

She answered the committee's questions in a calm, methodical voice, noting how and under what circumstances she gained the information she was recounting. The committee made a point of showing how Ms Hutchinson's office was just a few doors down from the president's Oval Office and how she controlled access to Mr Meadows' office, giving her a prime position with which to witness - and, at times, overhear - conversations between key figures in the run-up to the Capitol attacks.

Her meticulous recollection of events and account suggest she may have kept a record of the events during her time at the White House or, at the very least, has an electronic record of texts and emails that supports her claims.




Donald Trump's Rebuttal

As Ms Hutchinson was giving her at times damning account of the president's actions before and during the 6 January attack, Mr Trump took to his social media platform and began trying to undercut her claims.

Much of it was typical of the way he has responded to past critics, saying that he hardly knows Ms Hutchinson but hears "very negative" things about her. He called her a phoney and a "leaker" and suggested she was bitter because he didn't give her a job after leaving the White House.

He went on to deny many of the episodes Ms Hutchinson described and, once again, noted that he said in his rally speech that the crowd should march on the Capitol "peacefully".

It's always an open question whether any negative stories of Trump's behaviour will dent his popularity among his supporters. Tuesday's testimony, and the five hearings before it


However, may remind some Republicans of the kind of chaos that frequently swirled around the Trump presidency and that, while he had some conservative accomplishments while in office, he also presided over his party losing both chambers of Congress and the White House.

Given that a potential 2024 opponent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, is rising in head-to-head-polls against Trump, these hearings may have caused real damage to the former president's political power.






Ladybbird 02-07-22 14:45

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Law Professor Who Taught Attorney General Merrick Garland Predicts He WILL Indict TRUMP

AP 2 Jul 2022



https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.R...=0&w=256&h=161


Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe said that his former student Attorney General Merrick Garland would criminally charge former President Donald Trump.





Burnett asked, “From everything you have seen so far, including the hearing today that focused so much on Trump causing violence against Pence, do you believe the committee has proven that Trump himself knowingly committed crimes?”

Tribe said, “Without any doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt, beyond any doubt, and the crimes are obvious.”

Burnett said, “Do you believe, Professor Tribe, that Attorney General Merrick Garland will bring charges against Trump?”

Tribe said, “I do believe, though he’s doing it meticulously and not as quickly as some would like, that Merrick Garland will approve criminal charges against this president.”


He added, “I think he knows deep in his heart and as a lawyer that the rule of law will not survive. That as Judge Michael Luttig said today, we are still in a situation where the former president is a clear and present danger to the survival of the republic. Not to indict for what he has done is to invite him to try it again if they don’t manage to get a win in the electoral college in 2024
....and then it will all be over.”



Ladybbird 04-07-22 11:41

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Hear What Ex-Capitol Officer Thinks Should Happen After BOMBSHELL Testimony Against TRUMP

TRUMP Told Associates He’s Eager to Launch Run This Month


4 Jul 2022 CNN



Former Capitol police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and badly injured on Jan. 6, discusses Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony to the January 6 committee.







TRUMP Told Associates He’s Eager to Launch Run


Over the past week, Trump has told associates he is eager to launch another presidential campaign as early as this month to capitalize on President Joe Biden’s increasingly dismal poll numbers and put his potential GOP rivals on notice.





Ladybbird 06-07-22 15:28

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Another TOP TRUMP Aide Set to Testify to 6 Jan.Committee

6 Jul 2022 CNN



https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/asse...xlarge-169.jpg



Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the Trump White House until resigning shortly after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, has been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the insurrection and has agreed to testify at an upcoming hearing, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.





6 Jan Committee Hearing RESUMES TUE 12 JULY


.

Ladybbird 07-07-22 16:42

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
The Jan. 6 Testimony That Could Bring Down TRUMP

Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony reaches largest live audience of daytime Jan. 6 hearings


7 Jul 2022 CNN





https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.R...=0&w=256&h=161



TRUMP may have a rough road ahead of him following the testimony of a pair of former staffers, and it could include criminal charges.

In today's episode of The Point, CNN's Chris Cillizza examines the unflattering picture of TRUMP painted by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Mark Meadows, and looks ahead to former Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Matthews' upcoming appearance before the Jan. 6 committee.




Ladybbird 09-07-22 05:09

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
TRUMPs' Ex-White House Counsel Testifies to Jan. 6 Committee

9 Jul 2022 CNN


The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection is expected to ask TRUMP White House Counsel Pat Cipollone during a closed-door interview about what he witnessed in the waning days of Donald Trump's administration when the former President and his allies tried to overturn the election.

The interview is being recorded on video and could be featured at upcoming hearings, including one about how the violent mob came together and the role of extremist groups, as well as another hearing on the 187 minutes of TRUMPs' inaction as rioters stormed the US Capitol.



Ladybbird 13-07-22 16:08

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Capitol riots: WILD TRUMP Tweet Incited Attack, Says Inquiry

A Trump tweet mobilised far-right extremists to converge on Washington DC on the day of last year's Capitol riot, a congressional inquiry has heard.


Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021

Bannon agrees to testify; What's next for Gun Safety

Former Oath Keeper: 'Lucky more bloodshed did not happen'


BBC News 13 JUL 2022



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He posted the tweet after "the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency", said a lawmaker on the panel.


The then-president forged ahead with a rallying call to supporters even though aides repeatedly told him he had fairly lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

The committee accuses Trump of an attempted coup to remain in power.

Supporters of Donald Trump violently stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 as lawmakers met to certify Mr Biden's victory.

Hours before the hearing, Mr Trump, a Republican, dismissed the Democratic-led House of Representatives panel on his Truth Social social media platform as "Political Hacks and Thugs" perpetrating a "HOAX".

The select committee has been conducting a nearly year-long investigation into the attack on the Capitol. Tuesday's hearing, the seventh since June, focused on a tweet Trump sent in the early hours of 19 December 2020, and a stormy six-hour meeting at the White House that preceded the post.

Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat on the committee, said the meeting had been described as "unhinged" and "not normal".

Mr Trump had already been told by White House aides and figures within his own campaign team that he should concede to Mr Biden, a Democrat.

However, on 18 December he welcomed to the White House some informal advisers who had been urging him to pursue his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.

The group - which included his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn - had suggested Mr Trump order the military to seize state voting machines.


Aides Push Back


The meeting was intercepted by aides, as well as then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone.

"I don't think any of these people were providing the president good advice," Mr Cipollone said in recorded testimony to the select committee.

What followed was hours of argument, during which Mr Cipollone said he was attacked "verbally", but kept "pushing back", asking the group: "Where is the evidence?" They did not offer any proof, he and other aides told the committee.

Former aide testified: Trump said ’take me to the Capitol’



The meeting ended after midnight with the idea of seizing ballot boxes rejected. Trump's tweet - sent at 01:42 local time - told supporters: "Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild."


The post, Mr Raskin argued, "electrified and galvanised his supporters", who believed Trump's claims that the election had been stolen from him.

The panel says the tweet was the siren call to extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys to turn up. Two members of the groups are awaiting trial on rare seditious conspiracy charges related to the Capitol riot.

An anonymous Twitter employee told the committee they saw a rise in violent rhetoric online following the tweet. Mr Raskin said some of the responses turned "openly homicidal".



Committee members are trying to draw a direct line between the social media post and the violence on 6 January. The panel is seeking to build a case that Trump's efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election constitute illegal conduct.



Tuesday's hearing was also told of a claim that Trump attempted to contact someone who was talking to the congressional inquiry, raising the possibility of witness tampering.

Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, said they had notified the justice department.


The Wyoming congresswoman said the person Trump had tried to contact did not answer his call and instead alerted a lawyer.

Another witness who testified on Tuesday was Ohio man Stephen Ayres, who has pleaded guilty to participating in the attack on the Capitol.



Ayres stunned people in the hearing room when he approached two of the police officers who were injured in the melee and shook their hands. More than 140 officers were hurt in the riot.


https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...1241863618.jpg


Stephen Ayres shakes the hand of Capitol police officer Harry Dunn after testifying





One of the policemen, Harry Dunn, described the exchange to the BBC's Tara McKelvey, who attended the hearing.

"He apologised," Mr Dunn said, shaking his head. "I'm trying to process."


Trump - who has hinted he may run for the White House again in 2024 - has described the hearings as an attempt to distract Americans from the "disaster" of Democratic governance amid rampant inflation.

A New York Times opinion poll this week found just 33% of voters approve of President Biden, lower than Mr Trump's popularity in the aftermath of the Capitol riot, according to Gallup.


Ladybbird 13-07-22 16:35

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
CAPITOL Riot: LIVE: Jan. 6 Committee hearings 13 JUL 2022 -Day 7







Ladybbird 19-07-22 08:41

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
US Capitol Riot: Steve Bannon Goes on Trial For Contempt of Congress

Steve Bannon, the former top adviser and campaign chief for Donald Trump, has gone on trial for refusing to co-operate with the congressional committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol.

BBC News 19 JUL 2022.



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Steve Bannon was at one stage Donald Trump's most senior aide in the White House


On Monday, jury selection began in the 68-year-old's trial at a court in Washington DC.

The man once billed as the brains behind Mr Trump's 2016 presidential victory was charged in November with two counts of contempt of Congress.

He had rebuffed subpoenas requesting his testimony as well as relevant documents about his involvement in efforts to challenge Mr Trump's 2020 presidential defeat and organise the protests that culminated in the violent attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

The committee has been particularly interested in Mr Bannon's communications with Mr Trump in the days before the attack, and the "war room" meetings he held at a hotel near the White House with other key figures as part of the last-ditch attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory.

Mr Bannon, in his popular podcast, warned on 5 January that "all hell" was going to break loose the following day.

The committee first subpoenaed Mr Bannon in September 2021. The following month, it voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for his refusal to co-operate, charges the full House of Representatives quickly affirmed in a vote.

At the time, Mr Bannon was defiant, saying: "We're taking down the Biden regime." As the trial date approached, he said on his podcast that his legal strategy would involve "going medieval" on his enemies.

But inside the courtroom, Mr Bannon's bombast has been shelved. The options for his defence have been limited by presiding Judge Carl Nichols, a Donald Trump appointee.

Mr Bannon had sought to claim his contacts with Mr Trump were covered by executive privilege, a legal principle that holds communications between presidents and their advisers are protected from disclosure in order to allow for candid advice.

He also claimed that the congressional committee's subpoenas were invalid because the only Republicans involved were appointed by Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Judge Nichols, however, ruled that because Mr Bannon was a private citizen and not a government employee, he could not make executive privilege claims. He ruled that the committee's subpoenas were valid and also rejected Mr Bannon's attempts to call Democratic members of Congress to testify.

Mr Bannon's only remaining defence during the trial may be that the final deadline the committee had set for complying with the subpoenas was not clear.

"What's the point of going to trial if there are no defences?" one of Mr Bannon's lawyers asked Mr Nichols after his ruling. "Agreed," the judge
responded.

Ladybbird 22-07-22 05:41

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
January 6 Hearings: TRUMP ‘Kept Resisting’ Calls to Stop Riot as Pence’s Security Feared For Their Lives



---Official Said Secret Service Agents Called to Say Goodbye to Family

TRUMP said ‘I don’t want to say the election is over’ in speech outtake one day after riot

---Hearing reveals former president’s speech outtakes on video, including message from 7 January
---Meadows said ‘Get Ivanka down here’ as staff tried to figure out how to get TRUMP to stop rioters, Cipollone says


The Guardian UK 22 JUL 2022



A video of Donald Trump is played on a screen during a public hearing of the US House select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC Thursday...


Trump, modern Nero, watched the Capitol sacked from a White House dining room
  • Trump never reached out to the FBI or the national guard to protect Congress. He rebuffed entreaties from his aides – including his own daughter – to end the crisis. That’s because he liked what he saw

Thursday night’s congressional hearing on the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol lived up to its billing as a season finale.

A modern-day Nero, Trump watched reports of the invasion of the Capitol on Fox News from the comfort of his private White House dining room. The commander-in-chief ignored repeated calls to end the mayhem.

“The mob was his people
” Trump never reached out to the military, the FBI, the defense department or the national guard to intervene. He rebuffed entreaties from Ivanka Trump, Mark Meadows and Pat Cipollone to end the downwardly spiraling situation.


Trump never walked to the press briefing room to say “enough”. He liked what he saw. His minions had taken matters into their own hands and brought Congress to a halt.

Trump struggled to record a message to disperse to his fans. He “loved” them; they were “special.” We heard this before. There were “good people on both sides” in Charlottesville.

Chillingly, the security detail assigned to the vice-president began to say “good-bye” to their families. If Mike Pence came to hang from makeshift gallows that was his problem. Trump thought he deserved it. Pence was his vice-president, he believed – with loyalty to him, not the US constitution. He was expendable.

The vice-president “folded,” he “screwed us,” according to the rioters. Trump’s tweet at 2.24pm blamed no one but his hapless running mate.

Sarah Matthews, Trump’s deputy press secretary, testified that her boss had given the rioters a “green light”. He “poured gasoline on a fire,” to use her words. “Rioters heard the president’s message”, to quote Rep Adam Kinzinger. In turn, they acted accordingly.

Senator Josh Hawley fled the Senate that day after earlier riling up the crowd with his outstretched arm and clenched fist. Cosplay can be dangerous to your health. Hawley reportedly harbors ambition for 2024.

The tumult of 6 January was not spontaneous. Trump knew that that the crowd was armed, but sought to accompany them to the Capitol. He wanted to obstruct the certification of the election with a phalanx behind him.




Carnage and destruction were OK. The ends justified all means.

Here, past was prelude. In 2016, Trump signaled that he might not accept the election’s results if they did not meet his expectations. As Covid descended in the spring of 2020, he began to refer to November’s upcoming ballot as rigged, months before a single vote had been cast. The events of 6 January horrify and shock, but they cannot be characterized as a surprise.

A recording of Steve Bannon evidenced that Trump’s reaction was premeditated. The prosecution has rested in his criminal case; he will not be taking the stand.

Trump’s standing slowly erodes, even as Trumpism retains its firm grip on Republicans. Hours before the committee’s eighth public hearing, Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, announced that it would “suck” to nominate a presidential candidate who labored under criminal indictment.


A poll of Michigan Republicans released earlier this week places Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, in a foot-race with the 45th president.

Still, the Republicans are no longer the party of Abraham Lincoln. On Tuesday, Maryland Republicans selected a novitiate of QAnon to be their gubernatorial candidate and a neo-confederate secessionist as their pick for state attorney general. Even as Trump loses altitude, the “Big Lie” – the false claim that he actually won the last presidential election – retains its vitality.

Also on Tuesday, Arizona Republicans censured Rusty Bowers, a Republican and leader in the state’s legislature, after he had testified last month before the committee and denied that Trump won Arizona. Fealty to “Dear Leader” remains a tribal litmus test.

Trump’s dream remains alive. That nightmare is now woven into America’s political tapestry. Our “very stable genius” continues to demand that state legislators undo the results of 2020 – as if they possess that power. This month, Robin Vos, speaker of Wisconsin’s state assembly, told of Trump recently asking him to do just that.

Beyond boosting DeSantis’s ambitions, the latest hearing won’t do anything to improve Republican chances of retaking the Senate. Despite inflation, rising crime and Joe Biden’s record-shattering unpopularity, Democrats are mild favorites to retain the upper chamber.

Trump’s antics exact a price. This was not the committee’s final hearing. After Labor Day, broadcasts will resume. The midterms will be less than two months away.

By then, the justice department will likely be immersed in weighing whether to prosecute Donald J Trump.

Ladybbird 23-07-22 04:09

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Capitol Riot Hearings: Committee Continues Hearing - Eight Key Moments

The committee investigating the US Capitol riots has put the spotlight on the behaviour of former President Donald Trump as armed demonstrators invaded the seat of American democracy on 6 January 2021.

Steve Bannon Found GUILTY of Criminal Contempt of Congress


Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's one-time top campaign aide and strategist, has been found guilty of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena.


BBC 23 JUL 2022





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The committee investigating the US Capitol riots has put the spotlight on the behaviour of former President Donald Trump as armed demonstrators invaded the seat of American democracy on 6 January 2021.


The congressional committee - made up of five Democrats and two Republicans - has been look at the planning and execution of the attack that sent shockwaves around the world.

Its members have called dozens of witnesses, all with the goal of building a case that Mr Trump launched an illegal bid to overturn his defeat at the hands of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and to retain power at all costs.

The panel has suggested there might be enough evidence bring criminal charges against Mr Trump.

The evidence against the 76-year-old billionaire has been presented methodically in eight dramatic, made-for-TV style hearings. Here are eight of the biggest revelations so far:


1. Allies repeatedly told Trump he had lost

A number of Mr Trump's leading advisers claimed they told the former president that he had lost the election and urged him to concede defeat, but saw their advice go unheard.

In the committee's first hearings in June, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he informed Mr Trump that his allegations of widespread voter fraud were easily debunked and that his claims that the election had been stolen were "crazy stuff".


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The committee plays footage of Ivanka Trump's testimony


Ivanka Trump, who was an influential voice in the White House throughout Mr Trump's presidency, told the committee in videotaped testimony that she had accepted the top prosecutor's opinion. "It affected my perspective," she said. "I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying."

And Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr Trump's re-election campaign, said the president was advised internally that he had lost the contest. He testified that the campaign's data team told Mr Trump shortly after polls closed "in pretty blunt terms, that he was going to lose".


2. A drunk Rudy Giuliani pushed Trump to declare victory


Most of Mr Trump's inner circle, including his campaign manager Bill Stepien, urged him not to declare victory on election night. But it was revealed that a drunk Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and then an adviser to Mr Trump, pushed the president to seize the initiative.

Mr Miller told the committee that Mr Giuliani was "definitely intoxicated" as he advised Mr Trump to claim he had won. He said that even with results still coming in, Mr Giuliani suggested that the president "go and declare victory and say that we'd won it outright".


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Rudy Giuliani

Celebrated as "America's mayor" for his role in uniting New York post 9/11, Rudy Giuliani has since become a close ally of Mr Trump


In his testimony, Mr Stepien described the emergence of a "team normal", consisting of those who accepted the results of the election, and "Rudy's team", who followed the false claims of election fraud peddled by several informal advisers to the president.

Mr Giuliani has denied he was intoxicated on election night.


3. Ex-election officials paid a high price fighting back


In emotional testimony in June, several election workers who were singled out by Trump allies in their baseless fraud claims spoke of the abuse they had received in the wake of the election.

Georgia election worker Shaye Moss fought back tears as she told members that her life had been turned "upside down" after the Trump campaign accused her of committing fraud while counting ballots.

"I second-guess everything that I do," she said. "It's affected my life in a major way - in every way. All because of lies."

And Arizona election chief Rusty Bowers recalled that he had been targeted by supporters of Mr Trump for refusing to call the election rigged. He said that a group, some of whom were armed, picketed his home while his severely ill daughter was in the house. She died just weeks later.

He said the group accused him of being "a paedophile and a pervert and a corrupt politician".


4. White House officials knew demonstrators were armed


Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, offered explosive testimony that Mr Trump knew that many of his supporters were armed before addressing them on 6 January.
Cassidy HutchinsonImage source, Getty Images

Appearing as a surprise witness during the sixth hearings, Ms Hutchinson said Mr Trump personally knew that members of the crowd at his morning rally near the White House were armed because they were being turned away by Secret Service officers.

"I don't [expletive] care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me," Ms Hutchinson said she heard the president say. "Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here."

Her testimony offered the committee something they had been seeking to establish from the very beginning of proceedings - that Mr Trump knew there was a very real threat of violence and did nothing to stop it.


5. Trump intended to lead the mob to the Capitol


Some of Ms Hutchinson's second-hand testimony was equally as explosive. She recounted how a White House official told her that the president had insisted on travelling to the Capitol after his White House rally - something he said he would do during his speech.

Mr Trump delivered a speech to supporters before rioting began at the Capitol

But when he learned his motorcade was going back to the White House due to safety concerns, he flew into a rage and attempted to grab the steering wheel as he wrestled with a Secret Service officer, she claimed.

"I'm the [expletive] president," Mr Trump said, according to Hutchinson. "Take me up to the Capitol now."

Since Ms Hutchinson's testimony, a source close to the Secret Service has told CBS News that both the agent and driver travelling in the car with Mr Trump were willing to testify under oath that the former president did not physically attack either of them and never attempted to grab the steering wheel.


6. Justice officials were ordered to seize voting machines


Jeffrey Rosen, who became acting attorney general after Mr Barr resigned in anger over the president's actions, testified that Mr Trump ordered him to seize voting machines.

Mr Rosen claimed he rebuffed the president, telling him he had no legal authority to make such an order.

In later testimony, former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said Sidney Powell, a lawyer and conspiracy theorist, had urged Mr Trump to seize voting machines during a meeting at the White House on 18 December.

"That's a terrible idea for the country. That's not how we do things in the United States. There's no legal authority to do that. There is a way to contest elections, you know, that happens all the time," Mr Cipollone said.


7. Trump sought to contact witnesses


During her closing testimony on 12 July, Liz Cheney, one of the committee's two Republican members, dropped a bombshell when she stated that Mr Trump had tried to contact a witness due to appear before the committee.

"After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation. A witness you have not yet seen in these hearings," Ms Cheney said. "That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump's call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us."

Raising the possibility of witness-tampering charges, Ms Cheney said the allegations had been reported to the Department of Justice.

"Let me say one more time: we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously," she warned.


8. Leading allies sought pardons


In hearings on 24 June, the panel was told that several leading proponents of claims that the election had been stolen, including Representatives Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert and Scott Perry, were among Republican members of congress who sought pardons from Mr Trump in the closing days of his presidency.

The committee played recorded testimony from several former White House staffers who spoke of the Republicans' efforts to obtain immunity from prosecution in the wake of the Capitol riots.

Ms Hutchinson alleged that Mr Gaetz and Mr Brooks had advocated a "blanket pardon" for members involved in a December meeting to plan events for 6 January.

"The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you committed a crime," said committee member Adam Kinzinger, a Republican.

"I don't want to say the election is over," Trump says after the Capitol riot


Ladybbird 27-07-22 08:11

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Capitol Riots: Prosecutors Probe TRUMP Role in Election Challenge

The US Justice Department is examining Donald Trump's alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to US media.


BBC News 27 JUL 2022.



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Donald Trump holds a rally outside the White House on 6 January 2021, hours before armed protesters stormed the US Capitol


The US Justice Department is examining Donald Trump's alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to US media.


Federal prosecutors have reportedly asked witnesses directly about the actions of the former US president.

So far they have chosen not to open a formal criminal investigation into Mr Trump himself over his alleged role.

Rioters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an effort to overturn the president's election defeat.

Mr Trump has publicly praised those who attacked the building, but denies any personal wrongdoing.

The Justice Department already has a criminal investigation into what happened on 6 January. The reports that witnesses are being questioned about Mr Trump's role does not mean that federal prosecutors will decide to pursue criminal charges against him.

The investigation is separate to the high-profile, televised Congressional hearings that have taken place over the past few weeks on the same subject - which Mr Trump has characterised as a political witch hunt.

According to a report in the Washington Post, federal prosecutors questioned witnesses before a grand jury about their conversations with Mr Trump and his inner circle in the months leading up to the 6 January riot.

The witnesses were reportedly asked about instructions given by Mr Trump in connection to any attempts to prevent President Joe Biden's election victory from being certified by Congress.

Some of those questioned included senior members of former Vice President Mike Pence's staff, multiple US outlets report.

Until now the Justice Department has refused to say whether or not it would weigh charges against Mr Trump for any alleged role in trying to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

When the department's top official, Attorney General Merrick Garland, was asked on Tuesday whether he was concerned about indicting a former president - he simply responded that he intends to hold "everyone" accountable.

Federal officials would prosecute anyone "criminally responsible for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another," Mr Garland told NBC News.

The Justice Department's probe into what happened on 6 January 2021, he said, is the "most wide-ranging investigation its history".

Any decision by federal prosecutors to bring charges against a former president - and potential candidate in the 2024 election - would have significant constitutional and political consequences.

In addition to federal prosecutors, a powerful US congressional committee has also been holding its own separate investigation into the armed storming of the Capitol building.

The congressional committee, made up of five Democrats and two Republicans, called dozens of witnesses last week in an attempt to build a case that Mr Trump launched an illegal bid to overturn his defeat by Mr Biden in the 2020 presidential election - culminating in the riot.

Some of the most explosive testimony delivered at the televised hearings came from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Appearing as a surprise witness during the sixth hearings, Ms Hutchinson said Mr Trump personally knew that members of the crowd at his morning rally near the White House were armed because they were being turned away by Secret Service officers.

"I don't [expletive] care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me," Ms Hutchinson said she heard the president say. "Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here."

Her testimony offered the committee something they had been seeking to establish from the very beginning of proceedings - that Mr Trump allegedly knew there was a very real threat of violence and did nothing to stop it.

Its panel of senators has suggested there might be enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Mr Trump, but it does not itself have the power to do that.

Any suggestion that the Justice Department could be looking into the former president's personal role is therefore significant.


MORE;

Ladybbird 31-07-22 06:22

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
MYSTERY of Jan. 6 Texts Reportedly Missing From Top TRUMP Officials at DHS l GMA

House Democrats Want a New Inspector General to Lead Probe of Secret Service Texts


Secret Service is under scrutiny for deleting messages related to Jan. 6.


ABC News 30 Jul 2022



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Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of House Homeland Security Committee, and New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee, sent the request Tuesday to the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.



Two leading House Democrats are requesting a government watchdog step away from an investigation into deleted text messages sent by the Secret Service around the time of the U.S. Capitol attack.

In their letter, Thompson and Maloney wrote they have "grave concerns" about Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general -- including what they said was his failure to promptly notify Congress of "crucial information" while investigating Jan. 6.

"Inspector General Cuffari failed to provide adequate or timely notice that the Secret Service had refused for months to comply with DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) requests for information related to the January 6 attack and failed to notify Congress after DHS OIG learned that the Secret Service had erased text messages related to this matter," Thompson and Maloney wrote.

"These omissions left Congress in the dark about key developments in this investigation and may have cost investigators precious time to capture relevant evidence," Thompson and Maloney argued.

The letter raises other concerns about Cuffari's performance, including "reports that he sought to censor findings of domestic abuse and sexual harassment by DHS employees" and his past refusal to investigate Secret Service actions.


Ladybbird 02-08-22 08:35

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Guy Reffitt: Capitol Rioter Turned in By Son Gets 87 Months in Prison

Militia member Guy Reffitt gets longest jail term so far for Capitol riot

A Texas man who joined the US Capitol riot armed with a holstered pistol and threatened his own children to keep quiet about his role has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

BBC News 2 AUG 2022



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Son Testifies Against Father, Guy Reffitt, Charged With Storming U.S. Capitol


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Reffitt cried when his son testified against him during his trial



Guy Reffitt, 49, was found guilty in March on five felony counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding and interfering with police in a riot.

His sentence is the longest imposed on any of the US Capitol rioters.

Nearly 900 people have been charged in the 6 January 2021 raid on Congress.

Reffitt did not actually enter the Capitol with the horde of Trump supporters who breached the complex as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's win in the November 2020 presidential election.

He retreated after an officer pepper sprayed him in the face, but video evidence showed Reffitt egging on the crowd and leading other rioters up a set of stairs outside the building.

The Capitol riot trial that tore a family apart

Multiple videos Reffitt took on and after 6 January, in which he discussed planning and bragged about participating in the riot, were used in evidence against him.

Issuing a prison sentence of 87 months on Monday, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich said Reffitt's actions and statements were "frightening claims that border on delusional".

An oil-field worker and recruiter for the far-right Three Percenters militia, Reffitt is said to have driven from Texas to Washington DC and led fellow Three Percenters up the main staircase to the Capitol building.

According to court papers, he had told fellow members of the militia that he planned to drag US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles, "with her head hitting every step on the way down".

Reffitt was reported to the FBI by his son, Jackson, 18 at the time, who told investigators his father had threatened him.

"He said 'if you turn me in, you're a traitor," the younger Reffitt said at his father's trial earlier this year. "'And traitors get shot'".

The sentence Judge Friedrich handed down was slightly below what is recommended by federal guidelines. She also declined to apply a domestic terrorism enhancement - the first requested in a US Capitol riot case.

The Texan wore an orange prison jumpsuit at the Washington DC courthouse and listened carefully as the judge credited supportive statements from Reffitt's family for the lower sentence.

He rubbed his hand across his forehead and had a wisp of a smile, says the BBC's Tara McKelvey, who attended the hearing.

Our reporter says Reffitt's sentence shows that government prosecutors may have a harder time than expected in securing the length of custodial terms they believe US Capitol rioters deserve.

Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term, arguing Reffitt was "in a class all by himself" among Capitol riot defendants, and other rioters were "looking to him as their leader".

But defence lawyers had argued the attack would have happened with or without him and noted he had no criminal history.

Having declined to testify at trial, Reffitt apologised in a brief statement before his sentencing, saying he had "an issue with just rambling and saying stupid [expletive]".

His family, including his wife, sat in the court's third row, and his daughter Peyton spoke on his behalf.

"He says a lot of things he doesn't mean. His mental health is an issue," she said, visibly emotional.

She added: "My father's name wasn't on the flags everyone was carrying that day.

"It was another man's name," she added in an apparent reference to former US President Donald Trump.

His wife Nicole Reffitt told reporters the trial shows that "corrupt, evil politicians here in this city" are trying to undermine US civil liberties.

"This isn't just about Guy Wesley Reffitt. This isn't about just January 6th. This is about our liberties being stomped on," she argued.



Ladybbird 23-09-22 07:29

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Hitler Moustache Capitol Rioter Sentenced to Four Years

A former US Army reservist and alleged Nazi sympathiser has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in last year's Capitol riots.

BBC News 23 SEP 2022.




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Prosecutors said Timothy Hale-Cusanelli sported a Hitler-style moustache at work



Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 32, was a Navy contractor who held a government security clearance when he joined the storming of Congress in January 2021.

A jury convicted him in May on five counts, including a felony charge for obstruction of an official proceeding.

More than 900 people have been charged over their involvement in the attack.

Hale-Cusanelli, who was the seventh riot defendant to go on trial, is among a handful of accused who were on active duty in the military when he joined other Trump supporters in raiding Congress as it met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Prosecutors said he openly espoused white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies, even sporting an Adolf Hitler-style moustache at work, and hoped for a second US civil war.

They added that, over the course of an internal Navy probe into Hale-Cusanelli, 34 of his colleagues said he held "extremist or radical views pertaining to the Jewish people, minorities and women".

One naval officer who was interviewed claimed to recall Hale-Cusanelli saying in an apparent reference to the Holocaust: "Hitler should have finished the job."

The accused took the stand in his own defence at trial, claiming that he "didn't know there was an actual building that was called the 'Capitol'".

"I feel like an idiot," he added.


But lawyers for the government said he was lying, pointing to conversations Hale-Cusanelli had had with his roommate in the days after the attack, in which he described breaching the complex as "exhilarating".

"Hale-Cusanelli is, at best, extremely tolerant of violence and death," prosecutors said. "What Hale-Cusanelli was doing on January 6 was not activism, it was the preamble to his civil war."

The defendant's case was spotlighted at a Trump rally earlier this month, at which his adoptive aunt Cynthia Hughes - who raises money on behalf of riot defendants - spoke.

In a letter to support Hale-Cusanelli's defence, Ms Hughes wrote that he was not a violent person and does not have "a racist bone in his body".

At Thursday's sentencing, Judge Trevor McFadden slammed the defendant's testimony as a "risible lie" and an "obvious attempt" to avoid accountability.

Judge McFadden - a Trump appointee - added that Hale-Cusanelli's "racist and anti-Semitic motivation" had set him apart from other rioters.

Another 6 January defendant, Stephen Ayres, also learned his fate on Thursday.

Ayres, an ex-Trump supporter who testified this summer before the congressional committee investigating the attack, will serve 24 months on probation

Ladybbird 01-10-22 09:38

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
Jan. 6 Committee Postpones Hearing Because of Hurricane Ian

The storm made landfall in Florida Wednesday afternoon.

ABC 1 OCT 2022


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An image of former President Donald Trump was displayed during the third hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol in the Cannon House Office




The House Jan. 6 committee scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed because of Hurricane Ian.
--The storm is expected to make landfall in Florida at about the same time as the hearing was to take place.

"In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow's proceedings," Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

'We're praying for the safety of all those in the storm's path. The Select Committee's investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings."

The committee was set to reconvene Wednesday after a two-month hiatus for a midday hearing.

But the rapid advancement of Hurricane Ian is now dominating airwaves, with the storm currently a Category 3 hurricane and expected to grow stronger.


Thompson previously told reporters that the committee would be airing "substantial footage" and "significant witness testimony" but didn't give any more details on what the public can expect to see or what the focus of the hearing would be.

Lawmakers held eight televised hearings from June to July detailing what they described as former President Donald Trump's "sophisticated" efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, which they said led to the events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.

The hearings, two of which were held in prime-time, were produced to capture the public's attention more than a year and half after the riot.

At the last hearing on July 21, the committee focused on the 187 minutes that passed between Trump's speech at the Ellipse and his taped statement later that afternoon telling rioters to leave the Capitol. Using testimony from former White House officials, the committee said Trump resisted pressure to act as he watched the violence unfold on television.


"Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home," Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said. "He chose not to act."

Since then, the committee has requested information from several people with ties to election denialism and Trump, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has agreed to a voluntary interview with the committee, her attorney confirmed last week.

There's also the looming question of whether the committee will call former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before it wraps up the investigation.

Cheney told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl that she hopes Pence will speak with lawmakers. The former vice president said he'd consider testifying if asked, but then implied that there could be constitutional constraints to any potential appearance.

Cheney also told Karl that she expects transcripts, records and other materials gathered by the committee over the course of its probe to be made public.

Wednesday's hearing was anticipated to be the last before the committee releases a final report of its findings and recommendations by the end of the year.

Ladybbird 13-10-22 18:21

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
CAPITOL Riot: JAN 6 HEARINGS 13 Oct 2022

LIVE: Jan. 6 hearing to reveal new evidence, focus on Trump’s state of mind during riot — 10/13/22


BBC News 13 Oct 2022





The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is set to take a broader look Thursday at the plot to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

The committee’s ninth public hearing could be its last investigative presentation in the ongoing probe. The hearing comes less than four weeks before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.


The panel is investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a violent mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, where a joint session of Congress had convened to confirm Biden’s electoral victory over Trump. The rioters fought through lines of police officers and entered the building, forcing lawmakers to flee their chambers for safety.

A committee aide said Thursday’s hearing will examine events that took place before, during and after the riot itself, with a particular focus on Trump’s state of mind and his level of involvement with the scheme to challenge the election results, NBC News reported. The nine-member panel will seek to contextualize those plans, while providing new information and witness testimony, the aide said.



Ladybbird 14-10-22 04:22

re: CAPITOL Riot: Bannon Gets Jail-6 Risks & Subpoena For TRUMP
 
US Capitol Riot Committee Votes to Order TRUMP to Testify

TRUMP Reacts to Committee's Unanimous Vote to Subpoena Him


TRUMP solicits cash right after the January 6 committee votes to subpoena him and tells supporters he's fighting for their 'heritage' - Another BIG CON

BBC NEWS 14 Oct 2022



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A panel of US lawmakers has voted to subpoena Donald Trump, meaning he would be legally compelled to testify to Congress about the 2021 Capitol attack.

The House January 6 committee voted unanimously to compel the former president to appear.

“We must seek the testimony under oath of January 6th’s central player,” said Representative Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair.

Ms Cheney added: “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion. And every American is entitled to those answers.”



TRUMP Solicits Cash


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Trump made a fundraising ask just after the House's January 6 committee wrapped its 9th hearing.

The ex-president told his supporters he's fighting for their "heritage" and praised the "MAGA movement."



Former President Donald Trump emailed out a fundraising ask just minutes after the House January 6 committee wrapped its 9th day of hearings, during which committee members laid out a damning case against Trump as the central instigator of the deadly Capitol riot.

Capitalizing on his "MAGA movement" being in the news, the ex-president told his supporters he's fighting for their "heritage."

"Our MAGA movement is, by far, the greatest political movement in the history of our Country, because I am fighting for YOU, YOUR home, YOUR heritage, and YOUR freedom," Trump wrote in the fundraising email.

After filling out a survey with questions such as "Are you concerned about the Radical Left's effect on this country?", Trump prompts supporters to donate at least $45 to the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, which is composed of two of his post-presidential political committees: Save America and Make America Great Again PAC.


Trump, who has openly flirted with a another presidential run in 2024 but hasn't yet formally registered a presidential campaign committee, is using his PACs to fund a variety of expenses, from staging rallies to paying staffers to covering legal bills.


Ladybbird 21-10-22 20:16

re: CAPITOL Riot: Oath Keepers GUILTY of Sedition & Implicate TRUMP
 
Steve Bannon Sentencing: Jail Term Shows January 6 Risks For TRUMP

Steve Bannon: Ex-Trump adviser sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress

Despite the jeers of "fascist traitor!", Steve Bannon looked relaxed as he arrived at a Washington, DC federal courthouse on Friday, clutching a copy of the Financial Times and commenting on "the global elites".

BBC News 21 OCT 2022.




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Before stepping inside, Bannon told a small group of journalists, live streamers, supporters, and critics that the "illegitimate regime, their judgement day is on 8th November, when the Biden administration ends".



It was the kind of language that got Bannon in trouble in the first place. Ahead of the January 6, 2021 attack which Trump supporters launched on the Capitol, he had told listeners on his right-wing podcast that "all hell would break loose" that day.

After the 2020 election, Bannon was one of a gaggle of Trump allies who sought ways to overturn the results in favour of Mr Trump, who lost by several million votes but claimed victory regardless. He pushed election conspiracy theories on his War Room show, and encouraged listeners to get involved in efforts to question or overturn the results.

He then defied a congressional subpoena when the House committee investigating the January 6 riot demanded he comply with its inquiry, which Bannon had dubbed "a clown show."

The committee referred the case to the Justice Department, and the former top Trump adviser was found guilty of contempt of Congress earlier this year.

Now US District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, has sentenced him to serve four months in jail and to pay a $6,500 fine after noting he'd shown "no remorse for his actions".

Bannon jailed for four months
Trump gets formal summons to testify


The sentence was a far cry from the six-month jail term and $200,000 fine that prosecutors had requested, but its symbolism is perhaps more significant. The sentence strikes at the heart of Mr Trump's orbit and represents one of the most high-profile punishments yet handed down to his backers, several of whom have faced federal investigations. The outcome of a case like Bannon's could point to unfavourable outcomes for Mr Trump, and other top lieutenants, in the coming months and years.

It's especially important because the January 6 committee has now directly issued a subpoena to Mr Trump, demanding extensive documents and correspondence from the weeks leading up to the Capitol attack, and from the day itself. Mr Trump is not expected to comply. The move could set off another legal skirmish for the former president - though it's one that could be quickly resolved should the Republican Party take over the House of Representatives after the midterm elections on 8 November.


'Why does Steve Bannon get his own system of justice?'


After the sentencing, Bannon said that he respected the judge and would appeal the sentence. But despite the court's admonishments, he then referred to the Biden administration as "illegitimate" and called for the US attorney general to be impeached.

Some of Bannon's detractors did not feel the punishment went far enough. "If any of the rest of us were subpoenaed by Congress and refused to appear, we'd be thrown in jail," tweeted Tristain Snell, a former prosecutor in the New York attorney general's office. "Why does Steve Bannon get his own system of justice?"

Bannon's woes are just one aspect of the multi-pronged legal battles faced by Trumpworld.


Though the Republican Party remains almost uniformly deferential to Mr Trump, federal, state, and local prosecutors have launched multiple investigations into his actions, ranging in scope from fraud to election tampering to inappropriate handling of classified documents.

Nor is this Steve Bannon's only case - New York prosecutors have charged him with fraud and money laundering for his role with an organisation that sought to build a wall on the US southern border. That case carries "far more risk" for Bannon, said Miriam Baer, vice dean of Brooklyn Law School.

Bannon, a former investment banker who briefly dabbled in Hollywood, first gained notoriety in conservative circles by running the right-wing website Breitbart News. He supported populist ideas and found a vehicle for them in 2016, when Mr Trump ran for president.

To Trump supporters and allies, Bannon is one of the key defenders and promoters of the former president's "Maga" [Make America Great Again] ideology.

For detractors, he is one of Mr Trump's worst enablers. As chief strategist in the White House, he pushed for some of the most controversial policies, most notably a 2017 ban on travellers from several Muslim-majority countries that triggered accusations of Islamophobia from Mr Trump's critics. He also urged the president to take a more aggressive stance towards China. A 2022 article in The Atlantic dubbed him the "American Rasputin."

Though he left the White House in 2017 after a turbulent run, Bannon has remained influential in right wing politics. He has continued to promote Mr Trump and his politics on his podcast, which Bannon at one point claimed had racked up 29 million downloads, according to ProPublica. The show also features right-wing celebrities like Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The legal risk did not appear to deter Mr Bannon from using his characteristic hyperbole. This included threatening to go "medieval" on prosecutors who charged him.

Prosecutors cited his threats as they argued for a jail term, noting: "Through his public platforms, the Defendant has used hyperbolic and sometimes violent rhetoric to disparage the Committee's investigation, personally attack the Committee's members, and ridicule the criminal justice system."

The prosecution cited Bannon's bombastic threats while appealing for him to face a jail sentence

Donald Trump has repeatedly decried investigations into him and his associates as a partisan witch hunt designed to persecute conservatives, including when addressing supporters on the campaign trail.

Among some of Mr Trump's backers, Bannon's sentence will likely be treated as evidence that the federal bureaucracy has unfairly dogged the former president.

If his appeal against the jail sentence does not succeed, a stint inside could silence Bannon temporarily. But it remains to be seen whether a different version will emerge from this process.

On Friday, the presiding judge said he hoped Bannon's punishment would at least have a cautionary effect on his imitators.

"Others must be deterred," Judge Nichols said, "from committing similar crimes".

Donald Trump appointed Steve Bannon as his campaign CEO in August 2016 and, following his victory, handed him a key White House role

Ladybbird 23-10-22 04:15

re: CAPITOL Riot: Oath Keepers GUILTY of Sedition & Implicate TRUMP
 
TRUMP Legal Team Responds to Subpoena From January 6 Committee

23 Oct 2022 CNN


Former President Donald Trump’s legal team responded to the subpoena from January 6 select committee. CNN political correspondent Sara Murray reports.

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, and CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger join Wolf Blitzer to discuss.



Ladybbird 25-10-22 16:09

re: CAPITOL Riot: Oath Keepers GUILTY of Sedition & Implicate TRUMP
 
Most Aggressive Subpoena 'I've Ever Seen': Honig on TRUMP Subpoena

BBC News 25 Oct 2022


The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol announced that the panel has officially subpoenaed former President Donald Trump.






Ladybbird 30-11-22 06:42

re: CAPITOL Riot: LEADER Tarrio & Three Other Proud Boys GUILTY of Seditious Conspiracy
 
Oath Keepers: Two Members of Far-Right Militia GUILTY of US Sedition BBC

Leaders Just Implicated TRUMP In Their Sedition Legal Defense

The leader of a far-right militia has been found guilty of plotting to stop US President Joe Biden from taking office after the 2020 election.

BBC 30 NOV 2022


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A jury found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy following a two-month trial.



He plotted an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Mr Biden, prosecutors said.

Four more were on trial with him related to the 2021 Capitol riots.

Three of the group - Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson - went inside the building during the attack.

Meggs was also found guilty of seditious conspiracy on Tuesday. Both Rhodes and Meggs now face a maximum 20-year sentence on the charges.

Harrelson, Watkins and a fifth member, Thomas Caldwell - were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy.

All five of the group members were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Rhodes, who prosecutors say acted as a "battlefield general" during the riots, was also found guilty of tampering with documents or proceedings. He was acquitted of two other conspiracy counts.

The verdict comes after three full days of jury deliberation.

Speaking outside the courthouse following the verdict, lawyers for Rhodes said they were not pleased with the outcome, but that it isn't a clear-cut victory for the prosecution either.

"It's a mixed bag," said lawyer Edward Tarpley, adding he is grateful the jury found the defendants not guilty on some counts.

They intend to appeal the convictions.

This was the first conviction of seditious conspiracy in the US since 1995, when 10 Islamist militants were convicted for trying to plant bombs at New York City landmarks.

The Civil War-era charge was first enacted to stop residents of southern states from fighting against the US government.

In order to be convicted of seditious conspiracy, prosecutors must prove that two or more people conspired to "overthrow, put down or to destroy by force" the US government, or that they planned to use force to oppose US authority.

Alan Rozenshtein, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and a former US Department of Justice lawyer, said the conviction of Rhodes is significant because it shows that a seditious conspiracy charge is "a viable and legal path for punishing the most serious anti-democratic conduct" in the country.

He added the mixed verdict proves that juries are able to apply the conviction responsibly.

The verdict is also a confidence boost for the justice department, Mr Rozenshtein said, in their quest to prosecute more people in relation to the Capitol riots.

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 in a bid to thwart certification of Joe Biden's White House election victory.

So far around 900 people in nearly all 50 states have been arrested for taking part in the riot.

Another famous storming of the US Capitol also led to successful seditious conspiracy convictions.

In 1954, four nationalists from the US island territory of Puerto Rico fired shots onto the floor of the House of Representatives, wounding several lawmakers.

The attackers, as well as more than a dozen other members of the group, were found guilty of sedition.

During the Oath Keepers trial, the court heard the defendants stashed dozens of weapons in a hotel room in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC, and planned to bring them into the city in the event of mass civil disorder.

Defence lawyers argued that the fact the weapons were never used - or even brought into the city - bolstered their argument that the Oath Keepers were on a purely defensive mission, intending to protect protesters and keep the peace inside and outside the Capitol.

The jury also heard that Rhodes was taking phone calls and messages outside the Capitol while the riots were ongoing. Some messages seen by the court show Rhodes telling his followers to "rise up in insurrection".

The Oath Keepers were founded by Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer. Over the past decade, members have shown up at a number of protests and armed standoffs across the country.

Among the defendants, two, Meggs and Harrelson, are from Florida, Watkins is from Ohio and Caldwell is from Virginia. Rhodes is from Texas.

More Oath Keepers members, along with members of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, will go on trial on seditious conspiracy charges later this year.


Ladybbird 11-12-22 06:30

re: CAPITOL Riot: LEADER Tarrio & Three Other Proud Boys GUILTY of Seditious Conspiracy
 
January 6 Committee Considers Criminal Referrals For at Least 4 Others Besides TRUMP

BBC News 11 DEC 2022.





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CNN’s Sara Murray reports that four individuals are facing possible criminal referrals by the January 6 committee in addition to former President Donald Trump. CNN’s panel of experts, including CNN’s Jake Tapper, Kasie Hunt, and Audie Cornish, break down the implications.



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