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Links - Politics - 4 -Biden
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U.S. Constitution
U.S. Constitution Annotated. This edition of the Congressional Research Service's U.S. Constitution Annotated is a hypertext interpretation of the CRS text, updated to the currently published version. It links to Supreme Court opinions, the U.S. Code, and the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as enhancing navigation through search, breadcrumbs, linked footnotes and tables of contents. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan
2020 Elections
Trump pollster's campaign autopsy paints damning picture of defeat. The 27-page report pins Trump's loss on voter perception that he was untrustworthy and disapproval of his pandemic performance. The post-mortem, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, says the former president suffered from voter perception that he wasn't honest or trustworthy and that he was crushed by disapproval of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. And while Trump spread baseless accusations of ballot-stuffing in heavily Black cities, the report notes that he was done in by hemorrhaging support from white voters. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/01/trump-campaign-autopsy-paints-damning-picture-of-defeat-464636
- Saturday, November 7, 2020 08:50:41 AM
- Biden 284 50.6% 74,847,834
- Trump 214 47.7% 70,591,531
| electoral
| popular
Sunday, November 22, 2020 08:27:27 AM Biden advantage in California 5,085,114
Share of vote 21st c. presidential candidates https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1334623664474628097
- Obama 2008 52.9
- Biden 2020 51.3
- Obama 2012 51.1
- Bush 2004 50.7
- Gore 2000 48.4
- Kerry 2004 48.3
- Clinton 2016 48.2
- Bush 2000 47.9
- Romney 2012 47.2
- Trump 2020 46.9
- Trump 2016 46.1
- McCain 2008 45.7
Transition and Inauguration
Trump Was 'Fact Free' During Briefings, Says Former National Intelligence Director. "For the Intelligence Community, the Trump transition was far and away the most difficult in its historical experience with briefing new presidents," a new CIA report said. Even once Trump started receiving the President's Daily Brief (PDB), a daily summary of high-level national security and intelligence issues, Trump chose not to read it, according to Ted Gistaro, a career CIA analyst who frequently briefed Trump. This backed up earlier reports that Trump did not read the PDB. "He touched it," Gistaro said when asked how closely Trump read the briefs. "He doesn't really read anything." https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-fact-free-cia-report-1263777/
McConnell sought to disinvite Trump from Biden's inaugural. According to a new book from Jonathan Karl, Trump got wind of the plan and preemptively announced he wasn't attending. To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/15/mcconnell-disinvite-trump-biden-inaugural-522253
In Farewell Speech As President, Trump Says 'We Did What We Came Here To Do'. "As I conclude my term as the 45th president of the United States, I stand before you truly proud of what we have achieved together," Trump began. "This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous," he continued, adding: "We also want them to have luck, a very important word." (See video of the speech above.) "We did what we came here to do ― and so much more. Above all, we have reasserted the sacred idea that in America, the government answers to the people," Trump said. "We restored the idea that in America, no one is forgotten ― because everyone matters and everyone has a voice." Falsely casting his time in office as an effort to unify Americans, Trump claimed that his agenda "wasn't about Republican or Democrat, but about the good of a nation, and that means the whole nation," despite having spent his entire presidency vilifying his political opponents. He appeared to defend his violent rhetoric on Tuesday, saying, "In America, we don't insist on absolute conformity or enforce rigid orthodoxies and punitive speech codes." "Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning," Trump said. "There's never been anything like it." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-final-address-speech-video_n_6006ef17c5b6df63a91a0cec
Washington's security preps in high gear for inauguration. Thousands of National Guard forces have been called to the DC area ahead of President-elect Biden's inauguration. https://www.foxnews.com/us/washingtons-security-preps-high-gear-inauguration#
The next 12 days will be something to tell the grandchildren! It's 1776 all over again! https://nyegop.org/2021/01/08/a-letter-from-the-chairman/?v=7516fd43adaa
Media has yet to do a deep dive on precisely what Trump *said* in his January 6 speech in DC—a speech now called an "incitement to insurrection," and the basis for an article of impeachment coming Monday. This thread unpacks the speech. https://threader.app/thread/1347908845281095680 https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1347908845281095680
Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021. https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension.html
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th. Jan 8, '21 @ 10:44 am ET Author: Likely Trump
The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!! Jan 8, '21 @ 9:46 am ET Author: Likely Trump
The violence at the Capitol was an attempted coup. Call it that. video https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/06/trump-mob-storm-capitol-washington-coup-attempt
Trump privately admits it's over, but wants to brawl for attention. To one person, Trump even confided he was "just disappointed we lost." But he still maintains he would have won a fair election. But mostly, he is continuing his fight to subvert the election for a Trumpian reason: to keep the attention on himself and give his supporters what they want, according to the people who have spoken with him. "The point is to still be relevant and still be talked about in the news," said one of the people. "This is someone who's been on Page Six of the New York Post for 40 years. He's beyond embarrassment." https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/05/donald-trump-election-challenge-455233
Trump says he'll 'fight like hell' to hold on to presidency. With mounting desperation, Donald Trump declared Monday night he would "fight like hell" to hold on to the presidency and appealed to Republican lawmakers to reverse his election loss to Joe Biden when they convene this week to confirm the Electoral College vote. Electoral voters won by President-elect Biden are "not gonna take this White House!" he shouted as supporters cheered at an outdoor rally in Georgia. Trump's announced purpose for the trip was to boost Republican Senate candidates in Tuesday's runoff election, but he spent much of his speech complaining bitterly about his election loss — which he insists he won "by a lot." https://apnews.com/article/trump-congress-reverse-election-loss-e2a6fa060432bd19d92a142a0da5688e
Fox News panelist defends Trump's leaked call to Georgia secretary of state: He is a "man who fights" The Washington Post just released tape of Trump threatening GA Secretary of State Bread Raffensberger in an attempt to overturn election results. 3:30 GAYLE TROTTER: The voters who wanted President Trump to have a second term voted for him because he's a fighter. He's a man who fights. And this is yet another example -- A.B. STODDARD: [LAUGHS] https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-panelist-defends-trumps-leaked-call-georgia-secretary-state-he-man-who-fights
Donald Trump could be planning Turnberry trip as Scots airport told to expect a high-flyer the day before Joe Biden's inauguration. Prestwick airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19 – the day before his Democratic rival takes charge at the White House. https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/donald-trump-could-be-planning-turnberry-trip-as-scots-airport-told-to-expect-a-high-flyer-the-day-before-joe-bidens-inauguration/
Trump, on tape, presses Ga. official to 'find' him votes. "All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said. "Because we won the state." https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-a7b4aa4d8ce3bf52301ddbe620c6bff6 Here's the full transcript and audio of the call between Trump and Raffensperger https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-transcript-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/2768e0cc-4ddd-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html
GOP senators, led by Cruz, to object to Electoral College certification, demand emergency audit. The lawmakers call for an electoral commission to be established to audit results." In 1877, Congress did not ignore those allegations, nor did the media simply dismiss those raising them as radicals trying to undermine democracy," the lawmakers said in the statement. "Instead, Congress appointed an Electoral Commission -- consisting of five Senators, five House Members, and five Supreme Court Justices -- to consider and resolve the disputed returns." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senators-cruz-electoral-college-certification-audit
Trump returns to White House after Florida vacation. Shortly after he entered the White House, Trump tweeted out a previously recorded message in which he praised Americans for showing "grit, strength, tenacity and resolve" throughout 2020 and boasted of his administration's work in developing a coronavirus vaccine. "This is one of the most extraordinary scientific, industrial and medical feats in history. Everybody has it at that," Trump said. "That's what they're marking it down as, and we can never let people forget where it came from and how it came. We're very proud to be honored, and all of the people that worked so hard on it, we have to be remembered for what's been done." https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/532236-trump-returns-to-white-house-after-florida-vacation
Democrats who praised 2004 objections to Electoral College certification now slam Hawley. Democrats objected to electoral vote certification last 3 times a Republican was elected president. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-who-praised-2004-objections-to-electoral-college-certification-now-slam-hawley Democrats challenge Ohio electoral votes. Move delays official certification of presidential election. Thursday, January 6, 2005 The move was not designed to overturn the re-election of President Bush, said Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who filed the objection. https://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/electoral.vote.1718/
Keep Calm and QAnon. Pro-Trump conspiracy theories may have actually discouraged postelection violence. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/12/qanon-post-election-violence-trump.html
Trump Attacks FBI, DOJ, Supreme Court and GOP Senators in Boxing Day Twitter Tirade. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-attacks-doj-fbi-supreme-court-gop-senators-mitch-mcconnell-twitter-1557376
Trump's Bonkers Oval Office Meeting With Sidney Powell Was Even Too Much for Rudy. Dec. 19, 2020 8:05PM ET. Her claims of mass election fraud have fallen flat. But it didn't stop Trump from inviting conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell to the White House for a brainstorm. Sidney Powell's insane claims about the election being stolen have left judges across the country shaking and scratching their heads. But during a bonkers Oval Office meeting with her on Friday night, President Trump floated the idea of appointing her as a special counsel investigating voter fraud. Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to The Daily Beast that Trump and Powell held the Friday meeting to discuss their baseless theories of mass election fraud. According to The New York Times, which first reported the meeting, some aides were left in shock at Trump's suggestion of making Powell a special counsel. Even Rudy Giuliani, Trump's most loyal foot soldier in his election fraud crusade, was against the idea. A source quoted by CNN on Saturday described the meeting as "ugly" after Powell and Flynn lashed out at others. "It was heated, people were really fighting it out in the Oval," the source was quoted saying. Even some of the president's closest allies vocally opposed some of the insane ideas floated in the meeting. Along with Giuliani, White House counsel Pat Cipollone was against the special counsel idea. Flynn's idea of invoking martial law was similarly shot down, as was an extraordinary idea for an executive order to seize voting machines, according to the Times, which described the meeting as "raucous." https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-bonkers-oval-office-meeting-with-sidney-powell-was-even-too-much-for-rudy
This might be the most embarrassing document created by a White House staffer. The first thing I did when I cracked open White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's 30-page compilation of President Trump's voter-fraud greatest hits was check a footnote. The introduction claimed that, as of midnight Election Day, Trump looked to be "well on his way to winning a second term," given that he "was already a lock to win both Florida and Ohio." "[N]o Republican has ever won a presidential election without winning Ohio," the document notes, "while only two Democrats have won the presidency without winning Florida." But this, in broad strokes, is how Navarro's document operates. It throws out as near-certainties things that are unfounded, misrepresented or unimportant. Philip Bump is a correspondent for The Washington Post based in New York. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/18/this-might-be-most-embarrassing-document-created-by-white-house-staffer/ https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/peter-navarro-puts-out-immaculate-deception-report-rehashing-debunked-trump-complaints https://bannonswarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Immaculate-Deception-12.15.20-1.pdf
Joe Biden asks Trump to accept his 'clear victory' after electoral college vote result. Kayleigh McEnany slammed for claiming Biden's electoral college speech was 'divisive'. Remarks came as EC officially recognised Joe Biden's election win. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kayeligh-mcenany-joe-biden-electoral-college-speech-b1774297.html
Joe Biden asks Trump to accept his 'clear victory' after electoral college vote result. Trump says Biden is 'pretending he's won' and insists he had a 'landslide victory'. The president shows no signs of accepting reality and may never concede defeat. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-electoral-college-votes-biden-b1774343.html
Supreme Court declines to hear Trump-supported Texas case over election results in four other states. Legal experts said Texas' case, flawed in several ways, was likely to fail. The order does not foreclose any other pending or future election appeals at the Supreme Court, but time is running out. The states meet next week on Dec. 14 for the Electoral College exercise. And on Jan. 6 there will be a joint session of the House and Senate to count the electoral votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden as the winner. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have heard the case -- without granting other relief, like issuing an injunction on electoral proceedings. They added that they expressed "no view on any other issue." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/scotus-denied-election-texas-election-suit
White House Asks Staff To Transition With 'Professionalism' Despite Trump's Lies: Report. Staffers were asked to "prioritize preparations for a smooth transition." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-house-transition-professionalism_n_5fd2e7e2c5b68256b113dcfc
Trump holds self-congratulatory vaccine 'summit,' dismisses concerns over virus spread. The White House pushed back on reports U.S. declined to buy more vaccine doses. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-vaccine-executive-order-raises-questions-pfizer-offer/story?id=74604381
President Trump walks out on Medal of Freedom ceremony for legendary wrestler, ex-Iowa coach Dan Gable. Well, I think the case has already been made. If you look at the polls, it was a rigged election. You look at the different states. The election was totally rigged. It's a disgrace to our country. It's like a third-world country — these ballots pouring in from everywhere, using machinery that nobody knows ownership, nobody knows anything about. They have "glitches," as they call them. Glitches. The glitches weren't glitches. They got caught sending out thousands of votes — all against me, by the way. No, this was like from a third-world nation. And I think the case has been made. And now we find out what we can do about it. But you'll see a lot of big things happening over the next couple of days. https://www.nj.com/sports/2020/12/president-trump-walks-out-on-medal-of-freedom-ceremony-for-legendary-wrestler-dan-gable.html
'We're all victims' Trump whines at Georgia rally, repeatedly refusing to accept he lost election to Biden. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/05/at-georgia-rally-trump-declares-repeatedly-he-refuses-to-accept-that-he-lost-election-to-biden.html
Just 26 congressional Republicans acknowledge Biden's win, Washington Post survey finds. Two Republicans consider Trump the winner despite all evidence showing otherwise. And another 221 GOP members of the House and Senate — nearly 90 percent of all Republicans serving in Congress — will simply not say who won the election. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/survey-who-won-election-republicans-congress/2020/12/04/1a1011f6-3650-11eb-8d38-6aea1adb3839_story.html
When Kimmel extracts all lies from Trump's 45-min rant, it turns into great 45-second speech https://boingboing.net/2020/12/04/when-kimmel-extracts-all-lies-from-trumps-45-min-rant-it-turns-into-great-45-second-speech.html
Pentagon blocks visits to military spy agencies by Biden transition team. Dec. 4, 2020 at 5:52 p.m. EST The Trump administration has refused to allow members of President-elect Joe Biden's transition team to meet with officials at U.S. intelligence agencies that are controlled by the Pentagon, undermining prospects for a smooth transfer of power, current and former U.S. officials said. The officials said the Biden team has not been able to engage with leaders at the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military-run spy services with classified budgets and global espionage platforms. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/pentagon-blocks-biden-transition-team/2020/12/04/2e7042fa-3656-11eb-a997-1f4c53d2a747_story.html
Michigan voter fraud hearing goes viral for alleged flatulence, unruly witness. HuffPost reporter Ryan J. Reilly shared a video on Twitter of Giuliani passionately answering a question about Attorney General William Barr's statement that federal prosecutors had not found evidence of election fraud that would influence the outcome. During the clip, what sounds like flatulence can be heard as he's speaking. https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/528666-michigan-voter-fraud-hearing-goes-viral-for-alleged-flatulence
In February, 2021, a man goes to the White House to see Donald Trump. He is told by the Marine on duty that Trump is no longer president and that he no longer resides there. Three days in a row the man returns to see Trump and each time the same Marine tells him Trump is no longer president. On the fourth day, the Marine finally asks the man why he keeps coming back asking for Trump when he already knows the answer. The man replies, "I just love hearing you tell me Trump is no longer the president." The Marine snaps to attention, salutes and says, "See you tomorrow, sir!"
Biden chief of staff says inauguration 'not going to be the same' Ron Klain said the inauguration ceremony will be altered to prevent the spread of coronavirus. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/22/biden-klain-inauguration-coronavirus-439181
Russian interference, Trump collusion
It Wasn't a Hoax. People with scant illusions about Trump are volunteering to help him execute one of his Big Lies. By David Frum NOVEMBER 25, 2021
- Dating back to at least 2006, Trump and his companies did tens of millions of dollars of business with Russian individuals and other buyers whose profiles raised the possibility of money laundering. More than one-fifth of all the condominiums sold by Trump over his career were purchased in all-cash transactions by shell companies, a 2018 BuzzFeed News investigation found.
- In 2013, Trump's pursuit of Russian business intensified. That year, he staged the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Around that time, Trump opened discussions on the construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow, from which he hoped to earn "hundreds of millions of dollars, if the project advanced to completion," in the words of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
- Trump continued to pursue the Tower deal for a year after he declared himself a candidate for president. "By early November 2015, Trump and a Russia-based developer signed a Letter of Intent laying out the main terms of a licensing deal," the Senate Intelligence Committee found. Trump's representatives directly lobbied aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin in January 2016. Yet repeatedly during the 2016 campaign, Trump falsely stated that he had no business with Russia—perhaps most notably in his second presidential debate against Hillary Clinton, in October 2016.
- Early in 2016, President Putin ordered an influence operation to "harm the Clinton Campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the Trump Campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the U.S. democratic process." Again, that's from the Senate Intelligence Committee report.
- The Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos "likely learned about the Russian active measures campaign as early as April 2016," the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote. In May 2016, Papadopoulos indiscreetly talked with Alexander Downer, then the Australian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, about Russia's plot to intervene in the U.S. election to hurt Clinton and help Trump. Downer described the conversation in a report to his government. By long-standing agreement, Australia shares intelligence with the U.S. government. It was Papadopoulos's blurt to Downer that set in motion the FBI investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, a revelation authoritatively reported more than three years ago.
- In June 2016, the Trump campaign received a request for a meeting from a Russian lawyer offering harmful information on Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump Jr. and other senior Trump advisers accepted the meeting. The Trump team did not obtain the dirt they'd hoped for. But the very fact of the meeting confirmed to the Russian side the Trump campaign's eagerness to accept Russian assistance. Shortly after, Trump delivered his "Russia, if you're listening" invitation at his last press conference of the campaign.
- WikiLeaks released two big caches of hacked Democratic emails in July and October 2016. In the words of the Senate Intelligence Committee: "WikiLeaks actively sought, and played, a key role in the Russian intelligence campaign and very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort."
- Through its ally Roger Stone, the Trump campaign team assiduously tried to communicate with WikiLeaks. Before the second WikiLeaks release, "Trump and the Campaign believed that Stone had inside information and expressed satisfaction that Stone's information suggested more releases would be forthcoming," according to the Senate Intelligence Committee. In late summer and early fall 2016, Stone repeatedly predicted that WikiLeaks would publish an "October surprise" that would harm the Clinton campaign.
- At the same time as it welcomed Russian help, the Trump campaign denied and covered up Russian involvement: "The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort," the Intelligence Committee found.
- In March 2016, the Trump campaign accepted the unpaid services of Paul Manafort, deeply beholden to deeply shady Russian business and political figures. "On numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information" with a man the Intelligence Committee identified as a Russian intelligence officer. "Taken as a whole, Manafort's high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services … represented a grave counterintelligence threat," the committee found. Through 2016, the Russian state launched a massive Facebook disinformation program that aligned with the Trump campaign strategy.
- At crucial moments in the 2016 election, Trump publicly took positions that broke with past Republican policy and served no apparent domestic political purpose, but that supported Putin's foreign-policy goals: scoffing at NATO support for Estonia, denigrating allies such as Germany, and endorsing Britain's exit from the European Union.
- Throughout the 2016 election and after, people close to Trump got themselves into serious legal and political trouble by lying to the public, to Congress, and even to the FBI about their Russian connections.
The Steele dossier undertook to answer the question "What the hell is going on with Trump and Russia?" The Senate Intelligence Committee found that the FBI investigation gave the Steele dossier "unjustified credence." But the disintegration of the dossier's answers has not silenced the power of its question. It was to silence that question that the outgoing Trump administration appointed a special counsel of its own to investigate its investigators. John Durham has now issued three indictments, all for lying to the FBI about various aspects of the Steele dossier. None of these indictments vindicate Trump's claims in any way. It remains fact that Russian hackers and spies helped his campaign. It remains fact that the Trump campaign welcomed the help. It remains fact that Trump's campaign chairman sought to share proprietary campaign information with a person whom the Senate report identified as a "Russian intelligence officer." It remains fact that Trump hoped to score a huge payday in Russia even as he ran for president. It remains fact that Trump and those around him lied, and lied, and lied again about their connections to Russia. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/trump-russia-senate-intelligence-report/620815/
Putin Did It Again: New Intelligence Report Says Moscow Helped Trump in 2020. Anti-Biden propaganda was prepared with the assistance of Russian intelligence. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/donald-trump-russia-2020/
Liberal Dark Money
Liberal 'dark money' groups' revenue soared ahead of 2020 elections. More than $86.2 million of Sixteen Thirty Fund's windfall came from its sister 501(c)(3) group, New Venture Fund, which tax documents show raised over $965 million — nearly $1 billion — in 2020 from a myriad of anonymous sources. Since New Venture Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, individual donors can write off their contributions as tax-deductible even though some of the nonprofit's money is given to more politically active groups. Both New Venture Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund give to an array of groups and causes with a wide range of levels of political activity. New tax records reviewed by OpenSecrets reveal that New Venture Fund was primarily funded by multimillion dollar donations in 2020 with just eight anonymous donors giving tens of millions of dollars each in 2020 making up the bulk of its fundraising. Two donors gave over $100 million each. While Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund do not voluntarily disclose donors, some funders have been made public by foundations and other groups giving grants to them. Donors have included nonprofits linked to Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar and liberal mega-donor George Soros. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/12/liberal-dark-money-groups-revenue-soared-ahead-of-2020-elections/
Past elections, fraud
Pro-Trump Group Invented Voter Fraud Claims Months Before Election. A well-funded far-right group—that made inroads with Stop The Steal organizations, paid a former police captain more than $200,000 to hunt ballots, and became entangled in a roadside stickup—was making war plans for Election Day 2020 months ahead of time, documents reveal. The fringe group, the Liberty Center for God and Country (LCGC), led a lucrative fundraising blitz in the run-up to the election and quietly networked with now-notorious election denialists. Their work came to light in October of that year when former Houston Police captain Mark Aguirre allegedly rammed his SUV into a man's truck, forced the man onto the ground at gunpoint, and accused him of transporting 750,000 fraudulent ballots. Aguirre's claims were baseless—his victim was an innocent air conditioner technician—and no widespread voter fraud has been found in the 2020 election. Aguirre was indicted this week for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-trump-group-liberty-center-for-god-and-country-invented-voter-fraud-claims-months-before-election-2020
How Ashley Biden's Diary Made Its Way to Project Veritas. Federal prosecutors and FBI agents are investigating whether there was a criminal conspiracy among a handful of individuals to steal and publish the diary. Those being scrutinized include current and former operatives for the conservative group Project Veritas; a donor Trump appointed to a political position in the final days of his administration; a man who once pleaded guilty in a money laundering scheme; and a financially struggling mother of two, according to people familiar with federal grand jury subpoenas and a search warrant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The investigation has focused new attention on how Trump or his allies sought to use the troubles of Biden's two surviving children to undercut him. The inquiry has also intensified the scrutiny of Project Veritas. Its founder, James O'Keefe, was pulled from his apartment in his underwear and handcuffed during a dawn raid last month by the FBI, two days after a pair of his former employees had their homes raided. Asked a list of specific questions related to the investigation, a lawyer for Project Veritas, Paul A. Calli, responded with a statement from O'Keefe criticizing The New York Times. Project Veritas has said in court filings that it was assured by the people who sold Ashley Biden's items to the group that they were abandoned rather than stolen. But the police report said that Bantner's client had told him that the property was "possibly stolen" and "he got it from an unknown person at a hotel." The video footage, which appears to be a partial account of the encounter, records Bantner describing the bags as "crap." The officer can be heard telling Bantner that he is going to throw the bags in the garbage because the officer did not have any "information" or "proof of evidence." "Like I said, I'm fine with it," Bantner replied. But police did examine the contents of the bag and quickly determined that they belonged to Ashley Biden. The report said police contacted the Secret Service and the FBI, which later collected the items. https://news.yahoo.com/ashley-bidens-diary-made-way-194903781.html
Probe finds Trump officials repeatedly violated Hatch Act https://apnews.com/article/presidential-elections-election-2020-elections-778951007a888c1f2af6babbb198634b
FEC drops investigation into Trump hush money payments. The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) has closed its investigation into whether former President Trump illegally made hush money payments to women prior to the 2016 election. The FEC voted 4-1 to close the probes after failing to find that Trump or his campaign "knowingly and willfully" violated campaign finance law when his former attorney Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from disclosing an alleged affair. Cohen was convicted in 2018 of lying to Congress, tax evasion and other charges relating to the payments to Daniels and other women. He served three years in prison. His attorney said Cohen testified in court that the payment was made "for the principal purpose of influencing an election." The FEC's Office of General Counsel issued a report in December finding that there was "reason to believe" that Cohen and the Trump campaign knowingly and willfully violated campaign finance law. However, the FEC said that it failed by a 2-2 vote to prove any of the parties violated campaign finance law. The panel's two Republican commissioners, Allen Dickerson and Sean Cooksey, wrote in a statement that they felt Cohen had already been punished criminally and the matter was "not the best use of agency resources." "The public record is complete with respect to the conduct at issue in these complaints, and Mr. Cohen has been punished by the government of the United States for the conduct at issue in these matters," Dickerson and Cooksey wrote. In a separate statement, Democratic commissioner Ellen Weintraub and Commission Chair Shana Broussard said the probe should have been continued after the general counsel said there was reason to believe campaign finance law was broken. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/552271-fec-drops-investigation-into-trump-hush-money-payments
Twitter troll arrested for election interference related to disinformation campaign. The charges are a potentially tectonic shift in how the federal government tries to enforce laws against election interference. The notorious Twitter troll and alt-right figure Douglass Mackey, known better by his alter ego, Ricky Vaughn, was arrested on Wednesday on federal charges of election interference stemming from an alleged voter disinformation campaign during the 2016 election. Mackey is charged with conspiring with others "to disseminate misinformation designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote," according to the newly unsealed criminal complaint. In September 2016, Mackey's groups turned to creating memes that misled potential voters about how they would be able to cast votes, creating memes that falsely claimed that supporters could cast their vote by posting on Facebook or Twitter or by voting through text message. According to the complaint, 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted their votes to the number provided. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/twitter-troll-arrested-election-interference-related-disinformation-campaign-n1255864
California Recall
Republicans overplayed their hand in California – and Democrats are laughing. Larry Elder just discovered that his brand appeals to a tiny fraction of voters. Republican governors in Texas and Florida may learn similar lessons. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/15/california-recall-republicans-larry-elder
5 Takeaways From The California Recall Election. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) crushed a Republican-led effort to oust him from office a year early.
- Democrats' coronavirus approach vindicated
- 'Trumpism is not dead'
- Newsom dodges friendly fire
- Recall reform could gain public support
California Recall Updates: Gavin Newsom Wins, in a Relief for Democrats. The governor of America's most populous state brushed aside an effort to remove him, as deep-blue California rallied to prevent Republicans from capturing its top office. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/09/14/us/california-recall-election-newsom
- No 5,840,283 63.9%
- Yes 3,297,145 36.1
California women show decisive support for Newsom, concerns about Elder, as recall looms. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-04/women-voters-thumbs-down-on-recall-elder-thumbs-up-on-keeping-newsom-in-office
Column: Gavin Newsom has been one of the most pro-Latino governors in California history, and he's under attack for it. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-25/recall-election-newsom-latino-support
How Jerry Brown fits in among California's greatest governors. Historians say he's one of the best but doesn't match his father. None of the other modern-era governors who served between Brown's two stints in the top job quite match up, historians say, pointing to episodes like Wilson's anti-immigrant policies, Gray Davis' recall election, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's failure to staunch the state's fiscal problems. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/23/jerry-brown-california-greatest-governors-history/
Column: How recall candidate Larry Elder mentored Trumpism's top acolytes. BY JEAN GUERRERO https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-07-14/larry-elder-candidate-newsom-recall-election
Recall backers try to block Trump mentions from California voter guide. Their demand: Recall supporters say that Newsom's language misleadingly casts the recall as illegitimate and falsely implies only Republicans are in support. They want to strip out various references to Republicans and to mute Newsom's attempts to frame the recall as a nefarious effort to seize power. Newsom response: "The lawsuit is totally baseless," Newsom campaign spokesperson Nathan Click said in a statement. "The facts are clear — this is a partisan Republican recall: one that was launched by Republicans like Heatlie and Netter and funded almost exclusively by Republican donors, the RNC and allies of Donald Trump. Republicans know they can't win in a normal election year, so they are trying to force a special election and grab power." Why it matters: Newsom has striven from the outset to define the recall as a cynical maneuver by Trump-aligned Republicans, believing that will resonate in a heavily Democratic state where Trump was very unpopular. The state's official voter guide offers a prime opportunity to make that case to voters — or not. https://www.politico.com/states/california/whiteboard/2021/08/02/recall-backers-try-to-block-trump-mentions-from-california-voter-guide-1389380
Reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner said Friday that she's leading all contenders in the Gov. Gavin Newsom recall despite polling and fundraising totals that suggest otherwise, addressing California political reporters in her first campaign press conference. Jenner said she plans a statewide bus tour in the month before the Sept. 14 recall and dismissed a major May poll showing that she was fourth among GOP hopefuls with only 6 percent support. "Honestly, I'm not concerned about the polling," she said, dismissing the survey as outdated. "I guarantee you that I am in the lead." Jenner said she has no plans to drop out of the race ahead of a filing deadline next week and will provide five years of tax returns as required by California's elections chief under a new law. "I have a tremendous advantage, obviously because of name recognition," Jenner said in her first trip to Sacramento some 10 weeks after declaring her candidacy. https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/07/09/jenner-insists-shes-leading-california-recall-field-despite-polling-1388190
GOP's Faulconer: Boost Shelters For Homeless Californians. Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Faulconer wants to create more homeless shelters in California as part of his effort to get people off the streets, declaring homelessness in the state an emergency that must be treated like one. Faulconer, the former two-term San Diego mayor, released a statewide plan Tuesday modeled off his efforts while leading the nation's eighth-most populous city. Expanding shelters would make it easier for law enforcement to clear encampments and to cite or arrest people who don't leave. But the plan offers limited details on what happens to people once they're in the shelters, and only lays out a plan to help veterans access permanent housing. Faulconer said all shelters would be required to offer services for mental health and drug addiction. Converting hotel and motel rooms into housing is the key component of Newsom's response to homelessness. Faulconer supported such programs as San Diego mayor and said there's "absolutely" a place for it in the state's approach. https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/jun/29/gops-faulconer-boost-shelters-homeless-californian/
'It's all fallen apart': Newsom scrambles to save California — and his career. The Democrat leading the nation's biggest state is facing a raging pandemic, vaccine distribution problems and a nascent recall drive. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/11/gavin-newsom-california-scramble-fallen-apart-456665
2022 & Redistricting
Inside McConnell's Campaign to Take Back the Senate and Thwart Trump. For more than a year, former President Donald Trump has berated Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, savaging him for refusing to overturn the state's presidential results and vowing to oppose him should he run for the Senate this year. In early December, though, Ducey received a far friendlier message from another former Republican president. At a golf tournament luncheon, George W. Bush encouraged him to run against Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat, suggesting the Republican Party needs more figures like Ducey to step forward. "It's something you have to feel a certain sense of humility about," the governor said this month of Bush's appeal. "You listen respectfully, and that's what I did." https://news.yahoo.com/inside-mcconnells-campaign-back-senate-153831180.html
Louisiana candidate for Senator burns up a confederate flag in this new kickass ad. Hoping to unseat racist Senator John Kennedy in the 2022 election, Louisiana Senate candidate Gary Chambers gets right down to business in his powerful new campaign ad. Appealing to Democrats and anyone else opposed to what the far-right senator stands for, Chambers hangs a confederate flag, douses it in gas, and then burns it up. And after explaining how Jim Crow never left Louisiana and the South, he ends the ad saying, "Our system isn't broken — it's designed to do exactly what it's doing, which is producing measurable inequity. … I do believe the South will rise again, but this time it will be on our terms." https://boingboing.net/2022/02/09/louisiana-candidate-running-against-sen-kennedy-torches-a-confederate-flag-in-this-new-kickass-ad.html https://youtu.be/X6iSRU9486I
Watch: Simple explainer on why democracy in America will lose, unless Democrats wake up https://boingboing.net/2022/01/14/watch-simple-explainer-on-why-democracy-in-america-will-lose-unless-democrats-wake-up.html
CA AD 78 old 77th Democrat Brian Maienschein Elected four times as a Republican, became a Democrat on January 24, 2019.
CA SD 39 old 39th Democrat Toni Atkins
CA CD 51 old 53rd Democrat Sara Jacobs
First-term Rep. Sara Jacobs announced Tuesday that she will seek re-election to the House of Representatives in the new 51st District in 2022. Hours later, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said he'd seek the new 48th District seat. The new district in central San Diego County includes much of Democrat Jacobs' current 53rd District, but also parts of the county previously represented by Reps. Scott Peters, Issa and Juan Vargas. https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2021/12/21/reps-jacobs-issa-to-seek-re-election-in-new-51st-48th-congress-districts-in-2022/
The map viewer includes draft maps that were approved 11.10.21. https://www.wedrawthelinesca.org/map_viewer
Finally, three safely Democratic districts in the San Diego area have turned into two safely Democratic districts and one competitive district, which could force one of the area's Democratic incumbents to either run on much redder turf or take on one of their colleagues. At the same time, though, the new map moves Republican Reps. Ken Calvert's and Darrell Issa's districts each 8 points to the left, putting them in danger of losing reelection later in the decade. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/california/
FiveThirtyEight also determined that the 50th District, which has historically always been a Republican stronghold, will still favor Republicans, but less strongly than it has before. "Certainly Darrell Issa will yet again be one of the targeted Republicans nationally and someone who will likely draw a top tier challenger and will be in another strong political fight," Kousser said. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/new-proposed-political-maps-make-49th-50th-districts-more-competitive/2793411/
Trump's Underlying Rally Message Is Clear: Fear Me. As he kicks off a new series of rallies, Trump hopes to punish those who have defied him and scare off any would be challengers in 2024. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-underlying-rally-message-is-clear-fear-me
'As Long as the Party Embraces Trump, It's Going to Have Trouble' The Republican collapse in Michigan's Oakland County, once a stronghold, was a long time coming. Is losing these suburbs a warning light for Trumpism? https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/18/biden-republican-voters-oakland-county-michigan-suburbs-494983
Pollster Frank Luntz: Trump's 'Big Lie' is working, may cost GOP votes. Luntz noted in an interview on the New York Times podcast "Sway" released Thursday that "more than two-thirds of Republicans believe that the election was stolen," warning that a widespread and unproven belief that there was rampant fraud last November could turn Republicans off from voting in the midterm elections. "What Donald Trump is saying is actually telling people it's not worth it to vote. Donald Trump single-handedly may cause people not to vote. And he may be the greatest tool in the Democrats' arsenal to keep control of the House and Senate in 2022," Luntz said. The pollster also said that Trump would be the "odds-on favorite" to win the Republican nomination if he runs again in 2024. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/552076-gop-pollster-frank-luntz-trumps-big-lie-is-working-may-cost-gop-house
What 2022 election? California Republicans grim on beating Newsom. Republican donors and fundraisers described a dearth of activity. Faulconer has been reaching out to funders to see if another run is viable after he finished a distant third among recall replacement candidates, receiving only 590,000 votes compared with more than 3.5 million for Elder. (Nearly 8 million voted to keep Newsom in office.) https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2022/01/21/what-2022-election-california-republicans-grim-on-beating-newsom-1405828
Trump GQP rallies, Republican/Nazi Party/Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Peter Thiel-tied dark money group helping bankroll super PAC spending on 2022 election. A "dark money" group tied to billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel steered hundreds of thousands of dollars into a super PAC spending on Ohio's Senate race in support of "Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance, who worked at Thiel's venture capital firm. Vance faces a crowded field of Republican contenders in the Ohio Senate race with a primary scheduled for May 3. The pro-Vance super PAC, Protect Ohio Values, received $200,000 from a group called Per Aspera Policy. Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, also gave $10 million to the pro-Vance super PAC during the first half of 2021 but the super PAC did not report any money received from Thiel during the second half of the year. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/02/peter-thiel-tied-dark-money-group-helping-bankroll-super-pac-spending-on-2022-election/
A weakened Trump? As some voters edge away, he battles parts of the Republican Party he once ran. The former president's power within the party and his continued focus on personal grievances is increasingly questioned behind closed doors at Republican gatherings, according to interviews with more than a dozen prominent Republicans in Washington and across the country, including some Trump advisers. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity because there remains significant fear of attracting Trump's public wrath. The growing split is rooted in diverging priorities: Trump has pursued a narrow effort to punish those who challenged his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, while also working to put people in power who would be more sympathetic to him should he try the same thing again. Other Republicans are more focused on finding palatable candidates most able to win in November. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/13/trump-politics-weakness/
Confederate Flags, Conspiracies, and the Ghost of JFK Jr.: What I Saw at Trump's Bananas Texas Rally. It's part roadshow and part religious revival, but the show is a grift and the religion being revived is fascism. We were in one of the reddest counties in one of the reddest states, and it showed: When I arrived at the press check-in station, the first thing I saw was a merchandise vendor with a Confederate flag — the banner of a nation that lasted only 4 years before being routed out of existence — that says "Come And Take It." It was set up directly across from a wooden cross. Having attended the prior rally in Arizona and the Lara Trump event on Thursday, a twisted sense of deja vu came over me when I got into the venue and began to hear the same songs, watch the same videos, listen to the same speeches, and see the same people. There were many familiar faces — election conspiracy peddling MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and the JFK Jr. obsessed QAnon cult leader Michael Protzman — and in some instances, near word for word repeats of previous events. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-texas-rally-conspiracies-ghost-of-jfk-jr-1292592/
They're Too Extreme for QAnon — and Right at Home at Trump's Rally. Michael Protzman tells his followers that JFK Jr. and other dead celebrities are helping Trump catch a global cabal of pedophiles. Saturday night, he was seated with the VIPs. Florence, Ariz. — One full day before Trump spoke to an estimated 15,000 die-hard Republicans in Arizona, a group of JFK Jr. obsessed QAnon fanatics arrived at the venue grounds here. They drove all the way from Dallas, Texas, where they've been holed up in a Hyatt hotel for over two months amid a series of failed prophecies that JFK Jr. would return from the dead. The first among them was Stephen Tenner, right hand man to the group's leader Michael Protzman. "I'm the first person and only person," Tenner said in a video posted on social media. "I'm the number one mofo." Tenner was later joined by Protzman and about two dozen members of this cultish group, whose months-long antics in Dallas have worried locals and drawn national attention. Protzman is a QAnon influencer who peddles a form of religious numerology known as "gematria," which he infuses into his interpretations of QAnon theories. Protzman uses gematria to promote the idea that he is in direct contact with both the Kennedy family — which he believes are direct descendants of Jesus Christ — and members of the Trump inner circle. His group also trafficks in a wide range of outlandish conspiracy beliefs such as that long dead famous people such as Michael Jackson and JFK Jr. faked their deaths and are working with Donald Trump in secret to take down a global satanic pedophile cabal. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-rally-qanon-jkf-conspiracy-1286053/
Trump kicks off midterm year still stuck on last election. The former president delivers Jan. 6 rebuttal in Arizona, home to ground zero in the "Stop the Steal" movement's fraudulent push to find evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. Trump, speaking at a podium emblazoned with "Save America," opened his speech by falsely claiming "proof" that the 2020 election was "rigged." As he vowed Republicans will take over the House and Senate in 2022, and sweep governors races across the country, an energized sea of supporters cheered at the Country Thunder festival grounds. "The fake news and the lamestream media … they refused to talk about it," Trump said of his false election claims. "They say, 'well it is unsubstantiated and the big lie.' The big lie. The big lie is a lot of bullshit. That's what it is." "If an election were held today, we would trounce them so badly in a landslide in every way, just as we really did on Nov. 3. We trounced them. If we had an honest press, the election would have been much different," Trump said, spreading more falsehoods about the election he lost by over 7 million votes. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/15/trump-kicks-off-midterm-year-still-stuck-on-last-election-527197
MAGA hats and QAnon: Inside Trump's first rally of 2022. The former president hit all the notes in his rally in Arizona on Saturday. The question is: Is this a precursor to a reelection bid? https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/16/trump-first-rally-2022-maga-527206
2024 Election
Sasse inflames GOP with anti-Trump video. If the GOP's fervor for the former president fades to any degree, Sasse will be better positioned than anyone to capitalize. Sen. Ben Sasse's political prospects rest on a longer view of the Republican Party — and an uncertain bet that eventually it will shift away from former President Donald Trump. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/05/ben-sasse-2024-466424 https://youtu.be/-jCnUHNeTkg
GQP, Trump
Trump told GOP donors that North Korea's Kim Jong Un had ability to make his advisers 'cower,' jokingly saying he also wants his staff to 'act like that'. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wishes-staff-obedient-kim-jong-uns-nkorea-wapo-2022-3 "We will see a Republican president reclaim that beautiful White House in 2024. I wonder who that might be." https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/1500315410750709760
The Republican National Committee is considering a change in its bylaws that would prohibit GOP presidential candidates from participating in presidential debates put on by the Commission on Presidential Debates. "So long as the CPD appears intent on stonewalling the meaningful reforms necessary to restore its credibility with the Republican Party as a fair and nonpartisan actor, the RNC will take every step to ensure that future Republican presidential nominees are given that opportunity elsewhere," RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in a letter Thursday to Frank Fahrenkopf and Kenneth Wollack, co-chairs of the debate commission. McDaniel said the party would initiate the rules change at its upcoming winter meeting, slated for February in Salt Lake City. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/rnc-threatens-bar-candidates-participating-official-presidential-debates-n1287427
Trump's 2024 veep tryouts get underway. The question of Trump's prospective choice of running mate is surfacing with increasing frequency. "A lot of times, a presidential candidate will pick a running mate to balance out wings of the party. But with Trump, that's not the issue. He is the party, basically. It's so united behind him," said John McLaughlin, one of Trump's campaign pollsters. "So his choice, if he runs, will come down to what he wants. It would be a much more personal decision this time." Trump hasn't made his 2024 bid official. He's expected to make a decision after the 2022 midterms. But he has been building a campaign-in-waiting that is already laying groundwork, and the question of a running mate is surfacing with increasing frequency. He's name-dropped Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as one possible running mate. Veepstakes speculation rose among insiders who saw him interact recently with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at his Mar-a-Lago club. "They're all begging me. They all come here," Trump boasted to one adviser, who shared the account anonymously with POLITICO. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/29/trump-vice-president-choice-2024-523429
Pence says he looked to James Madison as he certified the 2020 election for Biden. The Des Moines Register reported that Pence also compared Trump favorably to former President Ronald Reagan, describing both men as "one of a kind." https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/01/politics/mike-pence-james-madison-2020-election/index.html
Grisham thinks Trump will run in 2024 and have no 'guardrails'. "I think he is going to run again and you know that's why I'm speaking out the way I am. I don't want him to run again," Grisham told "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd on NBC. "I think people aren't remembering that if he does run again in 2024, he'll have no guardrails because he will never have to worry about reelection, so he will do whatever he wants. He will hire whomever he wants, and I think that includes people of the January 6 mind," she said, referring to the mob attack on the Capitol that led to Trump's second impeachment. https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/576124-grisham-thinks-trump-will-run-in-2024-and-have-no-guardrails
Thoughts on Trump's rally in Des Moines, Saturday, October 09, 2021 and the value of Trump coverage more broadly. You may be done with Trump. But Trump is not done with you. https://aaronrupar.substack.com/p/trump-rally-des-moines-iowa-grassley
Bannon fires up 'shock troops' for next GOP White House. Trump often railed publicly about career civil servants and Obama administration political appointee holdovers whom he saw as obstacles to his agenda, referring to them collectively as the "deep state." Bannon said he wants to see pre-trained teams ready to jump into federal agencies when the next Republican president takes office. For the most part, that means the tiers of presidential appointees whose postings don't require Senate confirmation. "We're going to have a sweeping victory in 2022 and that's just the preamble to a sweeping victory in 2024, and this time we're going to be ready — and have a MAGA perspective, MAGA policies, not the standard Republican policies," he said, referring to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan and describing a 2024 electoral victory as a "second term." The launch party Wednesday drew a crowd of roughly 200 former officials from multiple Republican administrations — though mostly Trump appointees — according to a person who attended and is not one of the organizers of the group. Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, a former Broadcasting Board of Governors official who is one of the organizers of the group said organizers are still trying to determine who will lead the association, but he said the need for institutional memory is apparent. "What we're hoping to do is build a base of people that can be available as a support system for political appointees who are coming in for the first time," he said. "It's easy, if you know the rules, to accomplish your objective." https://news.yahoo.com/bannon-fires-shock-troops-next-083009240.html
Trump on what would prevent 2024 bid: 'I guess a bad call from a doctor' https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/573918-trump-on-what-would-prevent-2024-bid-i-guess-a-bad-call-from-a-doctor
Trump's Long Campaign to Steal the Presidency: A Timeline The insurrection was a complex, yearslong plot, not a one-day event. And it isn't over. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-campaign-steal-presidency-timeline.html
President Trump said that his one-time close ally and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley can't decide how she feels about him. 'Every time she criticizes me, she uncriticizes me about 15 minutes later,' the former president told Vanity Fair. Haley, who hadn't spoken to Trump since that the riot, was doubtful that he would ever run again. 'I think he's going to find himself further and further isolated,' Haley said. 'I think his business is suffering at this point. I think he's lost any sort of political viability he was going to have. I think he's lost his social media, which meant the world to him. I mean, I think he's lost the things that really could have kept him moving.' Haley is now stuck in limbo along with every other Republican considering a run for the presidency. 'It's a holding pattern,' a frustrated Haley adviser told Vanity Fair. 'It's unlike any previous race.' Trump refuses to say whether he'll run in 2024, but told Fox News' Sean Hannity in August: 'Let me put it this way, I think you'll be happy and I think a lot of our friends will be very happy.' Insiders believe he is basking in the 'will he or won't he' agony other prospective Republicans are grappling with. 'Knowing Trump, he'll dangle it right up to the New Hampshire primary filing deadline,' one Trump confidant said. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9952619/Trump-tears-ex-ally-potential-2024-rival-Nikki-Haley.html
Donald Trump coming to Alabama for rally in Cullman on Aug. 21. The event at York Family Farms begins at 2 p.m. with music and speakers. The former president is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. York Family Farms 1872 County Road 469 Cullman, AL 35057 https://www.al.com/news/2021/08/reports-donald-trump-coming-to-alabama-for-rally-in-cullman-on-aug-21.html https://goo.gl/maps/H92RVdm1vjtUNrpc8
Pence flatlines as 2024 field takes shape. "There are some Trump supporters who think he's the Antichrist," said one Iowa GOP official. Mike Pence was met by a respectful, even warm, crowd in his first trip back to Iowa since the election. Republicans at a picnic in the northwestern corner of the state stood and clapped for him on Friday. In Des Moines later that afternoon, a ballroom full of Christian conservatives did the same. He was "honorable," a "man of faith," attendees at the annual Family Leadership Summit said. Evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats called him "a very consistent conservative voice in Congress and then as governor, and then as vice president." Six months after he left the vice presidency, that is the prevailing view at the grassroots and among the GOP political class. By most accounts, both here and nationally, Pence is dead in the early waters of 2024. Stuart Spencer, the famed Republican strategist who advised Ronald Reagan, said he concluded that Pence was a "sincere guy and has a belief system" when Pence refused to be cowed by Trump on Jan. 6. But he doubted that will do him any good in 2024. "The Trump people don't like him, and all the people who were anti-Trump don't like him," Spencer said. For Pence, he said, "That's not a big Lincoln Day dinner." https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/19/pence-flatlines-2024-499919
Donald Trump May Already Be Violating Campaign Laws "Trump—if you believe what he's saying—has already decided. So if he ends up getting in the race, that would mean he had made the decision as of now, and should be filing FEC reports as a candidate." https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-may-already-be-violating-campaign-laws
Watch Biden's grinning response to whether he'd be up for a rematch against Trump https://boingboing.net/2021/12/23/watch-bidens-grinning-response-to-whether-hed-be-up-for-a-rematch-against-trump.html
'Slow-motion insurrection': How GOP seizes election power. In battleground states and beyond, Republicans are taking hold of the once-overlooked machinery of elections. While the effort is incomplete and uneven, outside experts on democracy and Democrats are sounding alarms, warning that the United States is witnessing a "slow-motion insurrection" with a better chance of success than Trump's failed power grab last year. They point to a mounting list of evidence: Several candidates who deny Trump's loss are running for offices that could have a key role in the election of the next president in 2024. In Michigan, the Republican Party is restocking members of obscure local boards that could block approval of an election. In Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the GOP-controlled legislatures are backing open-ended "reviews" of the 2020 election, modeled on a deeply flawed look-back in Arizona. The efforts are poised to fuel disinformation and anger about the 2020 results for years to come. All this comes as the Republican Party has become more aligned behind Trump, who has made denial of the 2020 results a litmus test for his support. Trump has praised the Jan. 6 rioters and backed primaries aimed at purging lawmakers who have crossed him. Sixteen GOP governors have signed laws making it more difficult to vote. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed that two-thirds of Republicans do not believe Democrat Joe Biden was legitimately elected as president. The result, experts say, is that another baseless challenge to an election has become more likely, not less. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-united-states-elections-electoral-college-election-2020-809215812f4bc6e5907573ba98247c0c
Generals Warn Of Divided Military And Possible Civil War In Next U.S. Coup Attempt. "With the country still as divided as ever, we must take steps to prepare for the worst," wrote former Army Major Gen. Paul Eaton, former Brigadier Gen. Steven Anderson and former Army Major Gen. Antonio Taguba. As the nation nears the first anniversary of the Capitol riot, the generals are "increasingly concerned about the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election and the potential for lethal chaos inside our military, which would put all Americans at severe risk," they wrote in The Washington Post. The "lack of military preparedness for the aftermath of the 2020 election was striking and worrying. Trump's acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, testified that he deliberately withheld military protection of the Capitol before Jan. 6," the generals noted. That can't happen again, they emphasized. Military leaders can't wait for elected officials to take adequate action to prepare for the next time. "Not a single leader who inspired" the last attempt has even been "held to account," the generals noted. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2024-election-coup-military-participants_n_61bd52f2e4b0bcd2193f3d72
117th Congress, 2021-2022
117th Congress, 2021-2022
Elaine Chao's Excuse For Using the DOT As Her Father's Personal PR Agency: I'm Asian! https://theslot.jezebel.com/elaine-chaos-excuse-for-using-the-dot-as-her-fathers-pe-1846405101
Revealed: DOJ declined to investigate Mitch McConnell's Transport Secretary wife Elaine Chao after inspector general probe said she used her office for personal tasks and to promote her family's shipping firm. A report made public on Wednesday said Chao used her staff and office for personal tasks and to promote her family's shipping company. The report also said DOT staff assisted in the marketing of Chao's father's biography and edited his Wikipedia page. It was given to the Justice Department who declined to open a criminal investigation, but said there 'may be ethical and/or administrative issues to address' regarding Chao's actions detailed in the report. Chao has denied wrongdoing, saying promoting her family was an appropriate part of her official duties. Chao is the wife of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9325009/DOJ-declined-investigate-ex-transport-chief-Elaine-Chao-report-claimed-misused-role.html
Senate Judiciary Committee
Incoming Senate Judiciary chairman wants to hold Garland hearing Monday. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he wants to hold confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland on Feb. 8, a day before the impeachment trial of former President Trump begins in the Senate. https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/congress-trump-impeachment-2-03-21/h_bb0b9b9967fca5ff70ef7561ba6c6c00
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) rejected a Democratic request on Monday to schedule a confirmation hearing next week for Merrick Garland, President Biden's pick to be attorney general. Though Democrats have the Senate majority, Graham is still the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman because the chamber hasn't yet passed an organizing resolution for the 117th Congress. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/536874-graham-shoots-down-request-for-feb-8-merrick-garland-hearing
|Lesley Graham (SC)
|Dianne Feinstein (CA)
|Chuck Grassley (IA)
|Patrick Leahy (VT)
|John Cornyn (TX)
|Dick Durbin (IL)
|Michael S. Lee (UT)
|Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
|Ted Cruz (TX)
|Amy Klobuchar (MN)
|Ben Sasse (NE)
|Christopher A. Coons (DE)
|Joshua D. Hawley (MO)
|Richard Blumenthal (CT)
|Thom Tillis (NC)
|Mazie Hirono (HI)
|Thom Tillis (NC)
|Cory Booker (NJ)
|Joni Ernst (IA)
|Kamala Harris (CA)
|Mike Crapo (ID)
|John Kennedy (LA)
|Marsha Blackburn (TN)
Republican/Nazi Party/Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Lauren Boebert Heckles Biden as He Honors Dead Soldiers During State of the Union. "You put them in, 13 of them," the Colorado lawmaker yelled, referring to service members who died in Afghanistan last summer, as the president spoke of his late son. Trashing Biden as he spoke about the death of his son wasn't the only time Boebert heckled the president on Tuesday night. She and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) kicked off the night by turning their backs on Biden's Cabinet. Later, they chanted "Build the Wall" as Biden pushed for immigration reform. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/lauren-boebert-marjorie-taylor-greene-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-1314969/
Republican Reps Issa and Green mock Biden's absence from DC – while he was known to be attending funeral. EXCLUSIVE: Two Republican members of the House Foreign Relations Committee laughed and joked about Mr Biden being safe from a theoretical attack on Washington during an impromptu interview with The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ukraine-russia-biden-gop-delaware-b2024486.html
Stop the Steal' Congressman Suddenly Worried About Will of the Voters. Madison Cawthorn, who voted against certifying the 2020 election Donald Trump lost, is losing it over a lawsuit designed to kick him off the ballot. https://www.thedailybeast.com/madison-cawthorn-of-north-carolina-suddenly-worried-about-will-of-the-voters
'Cheap fakes': Viral videos keep clipping Biden's words out of context https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/feb/14/cheap-fakes-viral-videos-keep-clipping-bidens-word/
U.S. Capitol Police rejects GOP congressman's claim that check of his open office is illegal investigation. Chief Tom Manger said a Capitol Police officer entered Rep. Troy E. Nehls's office in November because the door was left 'open and unsecured'. Nehls accused Capitol Police leadership after one of the officers entered his office in the Longworth House Office Building with no prior notice Nov. 20, 2021, ahead of the Thanksgiving break, and took pictures of a whiteboard. The officer filed a report raising concerns about the contents of the whiteboard, which included mentions of "body armor" and a poorly drawn map of the Rayburn House Office Building — which is also part of the Capitol complex — that had an X at one of the building's entrances. Nehls explained that the writing on the board — which included reports of faulty Chinese-made body armor — was related to legislation his office was working on, while the map of the Rayburn Building, which Nehls said "looked like it was done by my 9-year-old," was drawn for an intern who was sent on a mission to find the ice machine. The X marked the spot. Nehls noted that he's been a "very, very vocal" critic of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, and said he thinks he was being targeted by Capitol Police leadership because of this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/08/capitol-police-nehl-investigation/
The original quote from Strom, an American white nationalist and Holocaust denier, has been used previously online and paraphrased in a variety of ways. In a 1993 radio broadcast, Strom said: "To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?" according to an internet archive containing his full remarks. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, shared the incorrectly attributed quote in a tweet Sunday to his more than 320,000 followers, with a caption criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-media-elections-9631403283708d1f46bba768bddde779 @RepThomasMassie You mustn't question Fauci, for he is science. https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1487872940431527941
The Republican National Committee Censured Liz Cheney And Adam Kinzinger. A move to admonish the two members of Congress despised by Trump passed an RNC vote on Friday. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/rnc-cheney-kinzinger-censure
8 interesting facts about Rep. Lauren Boebert https://boingboing.net/2022/01/06/7-interesting-facts-about-rep-lauren-boebert.html GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert and husband racked up arrests in home district https://nypost.com/2021/01/16/gop-rep-lauren-boebert-and-husband-have-racked-up-arrests/
'Twitter is an enemy to America': Marjorie Taylor Greene's hits out as her Twitter account is PERMANENTLY suspended after 'fifth strike' which saw her lash COVID rules and vaccine mandates. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10362503/Marjorie-Taylor-Greenes-personal-Twitter-account-permanently-suspended.html
Cristina Cawthorn is divorcing her husband Madison, a notorious pathological liar, racist insurrectionist, and alleged sex pest after having been married for just 8 months. Cawthorn, who likens women to "earthen vessels," blames his hard work on the Capitol for the break. https://boingboing.net/2021/12/23/earthen-vessel-is-divorcing-madison-cawthorn-after-8-months-of-marriage.html
A warning from Tim Gosar: Paul Gosar is "dangerous" and "needs to be expelled". https://boingboing.net/2021/11/17/a-warning-from-tim-gosar-paul-gosar-is-dangerous-and-needs-to-be-expelled.html
Watch: Paul Gosar's hard-to-understand statement about being "censored" by Congress. https://boingboing.net/2021/11/18/watch-paul-gosars-hard-to-understand-statement-about-being-censored-by-congress.html
House censures Rep. Gosar for violent video in rare rebuke. The House voted Wednesday to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona for posting an animated video that depicted him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword, an extraordinary rebuke that highlighted the political strains testing Washington and the country. Calling the video a clear threat to a lawmaker's life, Democrats argued Gosar's conduct would not be tolerated in any other workplace — and shouldn't be in Congress. The vote to censure Gosar and also remove him from his House committee assignments was approved by a vote of 223-207, almost entirely along party lines, with Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois the only Republicans voting in favor. Gosar showed no emotion as he stood in the well of the House after the vote, flanked by roughly a dozen Republicans as Speaker Nancy Pelosi read the censure resolution and announced his committee penalty. He shook hands, hugged and patted other members of the GOP conference on the back before leaving the chamber. Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called the vote an "abuse of power" by Democrats to distract from national problems. He said of the censure, a "new standard will continue to be applied in the future," a signal of potential ramifications for Democratic members should Republicans retake a majority. https://apnews.com/article/technology-entertainment-marjorie-taylor-greene-censures-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-854fd412b7a1049c8fb9a83fe2c56b8f https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/789/text
WATCH: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on censure against Rep. Gosar who tweeted altered video showing her death https://youtu.be/HYjXOm9DCWs
WATCH: Rep. Gosar on censure vote for tweet of altered video showing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's death https://youtu.be/9lf7rsyu3W0
Pelosi Calls Gosar 'To The Well' Of The Floor To Announce Censure Vote https://youtu.be/c_nP4NpmEIo
Cheney's Consultants Are Given an Ultimatum: Drop Her, or Be Dropped. In response, The Morning Group, a fundraising firm she hired to help prepare for a primary next year against a challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump, informed her last month they could no longer work on her campaign, according to Republicans familiar with the matter. https://news.yahoo.com/cheneys-consultants-given-ultimatum-drop-121619186.html
'She Started Screaming': Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Spars with Liz Cheney on House Floor. According to CNN, Greene, 47, could be heard speaking in a raised voice to Cheney, 55, and Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin, both of whom voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in supporting the rioters. "This is a joke," said Greene, a fierce ally of Trump, later telling Raskin: "Why don't you care about the American people?" Raskin, 58, replied to Greene: "You represent the American people." Cheney, meanwhile, responded to Greene by calling her a "joke" and referencing to a 2018 comment Greene made about "Jewish space lasers." CNN reports that Greene yelled "I never said that!" when Cheney mentioned the lasers. https://news.yahoo.com/she-started-screaming-controversial-rep-165935743.html
Greene heckles Democrats and they fire back on Capitol steps https://thehill.com/homenews/house/573836-greene-heckles-democrats-and-they-fire-back-on-capitol-steps
QAnon Rep. Rips GOP Colleagues in Bonkers 38-Part Twitter Thread Railing Against 'Dictator Biden' https://secondnexus.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-twitter-thread
@mtgreenee Dear Colleagues, Since Dictator Joe Biden started phase 1 of the Dems' Communist takeover of America yesterday & I don't have a GOP Conference call on my calendar or an email in my inbox from leadership to stop this insanity, well I'm going to be more direct than usual. https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1436364437007523845?s=20
'Predatory Enterprise of Perversion': Lawsuit Claims Prominent GOP Donor Was 'Sexual Ringmaster' of Child Sex Trafficking Ring. The complaint, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, claims that Anton "Tony" Lazzaro, 30, led a sex trafficking ring that targeted minor girls, then tried to use his wealth to buy their silence. As previously reported by Law&Crime, on Aug. 13, Lazzaro was arrested along with his alleged accomplice 19-year-old Gisela Castro Medina for obstruction of justice, sex trafficking, and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Medina—who had recently been elected chair of University of St. Thomas College Republicans chapter—allegedly acted as a recruiter for Lazzaro. Prosecutors say Medina targeted girls and young women on social media, established a personal relationship with them, then received a fee when she introduced them to Lazzaro, who allegedly sought to exploit them sexually. https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/predatory-enterprise-of-perversion-lawsuit-claims-prominent-gop-donor-was-sexual-ringmaster-of-child-sex-trafficking-ring/
How Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans learned to stop worrying about a Biden victory and love the infrastructure bill. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/infrastructure-biden-mcconnell-trump/2021/08/10/239eae72-f959-11eb-8a67-f14cd1d28e47_story.html
In wild talk, Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Fauci paid China to create Covid, suggests audience should use guns to defend against vaccine workers https://boingboing.net/2021/08/06/in-wild-talk-marjorie-taylor-greene-claims-fauci-paid-china-to-create-covid-suggests-audience-should-shoot-vaccine-workers.html
The Trumpist right drifts toward fascism. It's frustratingly typical for conservatives to fraudulently cloak themselves in the mantle of Abraham Lincoln and the Union. But what Fox News host Ben Domenech did on Tuesday night -- describing the progressive left as "the inheritor" of "slave power" with its "fixation on the hierarchy of race and caste" and his viewers as ideological descendants of the paramilitary pro-Lincoln "Wide Awakes" of 1860 -- wandered perilously close to a call for a new Civil War. Domenech presented U.S. politics as an existential fight between "the enemies of everything this nation has ever been" and "the patriots, the Americans, the men and women who will do anything to preserve it, because they know what civilization requires." The host closed by directly addressing his millions of viewers. "You are the heart of a nation that has slept for so long," he said. "But now at last, you are wide awake. So now I ask you again: What are you willing to do?" Domenech didn't give an answer to the question -- but his rhetoric suggests that it isn't casting votes for candidates who share your values. https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/trumpist-right-drifts-toward-fascism
McCarthy says 'it will be hard not to hit' Pelosi with gavel if he becomes House speaker. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/kevin-mccarthy-nancy-pelosi-gavel/index.html
Republican congressman bulldozes cannabis grows of Hmong farmers in California. Outdoor grows are illegal in that county and often lack sewage systems and other environmental safety measures. But advocates for local farmers say the timing of the videos — weeks after law enforcement officers fatally shot a 35-year-old Hmong man during a mandatory wildfire evacuation — is problematic, as is the congressman's language. "I love the smell of diesel power in the afternoon. It smells like victory," LaMalfa says in one of the videos, playing off a quote from the Vietnam War movie "Apocalypse Now." https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/07/22/republican-congressman-bulldozes-cannabis-grows-of-hmong-farmers-in-california-1388879
Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene hoped the third time might be the charm for finding a California venue to host their "America First" rally on Saturday night. But instead of speaking to a packed arena, the pair were left with the sidewalk outside the Riverside City Hall. Greene used the "Peaceful Protest Against Communism" to hawk vaccine hesitancy. She urged the crowd, "Don't let them force your kids to wear masks at school. Don't let your kids be forced to take a vaccine that's not FDA approved." Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in California are surging as the more contagious Delta variant rips through the unvaccinated population. Gaetz, who is currently under federal investigation for sex trafficking and abuse of a minor, railed against "the corrupt forces in the Department of Justice and the FBI" and complained that the private venues' refusals to host the pair amounted to an infringement on their freedom of speech. "They may try to cancel us online, they may try to pursue us in real life, they may shut down our venues, but we will take this fight to them in the courts, in the halls of Congress, and if necessary in the streets," he said. In Riverside, city council members had voiced their concern with the two representatives, with council member Ronald Fierro saying, "The hateful and racist rhetoric that will be perpetrated at this event by these two well-known extremists has absolutely no place in our City." The M3 Live Anaheim Event Center had canceled on Gaetz and Taylor Greene Saturday afternoon, just hours before the event was scheduled to begin. This came after two separate venues, the Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center in Laguna Hills and the Riverside Convention Center, canceled on the pair after protesters flooded the respective owners with complaints. https://www.thedailybeast.com/no-one-wants-to-host-matt-gaetz-and-marjorie-taylor-greenes-rally
Matt Gaetz Is Blowing Piles of Cash on Scandal—and on Roger Stone. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is bringing in massive amounts of money, but he's spending even more than he's raising. https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetz-is-blowing-piles-of-cash-on-scandaland-on-roger-stone
Ted Nugent tells the tale of his night with Trump and Kid Rock. The menu featured lobster salad and lamb chops. The conversation ranged from "rock 'n' roll and hunting" to "military strength and Supreme Court justices." And everybody at the table was certainly on board with the politics. That's how Ted Nugent tells the tale of his night with Kid Rock as personal guests of President Donald Trump. The world awoke Thursday morning to learn the president had spent his evening with the Detroit-bred rockers, two outspoken Trump supporters who were invitees of fellow dinner guest Sarah Palin. https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/04/20/ted-nugent-kid-rock-trump/100710306/
Judi Hershman, a former advisor of the conservator attorney Ken Starr, is ready to get some shit off her chest.. Hershman's lays out the receipts of Starr's deviousness quite plainly, beginning with an anecdote about Starr and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was just a lawyer when Hershman met him 20 years ago, when they were both working with Starr on the investigation into President Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Hershman, who helped prep Starr present his findings before Congress, recalled an incident in which a furious Kavanaugh began "badgering" her and "invading" her space, pointing his finger in her face and seething. https://jezebel.com/after-20-years-former-ken-starr-advisor-reveals-her-bo-1847285867
Ken Starr, Brett Kavanaugh, Jeffrey Epstein and Me Judi Hershman As a former professional partisan, I never thought I'd look back decades to my political beginnings and find the map that points to our current moment, when there is serious doubt whether the democracy we took for granted at the time will continue to exist. Despite all the posturing and gamesmanship and at times skullduggery back then, political opponents shared an understanding that the process enforced by our Constitution would prevail, no one would get everything they wanted every time, and the state of the union would remain strong. As it turns out, too many people like me stuck our heads in the sand, swallowed our doubts, let the unacceptable slide, convinced ourselves it was in the interest of the greater good, and never dreamed that we would look back and realize that a failure to say "Enough!" had led to our country's biggest existential crisis since the Civil War. https://medium.com/@judihershman/ken-starr-brett-kavanaugh-jeffrey-epstein-and-me-ba2dbf77b0da
Newt Gingrich says Biden's attacks on GOP state voting reforms are the 'greatest threat to the nation since the Civil War' as Greg Abbott accuses President of spreading 'misinformation'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9786339/Newt-Gingrich-says-Bidens-attacks-voting-reform-greatest-threat-Civil-War.html
Ken Starr helped Jeffrey Epstein with 'scorched-earth' campaign, book claims. Book by Miami Herald journalist details extraordinary efforts by special prosecutor who hounded Bill Clinton to aid sex trafficker. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/13/ken-starr-jeffrey-epstein-book
Of course Mel Gibson would dramatically salute Donald Trump https://boingboing.net/2021/07/12/of-course-mel-gibson-would-dramatically-salute-donald-trump.html
Secret filming shows GOP congressman saying party wants '18 months' of disruption leading up to 2022 midterms. Chip Roy was recorded admitting that Republicans would try to 'slow down' the Democrat's legislative agenda ahead of the elections for Congress. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gop-chip-roy-secret-filming-b1879617.html
CNN's Jim Acosta asks GOP lawmakers about their continued support for former President Donald Trump and his unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/07/04/jim-acosta-gop-lawmakers-support-trump-vpx.cnn
Column: U.S. Capitol insurrection so disturbed a former San Diego mayor, he quit the GOP. Jerry Sanders, now chamber of commerce president, never cared for Trump and was alarmed at the direction of the GOP. The assault on Congress was the last straw. On Jan. 7, the 71-year-old former San Diego mayor and chief of police decided to quit the Republican Party he had joined as a young man when he first registered to vote. His current view of the state of affairs may be dark, but Sanders believes things will get brighter. However, he said for that to happen, Trump has to be moved to the sidelines — especially if the Republican Party is to get back on track. He especially has faith in potential future leaders who come from "a smart, young generation that's accepting of others." https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/columnists/story/2021-07-02/the-capitol-insurrection-so-disturbed-jerry-sanders-he-quit-the-gop
McCarthy Unveils Republican Task Forces, Announces Leaders and Members. Rep. Kevin McCarthy: "When we are in the majority in January 2023 we will be much different than the Democrats." https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1410697466895273984 https://www.republicanleader.gov/mccarthy-unveils-republican-task-forces-announces-leaders-and-members/
Nearly 40 House Democrats are demanding House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy take what they call "immediate action" to address the behavior of GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whose actions, they say in a Thursday letter obtained by CNN, "could lead to violence against members of Congress." The group chose to take this step after Greene spoke as a warmup act for former President Donald Trump at his rally in Ohio last weekend, an aide familiar with the letter's origins told CNN. Greene, without evidence, repeatedly claimed Trump won the 2020 election and viciously attacked Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Greene described Ocasio-Cortez as the "little communist from New York City," and nodded in agreement with the crowd when they started shouting "lock her up." Ocasio-Cortez has signed on to the letter, which is led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and is signed by a diverse list of House Democrats, including fellow progressives like Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and more moderate members like Reps. Gerald Connolly of Virginia and Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/01/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-kevin-mccarthy-house-democrats/index.html
Republicans offer lots of excuses for not voting to give medals to the cops who saved their ass during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, but simply put honoring people who put their lives in the way of an angry mob looking to hang the Vice-President and Speaker of the House is too much for them. CNN put together this wonderful video that goes one-by-one through the cowardly Q-publicans who appear to back the insurrection, more than the Capitol Police who defended our nation. https://boingboing.net/2021/06/16/video-destroys-back-the-blue-republicans-who-voted-against-medals-for-capitol-police.html
GOP congressman refuses to shake hands with D.C. police officer who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6, lawmakers say. Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.), who voted against awarding police officers the Congressional Gold Medal for their bravery in protecting the U.S. Capitol against violent, pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, refused to shake hands with D.C. police officer Michael Fanone on Wednesday. Fanone was beaten unconscious after he voluntarily rushed to the Capitol to help defend it from those who breached the building. He suffered a concussion and a mild heart attack. In the months since, Fanone has been one of the leading voices pushing back against Republicans who have sought to downplay the severity of what happened Jan. 6. Fanone, joined by Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, returned to the Capitol on Wednesday, the day after 21 House Republicans voted against the Gold Medal resolution, in an effort to meet them and tell his story. He said he recognized Clyde at an elevator and that he and Dunn hopped in with the congressman. "I simply extended my hand and said, "How are you doing today, Congressman.' I knew immediately he recognized me by the way he reacted. He completely froze. He just stared at me," Fanone said in an interview. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jan-6-riot-capitol-police-house-republicans/2021/06/16/3ba60b7c-cee4-11eb-8cd2-4e95230cfac2_story.html
Regarding Blunt, Manchin appears to be suggesting — without, perhaps, quite explicitly saying so — that the wealthy executives on the call could dangle future financial opportunities in front of the outgoing senator while lobbying him to change his vote. Senate ethics rules forbid future job negotiations if they create a conflict of interest or present even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Manchin, notably, doesn't suggest that the donors discuss a job, but rather says that people who Blunt may later be working with would be likely to have significant influence, reflective of the way future job prospects can shape the legislative process even when unspoken. https://theintercept.com/2021/06/16/joe-manchin-leaked-billionaire-donors-no-labels/
GOP senator: I want to make Biden a 'one-half-term president'. Republican Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.) last week said he wants to make President Biden a "one-half-term president" in 2022 by ensuring that Democrats no longer have complete control in Washington. "I'm looking forward to a very successful 2022," Barrasso said during a breakfast discussion hosted by The Ripon Society on Thursday. "I want to make Joe Biden a one-half-term president, and I want to do that by making sure they no longer have the House, Senate and White House," he added. When asked if Barrasso was advocating for removing Biden from office before his first term is up, Laura Mengelkamp, the senator's communications director, told The Hill he was referring to the GOP winning the House and Senate next year, which would take away Democratic control of Washington and help Republicans win the White House in the next general election cycle. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/558597-gop-senator-i-want-to-make-biden-a-one-half-term-president
Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She's 'Removing' Holocaust Comparisons From Her Past Rebukes Of Covid Measures. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) held an impromptu press conference on Monday, shortly after a visit to the Holocaust Museum, to apologize for repeatedly comparing coronavirus precautions to the oppression of Jews by Nazi Germany last month, declaring that she is "removing" those comparisons to her condemnations of mask mandates. "And I have made a mistake and it's really bothered me for a couple of weeks now. So I definitely want to own it. This afternoon, I visited the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust is—there's nothing comparable. It happened, you know, over 6 million Jewish people were murdered. More than that, there were not just Jewish people, Black people, Christians, children, people that the Nazis didn't believe were good enough, perfect enough. The horrors of the Holocaust are something that some people don't even believe happened, that some people deny, but there is no comparison to the Holocaust. There are words that I have said, remarks that I've made, that I know are offensive. And for that I want to apologize." https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-finds-out-how-bad-the-holocaust-was https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/06/14/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-shes-removing-holocaust-comparisons-from-her-past-rebukes-of-covid-measures/ https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1404561740365537283
Watch: Caitlyn Jenner won't say whether she thinks Biden won the election https://boingboing.net/2021/06/11/watch-caitlyn-jenner-wont-say-whether-she-thinks-biden-won-the-election.html
McConnell: 'The era of bipartisanship is over' 06/08/2021 05:02 PM EDT https://www.politico.com/video/2021/06/08/mcconnell-the-era-of-bipartisanship-is-over-266283
Greene says her remark about "gas chambers in Nazi Germany" was not referring to the Holocaust. "We can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens — so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany, and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about." https://boingboing.net/2021/05/28/greene-says-her-remark-about-gas-chambers-in-nazi-germany-was-not-referring-to-the-holocaust.html
Emerging from two years of relative silence, former House Speaker Paul Ryan has joined the fight against Donald Trump, urging fellow conservatives to reject the former president's divisive politics and those Republican leaders who emulate him. Ryan made his remarks during a Thursday evening address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. He was critical of both Republicans and Democrats, though he saved his sharpest barbs for Trump, who is by most measures the leader of the modern-day Republican Party. "It was horrifying to see a presidency come to such a dishonorable and disgraceful end," Ryan said, referring to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol that Trump inspired on Jan. 6. "Once again, we conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads," Ryan continued. "And here's the reality that we have to face: If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we're not going anywhere. Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-ryan-donald-trump-message-to-republicans_n_60b099e1e4b0c5658f9228a6
Republican/Nazi Party/Brotherhood of Evil Mutants archived May 28, 2021
Toxic Marjorie Taylor Greene says she and Matt Gaetz are "taking charge" of the Republican party https://boingboing.net/2021/05/27/toxic-marjorie-taylor-greene-says-she-and-matt-gaetz-are-taking-charge-of-the-republican-party.html
House GOP lawmakers fined after defying mask mandate. The brave protesters were Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Chip Roy (R-TX), Bob Good (R-VA), Mary Miller (R-IL), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX). After the protest, Greene posted a selfie of her and her grinning colleagues with the caption: "Masks are oppressive and nothing but a political tool. End the oppression!" Reps. Brian Mast of Florida, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Beth Van Duyne of Texas all received $500 fines for second offenses of the mask mandate, the official said. Additional offenses of the mandate would result in $2,500 fines. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/18/politics/house-gop-mask-fines/index.html
MTG v AOC: Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts 'stop being a baby' and 'get rid of your diaper' through AOC's office mailbox during 2019 visit with friend who was arrested for storming Capitol. Marjorie Taylor Greene was a conservative activist when she visited Congress in February 2019. Facebook Live video shows her urging AOC to 'Get rid of your diaper' through locked door. She was accompanied by Anthony Aguero, who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6. Greene has repeatedly sought out AOC for confrontation. Wednesday she accused the New York congresswoman of supporting 'terrorists'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9579273/Unearthed-video-shows-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene-harassing-AOCs-office-2019-visit.html
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene aggressively confronted Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday and falsely accused her of supporting "terrorists," leading the New York congresswoman's office to call on leadership to ensure that Congress remains "a safe, civil place for all Members and staff." Two Washington Post reporters witnessed Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) exit the House chamber late Wednesday afternoon ahead of Greene (Ga.), who shouted "Hey Alexandria" twice in an effort to get her attention. When Ocasio-Cortez did not stop walking, Greene picked up her pace and began shouting at her and asking why she supports antifa, a loosely knit group of far-left activists, and Black Lives Matter, falsely labeling them "terrorist" groups. Greene also shouted that Ocasio-Cortez was failing to defend her "radical socialist" beliefs by declining to publicly debate the freshman from Georgia. "You don't care about the American people," Greene shouted. "Why do you support terrorists and antifa?" Since asking earlier this year to debate Ocasio-Cortez, Greene has confronted her one other time on the House floor, when she approached the New York congresswoman last month to try to schedule a date for a debate over the Green New Deal, a set of environmental policies intended to combat climate change. In a video posted to social media a day later, Greene criticized Ocasio-Cortez for not debating her. "If she chickens out, then she shows who she really is: a scared little girl that is pretty stupid and doesn't know anything about the economy or economics," Greene said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/greene-ocasio-cortez/2021/05/12/fd61d664-b37e-11eb-a3b5-f994536fe84a_story.html
Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney was ousted from House Republican leadership on Wednesday. In a closed-door meeting in the basement of the Capitol, Republicans voted her out in less than 15 minutes. The move cements Donald Trump's hold on Republican Party. In comments after the vote, Cheney said: 'I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again, is anywhere near the Oval Office'. After the vote, Trump said of Cheney: 'Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9570721/Liz-Cheney-Republicans-remove-Wyoming-representative-leadership.html
Oregon lawmaker who opened state Capitol to far-right protesters faces criminal charges. State Rep. Mike Nearman, a Polk County Republican, has been charged with official misconduct and criminal trespassing following the Dec. 21 incident. https://www.opb.org//article/2021/04/30/oregon-rep-mike-nearman-criminal-charges-state-capitol-breach/
Fox contributor Newt Gingrich: Biden administration is "attacking people of traditional values who are appalled that this administration would fly the gay flag at American embassies" https://www.mediamatters.org/newt-gingrich/fox-contributor-newt-gingrich-biden-administration-attacking-people-traditional https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich#Marriages_and_children
"John Bolton has never recovered from being fired. President Trump used Bolton's idiocy to the benefit of Americans in negotiating deals with other countries because they knew Bolton was a crazed lunatic, and if he was in the room, they'd be concerned," Miller said. While Bolton predicted that Trump would not run for president in 2024, he said that he would not either. "My hope," he said, "is that if [Trump] is upset with this poll and he and his pollsters go into the field and whatever they find they release with the same kind of transparency we have." https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/20/john-bolton-trump-gop-poll-483459
Trump Curses Out 'Son of a B*tch' McConnell at GOP Donor Event for Not Completely Destroying Democracy. During this weekend's Republican National Committee donor retreat in Florida, attendees headed to Donald Trump's private club Mar-a-Lago on Saturday evening to hear prepared remarks from the twice-impeached former president on the future of his party. Predictably, Trump at times veered wildly off-script from his prewritten speech, the text of which was reviewed by The Daily Beast earlier in the day. While at the private event, he inveighed against Republican, Democratic, and celebrity enemies, and again denounced the 2020 presidential election outcome as "bullshit," according to those in the audience. "[Trump began] swearing and telling everyone about the stolen election," according to one such attendee. The 2020 election, of course, was not stolen from Trump, and President Joe Biden decisively beat the GOP incumbent in both the Electoral College and popular vote counts. Trump's anti-democratic blitz following Election Day and the lies he and much of the mainstream GOP spread about the election culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, which Trump is now accused in court papers of inciting. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-curses-out-son-of-a-btch-mcconnell-at-gop-donor-event
Barr and the Office of the Attorney General received multiple briefings on the Gaetz probe, beginning in the summer of 2020, a second person familiar with the probe said. They encouraged Florida prosecutors to move as quickly as they needed to and take whatever steps were appropriate. The briefings were consistent with Barr's memo requiring notification to department leadership on probes of candidates. The briefing was important because — among other reasons — Barr didn't want to accidentally appear anywhere with Gaetz, the person said. At one point, Barr was scheduled for a meet-and-greet with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. But DOJ canceled his appearance at the event when they saw that Gaetz, a member of that committee, had RSVP'd for it. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/03/31/gaetzs-father-backs-up-son-matts-claims-of-extortion-over-doj-probe-of-involvement-with-teen-1370695
Rep. Matt Gaetz was allegedly being extorted over 'compromising pictures' showing him in a sex orgy with underage prostitutes to help rescue American hostage Robert Levinson from Iran, according to newly-obtained documents. Bombshell text message screenshots, an email and a printout with the heading 'Project Homecoming' detail an alleged scheme involving former DOJ official David McGee and former Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent. The alleged plot tries to enlist Gaetz's financial backing - to the sum of $25 million - to pay to free Levinson, who was captured 14 years ago in Iran and whose family said they were told he was dead. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9425215/Gaetz-extorted-sex-orgy-underage-prostitutes-rescue-hostage-Iran.html
Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'Mark Of The Beast' Theory Receives Holy Hell On Twitter. https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/marjorie-taylor-greene-mark-of-the-beast-090016763.html
The Matt Gaetz allegation, explained. "The Justice Department is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz — a Florida Republican considered a close political ally of former president Donald Trump — over an alleged sexual relationship with an underage girl," The Washington Post's Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett explain. That relationship allegedly included paying for the girl to travel, potentially across state lines, adding the complexity of potential federal charges related to sex trafficking, according to the Times. Both The Post and Times stories are constrained for fairly obvious reasons, including the limits of available information and the need to accurately convey the potential risk Gaetz faces. The investigation apparently spun out of another sex-trafficking probe in Florida. That one focused on a former county official named Joel Greenberg, who was charged in the summer with a number of federal offenses, including sex trafficking of a minor. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/31/matt-gaetz-allegation-explained/
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century. On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money Facist groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation—even among Republican voters. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century
Stephen Miller to launch a new legal group to give Biden fits. America First Legal will focus on a few things: executive branch issues and giving Joe Biden headaches. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/26/stephen-miller-legal-group-478167
The Republican Freshman Class Is a Tribute to Our Nation's Notorious Local Bozos. A guide to the GOP's ascendant congressional wing of bullshitters, cranks, zealots, and personal-life disasters. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/republican-freshman-class-notorious-local-bozos.html
Dozens of Trump appointees 'burrow' into Biden government. Roughly two dozen Trump administration appointees remain in civil service jobs or on government advisory boards roughly two months into the Biden administration, according to a new report from a government watchdog group obtained by The Hill. Accountable.US, a left-leaning watchdog, found that at least 24 Trump appointees have "burrowed" into civil service jobs. The appointments mean that Trump-era officials will remain in those posts for the foreseeable future. The report cited four individuals who are believed to have burrowed into national security roles, nine who have taken up roles in environmental regulation and three officials at the Department of Justice. The allegations mirror those made frequently during the Trump administration about a so-called deep state of career officials who were obstructing the former president's agenda. Among those listed in the report as potentially burrowing into the Biden administration are acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah, Brandon Middleton in the Department of Energy and Robert G. Cameron at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Biden administration has taken some steps to intervene in the appointments. Biden's Defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, in early February ousted hundreds of members from the Pentagon's advisory committees, removing last-minute appointees by the Trump administration that included former Trump campaign advisers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/542324-dozens-of-trump-appointees-burrow-into-biden-government
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren quietly releases massive social media report on GOP colleagues who voted to overturn the election. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/05/politics/lofgren-social-media-report-gop-lawmakers/index.html https://lofgren.house.gov/socialreview
Donald Trump trashes Mitch McConnell calling him 'a dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack,' claiming he is 'destroying' GOP, is compromised on China by wife Elaine Chao and tells senators to FIRE him - after GOP leader blamed him for MAGA riot. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9267659/Donald-Trump-trashes-Mitch-McConnell-dour-sullen-unsmiling-political-hack.html
Shortly after taking his seat in Congress last month, Madison Cawthorn emailed his Republican colleagues to tell them of his intended role. "I have built my staff around comms rather than legislation," he wrote, using the slang word for public relations. An Esquire magazine headline offered this translation of the freshman congressman's words: "It's not about legislating, or fixing problems. It's about the show." If so, the show is not designed to appeal to Western North Carolina's mainstream Republicans, independents or Democrats, despite Cawthorn's post-election promise to be the congressman for all his constituents. A new and featured attraction of Cawthorn's "comms" is his own channel on a Dubai-based social-media platform, Telegram Messenger. Telegram was relatively unknown in the United States until after the Jan. 6 Capitol pro-Trump insurrection, when Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other services stepped up restrictions against disinformation, including debunked claims that President Biden "stole" the election, delusional conspiracy theories, and reckless assertions that the pandemic is a hoax. https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2021/02/15/cawthorn-joins-firebrand-gop-colleagues-far-right-media-asheville-watchdog/6743530002/
A guide to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's conspiracy theories and toxic rhetoric. https://www.mediamatters.org/congress/guide-rep-marjorie-taylor-greenes-conspiracy-theories-and-toxic-rhetoric
How Lindsay Graham's Petty Partisan Decision Stalled the DOJ. At the center of the imbroglio is a figure who is accustomed to being collateral damage of partisan warfare on Capitol Hill: Merrick Garland. While the AG nomination has no bearing on the court project, it's been an ominous way to begin the task at hand for Democrats and for Durbin, who is replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as chairman. Graham is ceding the top spot on the GOP side to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), so he will no longer be his party's chief instigator on judicial matters, but his final move as chairman has made some Democrats concerned about the path forward for the next two years. "It's a bad first step," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the panel, told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. "It's a bad way to begin the journey." https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-lindsay-grahams-petty-partisan-decision-stalled-the-doj
Marjorie Taylor Greene finally partially apologizes for backing QAnon - then says 'I am NOT sorry' for harassing David Hogg and flees press conference when she is asked about wanting Nancy Pelosi executed. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9228375/Marjorie-Taylor-Greene-calls-lawmakers-voted-away-panel-assignments-morons.html
Eleven Republicans voted with House Dems. to strip GA's Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments: 230-199
- Adam Kinzinger
- Nicole Malliotakis
- John Katko
- Fred Upton
- Brian Fitzpatrick
- Carlos Gimenez
- Chris Jacobs
- Young Kim
- Maria Salazar
- Chris Smith
- Mario Díaz-Balart
Marjorie Taylor Greene's altercation with Democratic rep Cori Bush and claim Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double are revealed - as White House slams her and she talks about the 'electric chair' for media. QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene got into an altercation with fellow freshman lawmaker, Rep. Cori Bush, the St. Louis Democrat revealed Friday. Additionally, another conspiracy theory of Greene's was revealed: that she said Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double. Greene has dominated the headlines from Capitol Hill since Tuesday when CNN reported she had shown support on Facebook for executing top Democrats. The White House has been forced to weigh in twice, with Jen Psaki saying Friday, 'We don't want to elevate conspiracy theories further in the briefing room' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9202899/Today-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene.html
Marjorie Taylor Greene warned before the election that Americans would have to shed blood to 'get your freedoms back' if Trump lost. https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-warns-bloodshed-freedoms-trump-election-video-2021-1
A local TV reporter said she was threatened with arrest and removed from a town-hall meeting with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia for asking a question. Meredith Aldis, a reporter with the Chattanooga, Tennessee, station WRCB, tweeted that she attended the meeting in Dalton, Georgia, on Wednesday and was told she was not allowed to ask questions to Greene or anyone else in the building. https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-town-hall-reporter-kicked-out-threatened-arrest-2021-1
Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to force Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to retake their oaths on a Bible in a resurfaced video. In the footage, Ms Greene claimed it was the 'law' for the representatives to use a Bible when taking their oaths. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-omar-tlaib-bible-b1793806.html
Video Shows QAnon Congresswoman Harassing Parkland Teen. The conspiracy theorist lawmaker has falsely claimed that Parkland and other school shootings were not "real." Georgia congresswoman and QAnon believer Marjorie Taylor Greene was filmed chasing after Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg and berating him in a video that re-surfaced on social media Wednesday. Greene was apparently so proud of her creepy conduct that she posted the video to her YouTube page a year ago. It has re-surfaced amid reports that she claimed school shootings weren't real and reports that she "liked" Facebook posts about executing Democrats. https://www.thedailybeast.com/qanon-congresswoman-marjorie-taylor-greene-berated-parkland-teen-david-hogg-on-capitol-hill-video-shows
Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated support for executing prominent Democrats in 2018 and 2019 before running for Congress. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-democrats-violence/index.html
Before Capitol Riot, Republican Lawmakers Fanned the Flames. A "1776 moment": Several of the president's closest allies in Congress used bellicose language to urge their supporters to attend the Jan. 6 rally that turned into a deadly riot. "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass," said Mr. Brooks, Republican of Alabama. "Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America? Louder! Will you fight for America?" Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, first-term lawmakers who ran as outspoken defenders of Mr. Trump, referred to the day as Republicans' "1776 moment." Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, who for weeks promoted the Jan. 6 protest and other "Stop the Steal" events across the country more than a dozen times, repeatedly referred to Mr. Biden as an "illegitimate usurper" and suggested that Mr. Trump was the victim of an attempted "coup." "Be ready to defend the Constitution and the White House," Mr. Gosar wrote in an op-ed titled "Are We Witnessing a Coup d'État?" https://www.revolver.news/2020/12/congressman-paul-gosars-open-letter-to-arizona-are-we-witnessing-a-coup-detat/ Their comments have raised questions about the degree to which Republicans may have coordinated with protest organizers. In a since-deleted tweet, Representative Pete Sessions, Republican of Texas, wrote that he "had a great meeting today with the folks from Stop The Steal," one of the leading groups that organized last week's rally. And in a separate video, Ali Alexander, a far-right activist and conspiracy theorist who emerged as a leader of Stop the Steal, claimed that he, along with Mr. Brooks, Mr. Gosar and Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, had set the Jan. 6 event in motion. "We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting," Mr. Alexander said in a since-deleted video, "so that who we couldn't rally, we could change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body, hearing our loud roar from outside." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/politics/republicans-capitol-riot.html
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are facing a possible vote on a censure resolution in the Senate as Democrats and some Republicans blame them for the mob that attacked the Capitol last week. Several Democratic senators have called on Hawley and Cruz to resign and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have called for them to be expelled if they don't step down voluntarily. Democratic aides say there is a discussion about censuring the two lawmakers for helping to incite protesters who temporarily halted the counting of the Electoral College last week after overrunning Capitol Police. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/533740-hawley-cruz-face-rising-anger-possible-censure
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Bonsall, said on Fox Business on Monday that Democrats are overplaying Wednesday's violence at the U.S Capitol and are using the incident to kick President Donald Trump while he's down. Issa, responding to a question about the Democratic effort to impeach Trump a second time, accused liberals of seizing on a political opportunity presented by the riot. "It's kicking him when he's down," Issa said of Trump. "There's no question at all, I think the liberals saw an opportunity, a misstep by the president that they're going to overplay and they're overplaying it as we speak." https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2021-01-11/rep-issa-democrats-overplaying-trumps-role-in-capitol-riot-associated-deaths
Cruz, AOC exchange blows on 'Nazi' accusations. Biden says voters should decide if GOP lawmakers who objected the election results should hold office "I think the American public has a good clear look at who they are. They're part of the Big Lie," Biden told reporters Wednesday, following the attacks that resulted in five dead, including a Capitol Police officer. "Goebbels [said] in the Great Lie -- you keep repeating the lie, repeating the lie." "By the way, Trump said that before he ran. 'If you say it enough, I'm going to convince you. I'll say it enough: The press is bad, the press is bad, the press is bad, the press is bad'." "If he's the only one saying it, it's one thing. But the acolytes that follow him are as responsible as he is," the president-elect continued. "There are decent people out there who actually believe these lies, because they've heard it again and again." Cruz took to Twitter to respond to Biden's comparison and said, "President-elect Biden's choice to call his political opponents literal Nazis does nothing to bring us together or promote healing." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cruz-aoc-exchange-blows-nazi-accusations
After Capitol Stormed, Issa and Most California Republicans Still Rejected Biden's Victory. California Republicans who voted to reject the Electoral College results from the two states — after being delayed for hours when a far-right, pro-Trump mob vandalized the Capitol — were House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, Doug LaMalfa of Richvale, Jay Obernolte of Big Bear Lake, Devin Nunes of Tulare, Darrell Issa of Vista, Ken Calvert of Corona, and Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita. "My colleagues and I spoke out in support of ballot integrity and the sacred right to vote," said Issa after the votes. "The process is now complete and a peaceful and orderly transition of power will occur, as it should." But one Republican voted to accept the votes from both states: Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove. Newly elected representative Young Kim from Orange County did not vote on the Arizona question but voted to accept the Pennsylvania results. https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2021/01/09/after-capitol-stormed-issa-and-most-california-republicans-still-rejected-bidens-victory/
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has condemned newly seated Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) for saying earlier this week that Adolf Hitler was "right" about the value of influencing a nation's youth. Appearing at a Tuesday rally on Capitol Hill calling for the 2020 presidential election to be overturned, Miller said, "Hitler was right on one thing, that whoever has the youth has the future. Our children are being propagandized." https://thehill.com/homenews/house/533089-newly-sworn-in-republican-lawmaker-condemned-by-holocaust-museum-for-hitler
Republican Congressional group opposing "The Squad" names themselves after X-Men villains. Beginning in Uncanny X-Men #199, the shape-shifting mutant anti-hero Mystique blackmails the US government into pardoning her and the other members of her on-the-nose named Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and then granting them legal authority as the rebranded Freedom Force. During this time, the so-called Freedom Force tries to frame the X-Men for several international terrorist attacks while Magneto is on trial at the UN, and even ignores the Mutant Massacre—literally a genocide of ugly mutants who live underground—just so they can persecute the X-Men and X-Factor (who, at the time, are the original 5 X-Men, pretending to be bigoted mutant hunters as a PR deflection so they can help mutants, because comics). In defense of Utah congressman-elect Burgess Owens, "Freedom Force" without context sounds like a pretty uncontroversial name. But that's ironically what the X-Men comics were counting on some 35 years ago, too. It is worth noting: Owens is a Black man. The rest of his "Freedom Force" includes Nicole Malliotakis (NY), Michelle Steel (CA), Stephanie Bice (OK), Victoria Spartz (IN), Carlos Giménez (FL), Maria Elvira Salazar (FL), and Byron Donalds (FL). In their defense, this is a diverse group. Then again, so was Mystique's Freedom Force, which included her wife, Destiny; the non-mutant Spider-Woman Julia Carpenter; the obese Texan mutant known as the Blob; as well as 3 immigrants: Pyro from Australia, Avalanche from Greece, and Spiral from the Mojoverse. And despite that range of diversity, they were still literally the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/01/republican-congressional-group-opposing-the-squad-names-themselves-after-x-men-villains.html
The 'Freedom Force': Republican group takes on the Squad and 'evil' socialism. Utah representative-elect Burgess Owens rails against the Democrats' 'radical agenda' Calling themselves the Freedom Force, the Republicans say they will combat the "evil" of socialism and Marxism. "We love our nation. This group will be talking against and giving a contrast to the hard left. We have the Freedom Force versus Squad; we have a group of people who believe in our country, believe in God, family, respect for women and authority, and another group who hates everything I just mentioned," the Utah congressman-elect Burgess Owens told the Fox News host Laura Ingraham, speaking as a representative of the Freedom Force. Owens said the group would aim to protect small business owners and the middle class. "Business ownership is the foundation of our freedom," he said on Fox & Friends Weekend. "It's where our middle class comes from." He added that the middle class got its power from small businesses, while the left got its power "from misery". During the interview, Owens – a former Super Bowl champion – also railed against NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem and against the Green New Deal. He pointed to the diversity within his new coalition. "South Korea, Cuba, Iran, Greece, I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida … We've all dealt with the harshness, the evil of socialism and Marxism, and so we can talk from experience," he said. As a final warning to Democrats, he added: "You're collateral damage if you run a business and you want to go to church and you want to put your kids in school; you're collateral damage – that's the way the evil Marxists and socialists roll." The coalition of Republican lawmakers includes New York's Nicole Malliotakis; Michelle Steel of California; Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma; Victoria Spartz of Indiana; and Carlos Giménez, Maria Elvira Salazar and Byron Donalds of Florida. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/30/republicans-freedom-force-squad-burgess-owens
Incoming GOP congresswoman to take aim at AOC with conservative 'squad' Nicole Malliotakis expects to form an alliance with other Republican women. Rep-elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) floated the idea during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," saying "a natural alliance is occurring among members" of the new freshman class of Republicans. "I think what you're going to see is a group of individuals who are going to serve as a counterbalance to the values of the socialist squad," Malliotakis told CNN's Dana Bash. "We don't believe we should be dismantling the economy. We don't believe we should be destroying free market principles. We don't believe in 'Green New Deal.' We don't believe in packing the courts." Malliotakis, who frequently attacked Ocasio-Cortez during her campaign against Democratic Rep. Max Rose, took aim again at her New York counterpart when asked about the future of the Republican Party. "I think one of the reasons why we were so motivated to run is seeing the Democratic women being elected in 2018 that don't necessarily reflect our values, particularly those who are self-described socialists," Malliotakis said. "I think there's just a stark contrast between what we're offering and what people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are offering. And that's something that needs to be debated in Washington." https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/29/house-women-conservative-squad-malliotakis-441149
Sinema Reminds Biden He's Wasting His Time on the Filibuster. Kyrsten Sinema took to the Senate floor just moments before Joe Biden arrived on Capitol Hill to let him know he can't change her mind on the filibuster for voting rights. https://www.thedailybeast.com/kyrsten-sinema-reminds-joe-biden-hes-wasting-his-time-on-the-filibuster
9 Moderate Democrats Threaten To Derail Pelosi's Infrastructure And Budget Plan. The letter is signed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia, Filemon Vela of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California and Kurt Schrader of Oregon. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027371749/moderate-house-democrats-infrastructure-budget-vote-pelosi
The Democrats who want to destroy the Biden presidency. The "Suicide Squad" is taking the party agenda hostage to get tax cuts for the rich. Led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, the Suicide Squad presented an argument for their position in a short op-ed at The Washington Post, which bears close examination. They say the reason the infrastructure bill must pass immediately is because America simply can't wait a single moment longer to start repairs, and that it's illegitimate to hold the bill hostage: https://theweek.com/politics/1004024/the-democratic-suicide-squad-that-wants-to-destroy-bidens-presidency
News, Budget, Infrastructure
Stunning stat: 48 Democrats who supported reforming filibuster to pass voting rights bills represent 34 MILLION more Americans than 52 senators (all Republicans + Sinema/Manchin) who opposed it. 48 senators who voted to reform filibuster represent 182 million Americans, 55% of US. 52 senators who upheld filibuster represent 148 million Americans, 45% of US. https://twitter.com/AriBerman/status/1484005724682391555
After deal with moderates, House Democrats move forward on $3.5 trillion budget. The House moved forward on a $3.5 trillion budget plan Tuesday, as the Democratic leadership tries to keep its members united around President Biden's agenda. The 220-212 vote was delayed after a group of 10 moderate Democrats said they would not vote yes on the budget until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal that passed the Senate earlier this month. After negotiations, Pelosi said she was committed to passing the bipartisan deal by Sept. 27. Every House Democrat voted in favor of the bill, including the holdouts. https://news.yahoo.com/after-deal-with-moderates-house-democrats-move-forward-on-35-trillion-budget-212245072.html
The 19 GOP senators who voted for the $1T infrastructure bill. Roy Blunt (Mo.) Richard Burr (N.C.) Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) Bill Cassidy (La.) Susan Collins (Maine) Kevin Cramer (N.D.) Mike Crapo (Idaho) Deb Fischer (Neb.) Lindsey Graham (S.C.) Chuck Grassley (Iowa) John Hoeven (N.D.) Mitch McConnell (Ky.) Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) Rob Portman (Ohio) James Risch (Idaho) Mitt Romney (Utah) Dan Sullivan (Alaska) Thom Tillis (N.C.) Roger Wicker (Miss.) https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/567158-the-19-gop-senators-who-voted-for-the-1t-infrastructure-bill
Uphill: AOC's January 6 Account. Plus: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is removed from her committees. https://uphill.thedispatch.com/p/uphill-aocs-january-6-account
America's anti-democratic Senate, in one number: 41,549,808. Because smaller states tend to be whiter and more conservative than larger states, this malapportionment gives Republicans an enormous advantage in the fight for control of the Senate. Once Warnock and Ossoff take their seats, the Democratic half of the Senate will represent 41,549,808 more people than the Republican half. https://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/22215728/senate-anti-democratic-one-number-raphael-warnock-jon-ossoff-georgia-runoffs
Dianne Feinstein's Staff Suggests Her Age Is Becoming a Problem. https://theslot.jezebel.com/dianne-feinsteins-staff-suggests-her-age-is-becoming-a-1845850560 Dianne Feinstein's Missteps Raise a Painful Age Question Among Senate Democrats https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dianne-feinsteins-missteps-raise-a-painful-age-question-among-senate-democrats
Goodbye and Thanks for Nothing. California Senator Dianne Feinstein announced on Monday that she plans to step down from her top Democrat spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Feinstein said in a statement that she would instead focus more on the natural disasters ravaging her state, "existential threats" that urgently need her attention, according to The Hill. But there are a few other reasons why it's high time for Feinstein to vacate her position on the committee, many of which have to do with her love of civility politics and institutional norms at the expense of actually leading the party during critical moments. https://theslot.jezebel.com/goodbye-and-thanks-for-nothing-1845745147
Decoding Donald Trump's statement on his Senate acquittal. Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people. There has never been anything like it! We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future. Together there is nothing we cannot accomplish. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/politics/donald-trump-acquittal-statement/index.html https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1360696984907239428 http://static.c-spanvideo.org/files/pressCenter/Trump-Statement-on-Impeachment.pdf
Donald Trump learns his fate tomorrow with senators voting after impeachment trial turns into an angry shouting match as his defense attorneys call Democrats liars and hypocrites and they hit back: 'Get your client here to testify!' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9255811/Trump-learns-fate-tomorrow-senators-voting-trial-turns-angry-shouting-match.html
Senator Mitt Romney was seen running for his life after Proud Boys and other rioters smashed their way into the US Capitol in previously unseen video footage played at Donald Trump's impeachment trial. The video, taken from the Capitol security footage and containing no sound, showed the Utah senator running down a corridor, having been told to flee by Capitol Hill police officer Eugene Goodman. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mitt-romney-video-capitol-proud-boys-impeachment-b1800642.html
Here is Rep. Jamie Raskin's full 13-minute video montage of the Capitol insurrection https://youtu.be/2KVUB4L1LyI
Democrats Showed A Stunning Video Of Trump's Supporters Using His Own Words As They Attacked The Capitol In His Impeachment Trial. House Democrats opened Trump's historic second impeachment trial Tuesday with a video documenting how the former president's words kicked off violence. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/sarahmimms/impeachment-trial-video-trump-capitol-riot https://video-player.buzzfeed.com/embed?transcoder_path=%2Fhive-binaries%2Fbinaries%2F35f37464450f494ab21fe5b9bf7c85d6%2FImpeachment_2.0_2_9-1_00_PM_-_2_00_PM-impeachment_2_day_1_long_clip-2021-02-09.mp4
Trump's lawyers say he was immediately 'horrified' by the Capitol attack. Here's what his allies and aides said really happened that day. But that revisionist history conflicts with the timeline of events on the day of the Capitol riot, as well as accounts of multiple people in contact with the president that day, who have said Trump was initially pleased to see a halt in the counting of the electoral college votes. Some former White House officials have acknowledged that he only belatedly and reluctantly issued calls for peace, after first ignoring public and private entreaties to do so. "As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren't as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building," he said, indicating that he had learned of Trump's reaction from "senior White House officials." https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-actions-capitol-attacks/2021/02/09/6dada250-6a3b-11eb-9ead-673168d5b874_story.html?utm_source=reddit.com https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-was-loving-watching-the-capitol-mob-white-house-official-2021-2
Whitehouse, The Presidency
"I ask every elected official in America: How do you want to be remembered?..Do you want to be the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?" Biden, Jan 11 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/01/11/remarks-by-president-biden-on-protecting-the-right-to-vote/
From 'Huckleberry Capone' to 'Turd Blossom': A History of White House Nicknames. Presidents and their aides have long bestowed nicknames on each other — often to undermine their rivals. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/05/huckleberry-capone-turd-blossom-white-house-nicknames-523723
Joe Biden Has Deadpan Response To Jimmy Fallon's Low Approval Ratings Question. Biden also countered the narrative that "Armageddon's on the way" during his first late-night TV interview as president. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-jimmy-fallon-approval-ratings_n_61b47c02e4b04ae319ffa4d4
PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIANS SURVEY https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall
'Something's seriously wrong with Joe': Ex-White House physician Ronny Jackson says he believes the president, 79, will be forced to resign or will face the 25th Amendment because he is NOT fit for office. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9821135/Former-White-House-physician-said-believes-Biden-forced-resign-fitness.html
How Conservative Lawyers Accidentally Helped Biden De-Trumpify the Government. The Supreme Court left Biden with two options: unilateral disarmament or hardball politics. He chose the latter. On Friday, President Joe Biden fired Andrew Saul, the Donald Trump nominee leading the Social Security Administration. Saul's removal marked the latest chapter in Biden's ongoing efforts to expel Trump holdovers from leadership positions in the executive branch. Beginning on Jan. 20, the new president has sacked Trump appointees from agencies both powerful and obscure, preventing the dead hand of the previous administration from governing the current one. The conservative legal movement has long advocated for the president's power to fire executive officials at will. This theory of the "unitary executive" has gathered widespread support on the right and scorn from the left. But it is Biden who has first reaped its rewards, exploiting the theory's ascendence at the Supreme Court to de-Trumpify the government. The radical nature of Trump's nominees, combined with the Supreme Court's conservative tilt, have allowed Biden to become the first unitary executive. An idea promoted by conservatives has created a windfall for Democrats. If Trump had put regular, competent Republicans in charge of the government, Biden might have put up with them until their terms ran out. But Trump put arsonists in charge of the firehouse, nominating extreme partisans eager to sabotage the agency they led. For instance, Peter Robb, Trump's general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, relentlessly sought to undermine unions. Michael Pack, whom Trump placed at the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, tried to turn Voice of America and its sister networks into pro-Trump propaganda machines. And Kathleen Kraninger, Trump's director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, authorized predatory lending and abusive debt collection practices. By tradition, a new president allows these officials to serve out their terms. But Biden did not wait for them to burn down the firehouse. He fired all three on Jan. 20. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/joe-biden-andrew-saul-trump-unitary-executive.html
Trump debuts at 41st in C-SPAN presidential rankings. His predecessor, Barack Obama, moved up to the No. 10 spot. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/trump-cspan-president-ranking-497184 https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall
The Bidens' beloved pet dog Champ dies, as Jill pays tribute to their companion of 13 years who supported 'us in our most joyful moments and on our most grief-stricken days' The German Shepherd passed away peacefully aged 13 at his home. The Bidens released a statement saying their 'hearts are heavy' and paying tribute to their 'loving companion'. Jill and Joe Biden got Champ as a puppy in 2008 after Joe was elected Barack Obama's Vice President. His name was chosen by their grandchildren, in a heart-warming family reference to one of their grandfather's popular speeches. Champ moved with the Bidens to the White House in January along with three-year-old rescue pup Major. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9704025/Joe-Bidens-beloved-pet-dog-Champ-dies.html
Climate Change
Six key lifestyle changes can help avert the climate crisis, study finds. Research shows that governments and individuals making small changes can have a huge impact in reducing emissions.
- Eat a largely plant-based diet, with healthy portions and no waste
- Buy no more than three new items of clothing per year
- Keep electrical products for at least seven years
- Take no more than one short haul flight every three years and one long haul flight every eight years
- Get rid of personal motor vehicles if you can – and if not keep hold of your existing vehicle for longer
- Make at least one life shift to nudge the system, like moving to a green energy, insulating your home or changing pension supplier
Greta Thunberg makes first cover of Vogue Scandinavia. https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/567068-greta-thunberg-makes-first-cover-of-vogue-scandinavia https://www.voguescandinavia.com/tags/greta-thunberg
"Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people, to give them hope, but I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is." World Economic Forum, Davos, January 2019 https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/10-of-greta-thunbergs-most-memorable-quotes https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/greta-thunberg-on-friends-her-first-pet-and-who-makes-her-laugh
OPEN LETTER AND DEMANDS TO WORLD LEADERS #FaceTheClimateEmergency You must stop pretending that we can solve the climate- and ecological crisis without treating it as a crisis. https://climateemergencyeu.org
Greta Thunberg's message to world leaders at #DavosAgenda https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/greta-thunberg-message-to-the-davos-agenda/
@GretaThunberg "Right now more than ever we are desperate for hope. But what is hope? For me, hope is the feeling that keeps you going, even though all odds may be against you. For me hope comes from action not just words. For me, hope is telling it like it is." #wef2021 #DavosAgenda https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1354029885619118084
The United States is the #1 worst G20 nation when it comes to climate change. https://boingboing.net/2020/11/25/the-united-states-is-the-1-worst-g20-nation-when-it-comes-to-climate-change.html
- obsession with words, what they mean, and how they are said
- secrecy
- dissociation from reality, fantastical thinking
- use of code words
Critical race theory is a way of thinking about America's history through the lens of racism. Scholars developed it during the 1970s and 1980s in response to what they viewed as a lack of racial progress following the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. It centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation's institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society. The architects of the theory argue that the United States was founded on the theft of land and labor and that federal law has preserved the unequal treatment of people on the basis of race. Proponents also believe race is culturally invented, not biological. https://apnews.com/article/what-is-critical-race-theory-08f5d0a0489c7d6eab7d9a238365d2c1
Corruption, current Rep. Darrell Issa and former Rep. Duncan Hunter
Trump's interior secretary misused position and lied to ethics official, watchdog says. Ryan Zinke lied to agency ethics official about his involvement with foundation to advance project in his Montana home town. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/16/ryan-zinke-trump-interior-secretary-misused-position-watchdog
The federal case against Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. — who was indicted last month on charges of lying to federal investigators and concealing information about illegal campaign donations — appears to have ensnared another Republican congressman. The Department of Justice stated last week that a protective order was "necessary" in the Fortenberry case to protect "evidence related to sensitive and ongoing investigations, including those related to public officials." One public official in question, who is identified in court filings only as "Candidate C," is Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who is now the apparent target of a DOJ investigation — and may indeed have been the object of a sting operation. Issa retired from Congress in 2018 after serving nine terms from a Southern California district, but then moved to an adjoining district in San Diego County and was narrowly elected in 2020. The former CEO of an after-market auto accessories company called Directed Electronics, Issa has an estimated net worth of $250 million and is one of the richest members of the House. https://www.salon.com/2021/11/10/another-ensnared-rep-darrell-issa-may-be-implicated-in-fortenberry-scandal/
When Kevin Faulconer was San Diego's mayor, his administration failed to follow best practices and conduct due diligence when spending hundreds of millions of dollars on real estate purchases, a city audit found. The audit released Thursday, reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, explores four real estate deals totaling $230 million the city entered into under Faulconer's leadership. The auditors wrote "a serious lack of policies and oversight caused the City to miss or skip key steps in the acquisition process" and that Faulconer's administration left out or misrepresented key information. https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/jul/23/san-diego-audit-faults-real-estate-deals-faulconer/
California conservatives rebuke Trump pardon of Duncan Hunter. Republican Carl DeMaio, who unsuccessfully ran for Duncan Hunter's 50th congressional district seat, issued a statement saying Trump's action "sends absolutely the wrong message that politicians can break the law, but can easily avoid any punishment when they do." While Duncan Hunter's pardon was upsetting to many Republicans, Darrell Issa, who won the election to take the 50th congressional district seat, congratulated him via Twitter. "I'm pleased that all of the Hunter family can spend this Christmas together with a fresh outlook on life," he said.
Trump Pardons GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, Who Covered Up Campaign Fraud with Faith. https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/12/23/trump-pardons-gop-rep-duncan-hunter-who-covered-up-campaign-fraud-with-faith/
Estranged wife of former Rep. Duncan Hunter files for divorce. The divorce filings do not include any details about the "irreconcilable differences" that ended the marriage. An attorney for Margaret said she had no comment. A spokesman for Duncan did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. The indictment and other court records prosecutors filed in Duncan Hunter's case before he pleaded guilty last year suggested Duncan carried on extramarital affairs with at least five women — three lobbyists, a staff member and a congressional aid — and used his campaign money to pay for weekend getaways and other outings with them, starting in 2009. None of the women were named in court records. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2020-12-09/estranged-wife-of-former-rep-duncan-hunter-files-for-divorce
Nathan Bedford Forrest statue along I-65 being removed after more than 2 decades. After more than two decades, the controversial Nathan Bedford Forrest statue along Interstate 65 is being removed. This comes one year after Bill Dorris — the owner of the statue and the property where it stood — passed away. Dorris' will left his estate to three parties: The Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Battle of Nashville Trust. And his border collie Lulu. The executor of the will is in the process of finalizing the distribution of assets and made the decision to remove the statue. It will be held in storage and possibly be put up for sale. For now, the flags will remain at the site. https://www.newschannel5.com/news/nathan-bedford-forrest-statue-along-i-65-being-removed-after-more-than-2-decades
Full text of Lt. Col. Kemter's Memorial Day speech https://www.legion.org/honor/252713/full-text-lt-col-kemter's-memorial-day-speech
I want a monument to Trump where I can shit on his head. https://twitter.com/bob_smith_42/status/1351214456458633234 It could be a larger than life statue of Trump with one of his shit eating smirks on his face and two thumbs up gesture, the statue would be in a pit sculpted like a bomb crater so his head is below ground level. There would be a platform above his head that viewers could step out to where there would be privy seats so that you could shit or piss on the statue.
Waiting for the American Khrushchev: Who will deliver the "Cult of Personality" speech to Americans? Yale historian and student of tyranny Timothy Snyder defines the Big Lie as one which requires believers to reject evidence and commit to a vast conspiratorial story. Hitler's chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels was one of the craft's best practitioners. "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it," he wrote, "people will eventually come to believe it…the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." A few years after his death, Stalin's Big Lie was revealed to be just that by none other than one of his former enablers — Nikita Khrushchev who delivered the famous "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" speech at a closed meeting of the 20th Congress of the Soviet Union in 1956. Who in Trump's inner circle has the trust of his followers and the guts to do this? Tucker Carlson? Don Jr? Hannity? Ivanka? Is there an American equivalent of the 1956 Soviet Politburo — a group of high-level Trump supporters and enablers who can sense their own destruction on the horizon and for reasons of pure self-preservation will be willing to reveal the Big Lie for what it is to Trump's supporters and the American public? Is there an American version of Nikita Khrushchev for this moment? I am waiting for him or her to speak up. https://medium.com/institute-for-the-future/waiting-for-the-american-khrushchev-78f59504fb6f
Black Farmers Have Been Robbed of Land. A New Bill Would Give Them a "Quantum Leap" Toward Justice. "This is the Black Farmers Civil Rights Act of 2020, and it's long overdue." https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/11/black-farmers-have-been-robbed-of-land-a-new-bill-would-give-them-a-quantum-leap-toward-justice/
Coronavirus crisis, tracking
Johns Hopkins Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, CSSE dashboard https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
San Diego Wastewater Surveillance https://searchcovid.info/dashboards/wastewater-surveillance/
This site was created by Avi Schiffmann. I am a high schooler in Washington State, USA. https://ncov2019.live/data https://ncov2019.live/data/unitedstates
County https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/community_epidemiology/dc/2019-nCoV/status.html
Here's Where COVID-19 Outbreaks Have Happened In San Diego County https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/dec/21/covid-19-outbreak-locations-san-diego-county/
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
Coronavirus crisis, HealthCare, political, economy, masks
#8. San Diego County – Population that is fully vaccinated: 80.0% (2,670,929 fully vaccinated) https://fox5sandiego.com/news/coronavirus/counties-with-the-highest-covid-19-vaccination-rate-in-california-3/
US 'excess deaths' during pandemic surpassed 1 million, with covid killing most but other diseases adding to the toll. Although the vast majority of the excess deaths are due to the virus, the CDC mortality records also expose swollen numbers of deaths from heart disease, hypertension, dementia and other ailments across two years of pandemic misery. "We've never seen anything like it," Anderson said. In 2019, before the pandemic, the CDC recorded 2.8 million deaths. But in 2020 and 2021, as the virus spread through the population, the country recorded roughly a half-million deaths each year in excess of the norm. https://news.yahoo.com/us-excess-deaths-during-pandemic-215337856.html
My Mom passed a year ago today from COVID. She took pics of her progression while in the hospital. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/sma6zr/my_mom_passed_a_year_ago_today_from_covid_she/
'The case for masks became hugely stronger': scientists admit their Covid mistakes. Prof Susan Michie, director of the centre for behaviour change at University College London, changed her mind on the usefulness of masks. Early on, my reading was that the evidence on the effectiveness of face masks in community settings was equivocal. The emphasis on droplet transmission raised a concern that infected people may touch their face masks and then touch surfaces, thus providing a transmission route. The possibility of people behaving less cautiously as result of wearing face masks was also raised. Two things changed. When evidence showed that the major route for transmission was via aerosol rather than droplet, the case for masks became hugely stronger. There was also persuasive evidence from real-world studies, including one from German towns and one on cruise ships. This changed my mind from sitting on the fence to being strongly in favour of masks. I was asked on a TV programme how long we'll be wearing masks. I said "for ever, to some extent", and was cut off before I could elaborate that this would depend on the context and risk of infection. I had months of being trolled and attacked for saying this. But science continues to generate good evidence that masks reduce infection for Covid-19, an airborne virus. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/04/i-didnt-think-vaccines-would-work-scientists-admit-their-covid-mistakes?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Good Grief, We're Doing Throat Swabs Now? The mouth method might be better at detecting omicron. If you're so inclined, you can swab your throat with a standard test kit by opening wide in front of a mirror and sticking the thing to the very back of your mouth, behind the arch. (A strep test, basically.) Then, stick the swab in each of your nostrils, as the instructions on the rapid test explain. https://slate.com/technology/2021/12/throat-swab-rapid-testing-omicron-effective.html
Right-Wing Podcaster Reportedly On Ventilator For COVID After he attended the right-wing "ReAwaken America" event in Dallas early this month, according to his podcast network and conspiracy theorist attorney Lin Wood.. Doug Kuzma posed with supplies of ivermectin, which the FDA and CDC have warned against using to treat COVID-19. A number of individuals who developed COVID-like symptoms after attending the Dallas event have claimed without evidence that they were somehow poisoned with anthrax. The Dallas event was part of a national tour paid for by right-wing funders featuring guest speakers including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as well as Flynn. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doug-kuzma-covid-ventilator-reawaken-america_n_61c7c6e4e4b0bb04a6308680
Watch: Trump says the Covid vaccines he "came up with" are "all very, very good" A wizardly Donald Trump is on a tear this week, taking cues from a mysterious new playbook that leaves followers scrambling to catch up. Rather than touting bleach as the miracle Covid fix, he's now, finally, getting behind the vaccine. Not only did he admit to receiving the booster last Sunday, but he has actually disclosed the fact that he alone created not one, but all three vaccines. "I came up with a vaccine, with three vaccines, all are very, very good," he explained to right-wing Daily Wire host Candace Owens on Tuesday. "Came up with three of them in less than nine months. It was supposed to take 5–12 years." Yes, we laugh now. But don't think the master manipulator doesn't know what he's doing. https://boingboing.net/2021/12/24/watch-trump-says-the-covid-vaccines-he-came-up-with-are-all-very-very-good.html
During the COVID-19 pandemic's early days, it wasn't crystal clear how well face masks were preventing coronavirus infections or severe disease among wearers. Now, a new study reveals an association between mask policies and reduced COVID-19 deaths long before vaccines were added to the picture. Research on 44 countries in Asia and Europe including nearly one billion people shows nations that enacted face mask policies at the start of the pandemic had significantly lower COVID-19 deaths per million people than those that did not enforce any mask rules. https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2021/12/do-face-masks-work-against-covid-19-heres-what-new-study-of-44-countries-found.html
Select Subcommittee Releases Further Evidence of Trump Officials' Pursuit of 'Herd Immunity' Strategy, Interference in Public Health. Then-President Trump held a meeting at the White House with a "fringe group" that advocated for a dangerous herd immunity strategy embraced by then-White House Special Advisor Dr. Scott Atlas. Dr. Birx and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat detailed a series of early missteps that contributed to the Trump Administration's ineffectual coronavirus response. The Trump White House intentionally "softened" CDC's public health guidance for faith communities. A new Select Subcommittee analysis found that nearly 97 percent of Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) fraud prosecutions have involved fraudulent applications submitted during the Trump Administration's implementation of the program. https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/select-subcommittee-s-year-end-staff-report-highlights-oversight-work-releases
Former president Donald Trump knowingly put at risk the lives of Gold Star families, wealthy donors at a Minnesota fundraiser, then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden, White House staff, the crews of Air Force One, White House reporters, and others, according to a new book from his former chief of staff. Trump finally admitted he had contracted COVID-19 just after midnight on Oct. 2, barely 24 hours following a campaign rally in Minnesota where he looked peaked and cut short his typically 90 minutes of rambling remarks to just 45. That, though, was actually almost six days after Sept. 26, when he had originally tested positive, according to former chief of staff Mark Meadows in his new memoir, as reported by the Guardian. In those intervening days, Trump held a reception for families of fallen service members, hosted a gathering of business leaders at the White House, attended a presidential debate with Biden, visited reporters in the press section of Air Force 1, and interacted with multiple flight crews on both Marine helicopters and Air Force planes. "The whole episode demonstrates a total disregard for public health and the well-being of others," said Alyssa Farah Griffin, Trump's former communications director who left the White House when Trump would not stop lying about the 2020 election results. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-may-infected-gold-star-195616565.html
@atrupar Trump won't tell Hannity if he's had a negative coronavirus test. He just ignores the question and starts ranting. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1314379349781553152
Trump tested positive for Covid few days before Biden debate, chief of staff says in new book. Mark Meadows makes stunning admission in new memoir obtained by Guardian, saying a second test returned negative. Meadows says Trump's positive result on 26 September was a shock to a White House which had just staged a triumphant Rose Garden ceremony for the supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett – an occasion now widely considered to have been a Covid super-spreader event. Despite the president looking "a little tired" and suspecting a "slight cold", Meadows says he was "content" that Trump travelled that evening to a rally in Middletown, Pennsylvania. But as Marine One lifted off, Meadows writes, the White House doctor called. "Stop the president from leaving," Meadows says Sean Conley told him. "He just tested positive for Covid." the stunning revelation of an unreported positive test follows a year of speculation about whether Trump, then 74 years old, had the potentially deadly virus when he faced Biden, 77, in Cleveland on 29 September – and what danger that might have presented. Trump announced he had Covid on 2 October. The White House said he announced that result within an hour of receiving it. He went to hospital later that day. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/01/trump-tested-positive-covid-before-biden-debate-chief-staff-mark-meadows-book
A federal agency that was run by a college friend of Jared Kushner and assigned $100 million to spend on fixing the Covid supply chain crunch has so far failed to invest a single dime, according to a new government watchdog report. In 2020, the Trump administration directed the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to loan out $100 million in Pentagon funds through the CARES Act to "finance the domestic production of strategic resources needed to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, and to strengthen any relevant domestic medical supply chains." Companies were encouraged to apply for financial backing to help increase U.S. distribution of ventilators, vaccines, medical testing supplies, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other relevant products. According to a new Government Accountability Office report, 178 applications flooded into the agency's downtown Washington office but no money flowed out. Adam Boehler, briefly a college roommate of President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, ran the International Development Finance Corporation starting in fall 2019. The DFC had been created with bipartisan support in 2018 to help steer private investment to government-funded projects in the developing world. Adam Boehler, briefly a college roommate of President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, ran the International Development Finance Corporation starting in fall 2019. The DFC had been created with bipartisan support in 2018 to help steer private investment to government-funded projects in the developing world. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-gave-agency-100-million-160020402.html
'He is egregiously incorrect': Fauci fires back at Rand Paul for claiming the NIH changed gain-of-function definition on their website and now he's 'trying to cover his a**' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10166185/He-incorrect-Fauci-fires-Paul-claiming-NIH-changed-gain-function-definition.html
Moscow will reintroduce COVID-19 lockdown measures from Oct. 28, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday, with supermarkets and pharmacies the only shops allowed to stay open in an effort to cut soaring infections and deaths. The decision came a day after President Vladimir Putin approved a nationwide week-long workplace shutdown from Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 and said regional leaders could introduce tighter measures at their discretion. The partial lockdown in the capital, the first since June of last year, will also run until Nov. 7. Sobyanin said all shops would close except those selling essential goods, such as supermarkets and pharmacies. Schools and kindergartens will shut too, while bars and restaurants can only operate takeaway and delivery services. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/moscow-reintroduce-lockdown-measures-covid-19-cases-deaths-soar-2021-10-21/
- U.S. COVID-19 death toll hits 700,000 October 1, 2021 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-covid-19-death-toll-hits-700000-2021-10-01/
San Diego County Supervisors Declare COVID-19 Misinformation A Public Health Crisis. Tuesday night's vote was 3-2, with Supervisors Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson voting no. The final result came after hours of debate featuring testimony from hundreds of residents, many who opposed the measure. Fletcher characterized them as "mostly right-wing, anti-vaxxers." https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/sep/01/san-diego-county-supervisors-covid-misinformation/
KN95 MASKS VS PM2.5 FILTERS. KN95 (N95) is the rating given to a mask that can filter out 95% of PM2.5 such as dust, pollen, pollution, viruses and particulates in the air. PM2.5 describes the size of the fine particulate matter that people are concerned about. These tiny particles could be pollution, smoke or airborne virals. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus ≈0.1 μm in diameter, so N95 masks are capable of filtering most free virions, but they do more than that. A micrometer (also called a micron) is 1000 times smaller than a millimeter. ... Nanometer A nanometer is 1000 times smaller than a micrometer. 1 micrometer (μm) = 1000 nanometers. https://www.medicalmasksuperstore.com/kn95-masks-vs-pm2-5-filters/
3rd conservative radio host who condemned vaccines dies of Covid. Marc Bernier was a mainstay on talk radio in Daytona. On Aug. 4, another Florida conservative radio host who had criticized the coronavirus vaccine, Dick Farrel, died from Covid-19 complications. Farrel, whose given name was Farrel Austin Levitt, had worked at several radio stations in Florida, including WIOD in Miami and WPBR in Palm Beach, and had served as a fill-in anchor on Newsmax. He had strongly condemned the coronavirus vaccine, posting on Facebook on July 3, "why take a vax promoted by people who lied 2u all along about masks, where the virus came from and the death toll?" He also criticized Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infection disease doctor, calling him a "power tripping lying freak," according to The Washington Post, which reported on his death. But the Post also reports that Farrel had changed his stance on vaccines after he became infected with Covid-19. He had reportedly urged a longtime friend to get the vaccine and regretted not getting it himself. Last week, Phil Valentine, a 62-year-old conservative radio host in Nashville, Tenn., who had questioned the necessity of vaccines, also died from the virus. Valentine, the son of former six-term Rep. Tim Valentine (D-N.C.), had a nationally syndicated show. "The people who instinctively believe that the government is the solution to everything are already talking vaccination mandates. This should be a personal choice," he wrote on his blog in December. "I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I'm just using common sense." But like Farrel, he had reportedly changed his position on vaccines after contracting Covid-19. The radio station he was affiliated with, 99.7 WTN, posted a statement on July 23 that Valentine had been hospitalized and "regrets not being more vehemently 'Pro-Vaccine.'" https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/08/29/3rd-conservative-radio-host-who-condemned-vaccines-dies-of-covid-1390555
Watch: violent attacks at anti-vax protest in Los Angeles. https://boingboing.net/2021/08/16/watch-violent-attacks-at-anti-vax-protest-in-los-angeles.html
People who contracted Covid may have "substantial" drop in intelligence, according to The Lancet https://boingboing.net/2021/08/03/people-who-contracted-covid-may-have-substantial-drop-in-intelligence-according-to-the-lancet.html
General Information about Candida auris. Healthcare facilities in several countries have reported that a type of yeast called Candida auris has been causing severe illness in hospitalized patients. In some patients, this yeast can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing serious invasive infections. This yeast often does not respond to commonly used antifungal drugs, making infections difficult to treat. Patients who have been hospitalized in a healthcare facility a long time, have a central venous catheter, or other lines or tubes entering their body, or have previously received antibiotics or antifungal medications, appear to be at highest risk of infection with this yeast. Specialized laboratory methods are needed to accurately identify C. auris. Conventional laboratory techniques could lead to misidentification and inappropriate management, making it difficult to control the spread of C. auris in healthcare settings. https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/candida-auris-qanda.html
Sen Rand Paul says he's asking DOJ for 'a criminal referral' into Fauci. Paul claims Fauci lied to Congress about gain-of-research funding. https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/564112-sen-rand-paul-says-hes-asking-doj-for-a-criminal-referral-into
The Other Victims Of The Pandemic: Workers Killed In Fights Over Masks. Essential workers have borne the brunt of a pandemic poisoned by politics. BuzzFeed News found at least four frontline employees who died in fights over masks. Here are their stories. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/workers-killed-fights-masks
Tennessee's former top vaccine official said she was sent a muzzle one week before she was fired. Dr. Michelle Fiscus was fired from the Tennessee Department of Health on Monday after facing scrutiny from Republican state lawmakers over TDH's outreach efforts to vaccinate teenagers against COVID-19. "They must not know me, this is for a beagle, but I'm a pit bull," Dr. Fiscus said in reaction to the muzzle. Dr. Fiscus believes she was fired to appease lawmakers after she sent out information on the Mature Minor Doctrine, which allows doctors to treat teenage patients without parental consent. https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tennessee-vaccine-official-says-she-was-sent-muzzle-one-week-before-firing
Coronavirus crisis, HealthCare, political, economy, masks archived July 14, 2021
The Tennessee Department of Health will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases – amid pressure from Republican state lawmakers, according to an internal report and agency emails obtained by the Tennessean. If the health department must issue any information about vaccines, staff are instructed to strip the agency logo off the documents. The health department will also stop all COVID-19 vaccine events on school property, despite holding at least one such event this month. The decisions to end vaccine outreach and school events come directly from Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey, the internal report states. Additionally, the health department will take steps to ensure it no longer sends postcards or other notices reminding teenagers to get their second dose of the coronavirus vaccines. Postcards will still be sent to adults, but teens will be excluded from the mailing list so the postcards are not "potentially interpreted as solicitation to minors," the report states. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/13/tennessee-halts-all-vaccine-outreach-minors-not-just-covid-19/7928701002/
On Monday, July 12, the Tennessee Department of Health fired Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the top vaccine official in the Tennessee state government. Fiscus said she was scapegoated to appease Republican state lawmakers who are angry about efforts to vaccinate teenagers. After losing her job, Fiscus released a 1,200-word statement about the ordeal. Below is her statement in its entirety. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/12/covid-19-tennessee-fired-vaccine-official-michelle-fiscus-fears-state/7945291002/
Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread. Fiscus said she was a scapegoat who was terminated to appease state lawmakers angry about the department's efforts to vaccinate teenagers against coronavirus. The agency has been dialing back efforts to vaccinate teenagers since June. "It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19," Fiscus said in a written statement. "I have now been terminated for doing exactly that." https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/12/tennessee-fires-top-vaccine-official-covid-19-shows-new-spread/7928699002/
Fox News' Anti-Vaccination Hysteria Has Reached a Disturbing New Level. Right-wing media is melting down over President Biden's push to … inoculate people against a virus that has killed more than 600,000 Americans. Kilmeade is correct in noting that the U.S. has done a good job tamping down Covid-19, and even that the virus is now "on the run." The reason for this is simple: People are getting vaccinated. A recent Associated Press analysis of government data found that 98.9 percent of Covid-related hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated. Same goes for 99.2 percent of Covid-related deaths. This is a reason to keep vaccinating people, not to stop vaccinating people, especially as the highly contagious Delta variant is spreading around the world. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fox-news-anti-vaccination-hysteria-1195003/
GOP and Fox News rush to turn vaccine door-knockers into terrifying straw men. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/09/gop-fox-news-rush-turn-vaccine-door-knockers-into-terrifying-straw-men/
Five clusters of unvaccinated Americans making up 15 million people across 12 states are putting the entire country at risk of another surge in COVID-19 cases, analysis finds. Five clusters of unvaccinated Americans could be putting the entire country at risk of future COVID-19 surges, a new analysis finds. COVID-19 vaccination is extremely uneven across the US, with some counties at rates above 70 percent while others are below 30 percent. The clusters of counties - which make up 15 million Americans - all have vaccination rates under 30 percent and stretch across 12 states including Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9770273/Five-clusters-unvaccinated-Americans-putting-entire-risk-COVID-19-surge.html
Group of scientists argues COVID-19 lab theory without evidence. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/561633-group-of-scientists-argues-covid-19-lab-theory-without-evidence
Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated. Thursday June 24, 2021. Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren't vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-941fcf43d9731c76c16e7354f5d5e187
Inside the extraordinary effort to save Trump from covid-19. His illness was more severe than the White House acknowledged at the time. Advisers thought it would alter his response to the pandemic. They were wrong. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/24/nightmare-scenario-book-excerpt/
Among the thousands of pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails obtained recently by The Washington Post and BuzzFeed News, a short note from Kristian Andersen, a virus expert at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, has garnered a lot of attention. Over the past year, Andersen has been one of the most outspoken proponents of the theory that the coronavirus originated from a natural spillover from an animal to humans outside of a lab. But in the email to Fauci in January 2020, Andersen hadn't yet come to that conclusion. He told Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, that some features of the virus made him wonder whether it had been engineered, and noted that he and his colleagues were planning to investigate further by analyzing the virus's genome. Furin cleavage sites are found all across the coronavirus family, including in the betacoronavirus genus that SARS-CoV-2 belongs to. There has been much speculation that patterns found in the virus's RNA that are responsible for certain portions of the furin cleavage site represent evidence of engineering. Specifically, people are pointing to two "CGG" sequences that code for the amino acid arginine in the furin cleavage site as strong evidence that the virus was made in the lab. Such statements are factually incorrect. While it's true that CGG is less common than other patterns that code for arginine, the CGG codon is found elsewhere in the SARS-CoV-2 genome and the genetic sequence[s] that include the CGG codon found in SARS-CoV-2 are also found in other coronaviruses. These findings, together with many other technical features of the site, strongly suggest that it evolved naturally and there is very little chance somebody engineered it. https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientist-opens-early-email-fauci-114537695.html
Transcript: Lawrence Wright, Author, "The Plague Year: America in the Time of COVID". I feel particularly warm about Matt Pottinger because he began his career as you and I did, as a reporter. And that turned out to be an exceptionally important fact. He speaks fluent Mandarin, and so he was covering SARS-1 in China for The Wall Street Journal. And when the Chinese were issuing statements in early 2020 saying that this was not a human disease, it wasn't transmissible and we've got it under control, some alarm bells went off in Matt Pottinger's mind--evidently not in the minds of people in our intelligence community because very little information was coming from that corridor. And so, Matt was the deputy national security advisory and he--in that capacity he began acting like a reporter once again. He started calling sources in China. And the reports he was getting were pretty alarming. This was community spread. In other words, it was out of control in China. And so even American public health authorities weren't taking it nearly as seriously as Matt was. And one of the things that he instituted was the coronavirus taskforce. He brought agents from across the government together to talk about this. And he also was the one who promoted the use of masks at a time when he was the very first person to wear a mask in the White House, and he said he felt like he was wearing a clown nose. And the president asked if he was ill, and he said, no, I just don't want to be the first person to knock off a president with a communicable disease. He was almost alone in his warnings in the White House about the threat that COVID-19 posed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/06/08/transcript-lawrence-wright-author-plague-year-america-time-covid/
What went wrong with Covid-19 response in the US? Author and journalist Lawrence Wright has been writing about pandemics for decades. So when Covid-19 struck the US, he was ideally placed to report on the political response. At the beginning of 2020 the author Lawrence Wright published a novel in which he imagined a deadly virus outbreak that swept the globe. He couldn't have predicted that as that book hit the shops real life was eerily mimicking his plot. As a reporter for the New Yorker, Wright had been reporting on pandemics for decades and was ideally placed to chart the spread of Covid-19. He tells Anushka Asthana that what unfolded was to become America's deadliest year, with half a million people lost to the virus. Inside the White House, there were experts desperately trying to influence the president to change course on key decisions. But the story of the initial Covid response, argues Wright, was one of a significant political failure. https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/jun/14/what-went-wrong-with-the-us-covid-19-response-podcast
QOP Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't believe in evolution or 'so-called science'. In case you had any doubts, the Right Hand of Q, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, does not believe in science, research, or anything that gets in the way of her claiming anything she'd like at any time. What she's saying: Greene leaned on religion to explain the origins of the coronavirus. "Why is there any need to create a virus that could spread rapidly to a population, to make people sick and kill them? That is a bioweapon," she said. Greene noted she doesn't support so-called "gain-of-function research," in which lab technicians modify a virus to develop vaccines and other medications. "I don't buy it because I don't believe in evolution," the freshman Republican from Georgia added. "I don't believe in that type of so-called science. I don't believe in evolution, I believe in God." https://boingboing.net/2021/06/14/qop-marjorie-taylor-green-doesnt-believe-in-evolution-or-so-called-science.html
Trump's State Department Officials Fought Over Whether The Coronavirus Was A Chinese Bioweapon. In an open letter posted on Medium on Thursday, Christopher Ford, former assistant secretary for international security and nonproliferation, said he intervened to prevent the US government from "embarrassing and discrediting" itself by accusing China of having deliberately engineered the coronavirus — despite there being no evidence to make that case. Sourcing his account to emails put into the public domain through reporting by Fox News and Vanity Fair, Ford's Medium post detailed his increasingly fraught relationship with David Asher, a contractor in the State Department who was running its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, and Thomas DiNanno, former acting head of the department's Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance (AVC). According to Vanity Fair, Asher and DiNanno viewed Ford as pushing a preconceived conclusion that the virus had a natural origin. In the Medium post, Ford said that DiNanno signaled that the investigation was focusing on "China allegedly having violated the Biological Weapons Convention by creating the virus." He added: "They seemed to believe that COVID-19 was a biological weapons (BW) effort gone awry — or perhaps even a BW agent deliberately unleashed upon the world." https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/coronavirus-state-department-lab-leak-bioweapon
The COVID lab-leak hypothesis: what scientists do and don't know. Nature examines arguments that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 escaped from a lab in China, and the science behind them. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01529-3
Liberals' Bizarre Fear of an Unmasked Nation. By Ted Rall https://www.creators.com/read/ted-rall/06/21/liberals-bizarre-fear-of-an-unmasked-nation There's still flu, common cold, ragweed, car/diesel exhaust, industrial pollution, and my neighbors stinky barbecue. What's my long term health outcome if I wear an N95 outdoors vs not? I can see the freeway from my front porch. Last year that ship burned in the harbor smelled it https://twitter.com/bob_smith_42/status/1401547964212940805
Watch angry Jim Jordan blast Dr. Fauci as if he's responsible for Covid. The doctor never loses his cool https://boingboing.net/2021/04/15/watch-an-angry-jim-jordan-blast-dr-fauci-as-if-hes-responsible-for-covid-the-doctor-never-loses-his-cool.html
'A small victory. Yippee!' Emails reveal how Trump officials celebrated when the CDC altered their guidelines to align with the president's plan to reopen the US. The report, released by congressional investigators, found that as career scientists worked to combat the disease, a group of Trump-appointed officials were attempting to blunt the scientific messaging with their own set of alternative facts lies. At the Department of Health and Human Services, then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote to then-public affairs chief Michael Caputo on Sept. 9, 2020, pointing to a report where CDC leaders allegedly changed the opening sentence about the spread of the virus among younger people after Alexander pressured them. In his email, Alexander called it a 'small victory but a victory nonetheless and yippee!!!' 'Dr. Fauci has no data, no science to back up what he is saying on school reopen, none … he is scaring the nation wrongfully,' Alexander wrote to 11 senior HHS officials on Aug. 11. Alexander enlisted then-White House adviser Scott Atlas to help him interfere with the document in relation to data on children's death, which came about as the Trump administration was pushing schools to reopen. Alexander also praised Nina Witkofsky, the acting CDC chief of staff, after numbers in the MMRW dropped. Witkofsky had previously been a contractor helping plan events for Seema Verma, the Trump administration's Medicare and Medicaid chief. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9455283/Yippee-Trump-officials-celebrated-CDC-altered-guidance.html
Fauci Slams 'Bizarre' Right-Wing Critics in Fox Interview. "Peter Navarro saying I created the virus. I mean, how bizarre is that?" the doctor said while responding to attacks from the former Trump aide. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fauci-bizarre-fox-news-interview-1150791/
@NikkiMcR Peter Navarro calls COVID-19 the "Fauci Virus" calling Fauci "the father of" the virus and accusing him of allowing China and the People's Liberation Army to "genetically engineer" COVID-19. Host Rachel Campos-Duffy lets it slide. https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1377044643133730818
Trump lashes out at Fauci and Birx after CNN documentary. The former president released a fact-challenged statement criticizing the former advisers after they criticized his administration's pandemic response. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/29/trump-fauci-birx-cnn-documentary-478422
The coronavirus jab's most tantalising side effects? It may help fight cancer, chronic pain... and even Alzheimer's. Scientists have documented the unexpected benefits of vaccines for decades. Some experts suggest vaccines can 'train' the immune system, strengthening it. Others say increased stress hormones affect cells' ability to target infections. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9307203/Coronavirus-jab-help-fight-cancer-chronic-pain-Alzheimers.html
Israeli hospital says it may have found Covid-19 cure as all treated patients make full recovery. The medication, called EXO-CD24, is a targeted drug that was reportedly developed as a cure for certain types of cancer. EXO-CD24 is relatively inexpensive and must be given once a day for a period of five days. It fights the cytokine storm, a potentially lethal immune overreaction as a result of a coronavirus infection, which is believed to be responsible for many Covid-related deaths. The drug uses so-called 'exosomes' – tiny carrier pouches that shuttle materials between cells – to deliver a protein called CD24 to the lungs, which Arber has been studying for decades. "This protein is located on the surface of cells and has a well-known and important role in regulating the immune system," researcher Shiran Shapira, who is part of Arber's research team, told the Times of Israel earlier today. https://www.cityam.com/israeli-hospital-says-it-may-have-found-covid-19-cure-as-all-treated-patients-make-full-recovery/
Meet the Bizarro Crew That Shut Down a Los Angeles Vaccine Site. At least two filmed themselves at the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Omar Navarro, a perennial political candidate who was previously convicted of attaching a tracking device to his wife's car, stood outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday and warned that the coronavirus vaccines being distributed there were part of a mind-control project. "What they're doing here is a massive, massive, massive indoctrination. They want to basically hurt people because this vaccination is definitely not good," Navarro said in a Facebook Live video, telling viewers the location of his protest. "Basically what the left is doing is using Dodger Stadium to mass-vaccinate people." https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-the-bizarro-crew-that-shut-down-an-la-vaccine-site
County's two largest nursing homes have largest outbreaks in region. The Shores Post-Acute in the Birdland neighborhood of San Diego continues to have the greatest number of cases among both its residents and health care workers. California Department of Public Health data show that 245 residents and 108 staff had tested positive for the virus at The Shores since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those cases, there were 41 residents and 33 staff who had active cases on Friday, down from 77 and 35 active cases reported to CDPH on Wednesday. The second-largest outbreak among skilled nursing residents is at Country Hills Post Acute in El Cajon. As of Friday, 202 residents and 111 health care residents had tested positive at the facility, but there were no active cases among residents and 43 active cases among staff. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2021-01-16/countys-two-largest-nursing-homes-have-largest-outbreaks-in-region
Maskholes like Jim Desmond want us dead. https://www.escondidograpevine.com/2020/11/17/maskholes-like-jim-desmond-want-us-dead/ San Diegans take part in 'Let Them Play' rallies. "It just isn't fair when the science supports us.," Riley Merrigan, a student-athlete, said. "Wearing masks and distancing (makes) it safe for us to play. I feel like we have the opportunity, and we can take advantage of it." Dr. Michele Ritter, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego Medical Center, says it is still too risky to resume youth sports. "I think sports are great, but I think we are just at the most challenging time with COVID-19," Ritter said. "The best way parents can help their kids right now is to help us get through this," she added, "which means hunker down, stay away from people, try to get our numbers down as much as possible until we can get people vaccinated." https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/san-diegans-take-part-in-let-them-play-rallies
Trial of COVID-19 blood plasma finds no benefit in severely ill patients. An international trial testing convalescent blood plasma on COVID-19 patients with moderate and severe illness has halted enrolment of severely ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care after it found no benefit, trial investigators said on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-plasma-idUSKBN29G1JZ
Two more life-saving Covid drugs discovered. The UK government is working closely with the manufacturer, to ensure the drugs - tocilizumab and sarilumab - continue to be available to UK patients. As well as saving more lives, the treatments speed up patients' recovery and reduce the length of time that critically-ill patients need to spend in intensive care by about a week. Both appear to work equally well and add to the benefit already found with a cheap steroid drug called dexamethasone. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55574662
Black doctor in Indiana dies of COVID-19 after publicly complaining of racist treatment at hospital. "I don't trust this hospital," Dr. Susan Moore said from her hospital bed in Indiana, an oxygen tube hooked up to her nose. "That is not how you treat patients." Moore, an Indianapolis physician who was being treated for COVID-19 at Indiana University Hospital North, died of the virus this week. Earlier this month, she posted a video to Facebook to share that she believed she was not receiving proper medical care because she was Black. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/24/us/black-doctor-susan-moore-covid-19/index.html
The City of El Cajon and Reopen San Diego present the "All I Want For Christmas is Freedom" rally. Posted: December 21, 2020 Mayor Bill Wells, State Senator Brian Jones, Congressman Darrell Issa, Pastor Reta, and Peggy Hall were among some of the officials who spoke at the rally. https://www.kusi.com/the-city-of-el-cajon-and-reopen-san-diego-present-the-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-freedom-rally/
White House canceled plans to mail face masks to all American homes because Trump hates Amazon's Jeff Bezos & feuded with USPS. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/19/white-house-canceled-plans-to-mail-face-masks-to-every-american-home-because-trump-hates-amazons-jeff-bezos-and-was-feuding-with-usps.html
Fox News' 'Utterly Insane' Lies About COVID-19 Slammed In Searing Supercut. Veteran radio host Chip Franklin warns in the three-minute spot for Really American, an anti-Trump PAC, that the conservative network will end up getting people killed with its falsehoods. "That's what a superspreader event looks like. You know it as Fox News and its viewers can't get enough and some even watch it from their hospital beds as they die from COVID," Franklin says in the clip, which includes footage of its hosts, including prime-time stars Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, downplaying the threat of COVID-19 and railing against lockdowns and mask mandates aimed at combatting its spread. "Look, 40 million people watch these shows and only these shows and follow their edicts about no masks, no distancing, hydroxychloroquine and other utterly insane shit," Franklin adds. "Then Trump repeats Fox and Fox repeats Trump." https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/fox-news-coronavirus-dangerous-really-american-075058431.html https://youtu.be/Erx6lIFaebo
As COVID-19 surges in its ranks, LBPD warns officers to wear masks or face discipline. https://lbpost.com/news/long-beach-police-mask-photo-convention-center-not-wearing-face-coverings Long Beach police orchestrated a coronavirus super-spreader event, complaint alleges. An outbreak of coronavirus at the Long Beach Police Department, following a training session where hundreds of officers reportedly gathered indoors without masks, has some residents charging that police held a super-spreader event. A complaint filed this week with the Citizen Police Complaint Coalition centers on a large gathering of police officers Nov. 5 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Police had just completed a series of training exercises to prepare for potential unrest around the time of the election, Chief Robert Luna said in an interview last week. The chief stopped by to address the officers for about 10 minutes, praising them for working "their butts off this year." "As police chief, I needed to get in front of my men and women," Luna said. "I wanted to thank them for their commitment, their personal sacrifice. … Not only for that week but everything they had been through that year." Many of the hundreds of officers gathered at the center didn't wear masks, according to a photo the Long Beach Post published about a month later — alongside the Police Department's official photo of the group, all wearing masks. The story sparked criticism, including from the two activist groups People of Long Beach and Long Beach Reform Coalition that signed the complaint. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-17/long-beach-police-orchestrated-a-coronavirus-super-spreader-event-complaint-alleges
'Like a Hand Grasping': Trump Appointees Describe the Crushing of the CDC. Kyle McGowan, a former chief of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his deputy, Amanda Campbell, were installed in 2018 as two of the youngest political appointees in the history of the world's premier public health agency, young Republicans returning to their native Georgia to dream jobs. But what they witnessed during the coronavirus pandemic this year in the CDC's leadership suite on the 12-floor headquarters here shook them: Washington's dismissal of science, the White House's slow suffocation of the agency's voice, the meddling in its messages and the siphoning of its budget. https://news.yahoo.com/hand-grasping-trump-appointees-describe-133636121.html
White House security director lost foot, lower leg in battle against coronavirus: Crede Bailey, director of White House security, contracted virus in September. Bailey's friend Dawn McCrobie organized a GoFundMe page to raise money for his medical expenses. "First let me say that Crede will NOT be happy I've done this as he is a proud man who is the first to help everyone else but would never ask for help himself," she wrote in the Nov. 13 post. "But the reality is this. His family has staggering medical bills from a hospital stay of 2+ months and still counting in the ICU and a long road ahead in rehab before he can go home. When he does make it home there will be major changes necessary to deal with his new, and permanent, disability," McCrobie continued. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-security-director-lost-foot-lower-leg-covid-19
Biden will have White House disinfected after Trump leaves. With President-elect Joe Biden set to be sworn into office in 41 days, precautions are being taken to prevent any infections among new White House staff. The General Services Administration will deploy a team that will "thoroughly clean and disinfect" every part of the White House touched by human hands, including furniture, doorknobs, handrails and light switches, before Biden settles into the Oval Office, Politico reports. A private contractor will also provide "disinfectant misting services" to remove any lingering droplets. https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/529660-biden-will-have-white-house-disinfected-after
Trump tweet: 'I just want to stop the world from killing itself!'
- I just want to stop the world from killing itself! The Swine Flu (H1N1), and the attempt for a vaccine by the Obama Administration, with Joe Biden in charge, was a complete and total disaster. Now they want to come in and take over one of the "greatest and fastest medical miracles in modern day history." I don't think so! While my pushing the money drenched but heavily bureaucratic @US_FDA saved five years in the approval of NUMEROUS great new vaccines, it is still a big, old, slow turtle. Get the dam vaccines out NOW, Dr. Hahn @SteveFDA. Stop playing games and start saving lives!!! https://boingboing.net/2020/12/11/trump-tweet-i-just-want-to-stop-the-world-from-killing-itself.html
Older adults should avoid making trips to the grocery store during the pandemic and instead use curbside pick-up or food delivery, new data shows. https://www.futurity.org/older-adults-grocery-store-covid-19-2480642-2/
The staggering cost of the Scott Atlas debacle. Trump picked a coronavirus adviser because he liked his Fox hits, and now a lot of Americans are dead. Dr. Scott Atlas resigned from his post on the White House's coronavirus task force on Monday, ending an experiment in governance by Fox News that has caused skyrocketing COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, with even darker weeks ahead. https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/staggering-cost-scott-atlas-debacle
Drugs hyped as coronavirus treatment linked to psychiatric disorders, says EU agency. EU's drug regulator issues warning about chloroquine and a related compound, hydroxychloroquine. Chloroquine and a related compound, hydroxychloroquine, have been associated with cases of psychiatric disturbances and suicidal behavior after being given to COVID-19 patients, warned the EU's drug regulator today. The two medicines were some of the first drugs put forward as possible treatments for the coronavirus, and were famously promoted by controversial French doctor Didier Raoult and U.S. President Donald Trump. However, since then, they haven't shown to be effective in clinical studies. https://www.politico.eu/article/drugs-hyped-as-coronavirus-treatment-linked-to-psychiatric-disorders-says-ema/
Americans defy pandemic, political leaders to travel for Thanksgiving. Deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 2,000 in a single day for the first time since May on Tuesday and hospitalizations reached a record 88,000 on Wednesday as the country recorded 2.3 million new infections in the past two weeks. Spiraling infections typically result in a rising death toll weeks later. Coronavirus deaths reached 2,157 on Tuesday - one person every 40 seconds - with another 170,000 people infected, as millions of Americans disregarded official warnings and traveled for Thanksgiving. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa/u-s-hits-highest-death-toll-since-may-with-hospitals-already-full-idUSKBN2851R6
Jury duty? No thanks say many, forcing trials to be delayed. Within the past month, courts in Hartford, Connecticut, San Diego and Norfolk, Virginia, have had to delay jury selection for trials because too few people responded to jury duty summonses. The non-response rates are much higher now than they were before the pandemic, court officials say. https://apnews.com/article/trials-coronavirus-pandemic-hartford-courts-california-de849f632364e81c69e4a7a67d72073f
New Study Shows When You're The Most Infectious With COVID-19. Here's how quick and how long asymptomatic and symptomatic people with the coronavirus may spread the illness. By Rachel Moss 11/20/2020 10:05am EST https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-study-infectious-covid-19_l_5fb7d332c5b6f6adf949e42d
China bought none of the $200 billion it promised from the U.S. under 'Phase 1' trade deal, study reveals. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-bought-none-of-the-200-billion-it-promised-from-the-u-s-in-phase-one-trade-deal-study-reveals-11644505449
Musk tanks TSLA 10% to pay his taxes, then pauses to malign a US Senator. https://boingboing.net/2021/11/15/musk-tanks-tsla-10-to-pay-his-taxes-then-pauses-to-malign-a-us-senator.html
- Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It'll Weigh Down the Economy for Years. The "King of Debt" promised to reduce the national debt — then his tax cuts made it surge. Add in the pandemic, and he oversaw the third-biggest deficit increase of any president. The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war. https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump
Trump Leaving Office With 3M Less Jobs Than When He Entered, Worst Record Since Depression. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-leaving-office-3m-less-jobs-when-he-entered-worst-record-since-depression-1562737
FedEx just painted a disturbing picture of the job market. FedEx (FDX) said its quarterly results were drilled by $450 million due to labor shortages alone, notably at its ground segment. The company estimated a shocking 600,000 packages across the FedEx network are being rerouted because of the inability to find labor. Those processing bottlenecks stand to wreak havoc on the holiday season if FedEx is unable to address the worker shortage, which increasingly appears unlikely. https://news.yahoo.com/fed-ex-just-painted-a-disturbing-picture-of-the-job-market-160422695.html
Congress averts shutdown; fight continues over pandemic aid. Congress passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night, averting a partial government shutdown and buying yet more time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. Democrats on Friday came out swinging at a key obstacle: a provision by conservative Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would close down more than $400 billion in potential Federal Reserve lending powers established under a relief bill in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December, but Toomey's language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year, and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden's hands and put the economy at risk. "As we navigate through an unprecedented economic crisis, it is in the interests of the American people to maintain the Fed's ability to respond quickly and forcefully," said Biden economic adviser Brian Deese. "Undermining that authority could mean less lending to Main Street businesses, higher unemployment and greater economic pain across the nation." https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-bills-mitch-mcconnell-e3247d049ee1cac7a7ab4230cbfbf060
The Fed programs at issue provided loans to small and mid-sized businesses and bought state and local government bonds, making it easier for those governments to borrow, at a time when their finances are under pressure from the pandemic.
A huge study of 50 years of tax cuts for the wealthy suggests 'trickle-down' economics makes inequality worse. https://www.businessinsider.com/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down-income-inequality-study-2020-12
Gripped by the accelerating viral outbreak, the U.S. economy is under pressure from persistent layoffs, diminished income and nervous consumers, whose spending is needed to drive a recovery from the pandemic. A flurry of data released Wednesday suggested that the spread of the virus is intensifying the threats to an economy still struggling to recover from the deep recession that struck in early spring. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week for a second straight week to 778,000, evidence that many employers are still slashing jobs more than eight months after the virus hit. Before the pandemic, weekly jobless claims typically amounted to only about 225,000. Layoffs are still historically high, with many businesses unable to fully reopen and some, especially restaurants and bars, facing tightened restrictions. https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-jobless-claims-unemployment-coronavirus-pandemic-economy-01d54b8c5f65a813a09df482aa4b6786
★ Insurrection Index
Below is a curated selection of key profiles of individuals and organizations who participated in, or directly supported the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. They are in positions of public trust or are actively campaigning for elected office.. State:California Elected Status:Elected Official https://insurrectionindex.org/records/?_record_type=persons&_states=california&_elected_status=elected
Trump incited Insurrection January 06, 2021, Qanon, MAGA Zombies
How Pence used 43 words to shut down Trump allies' election subversion on Jan. 6. The then-vice president and his top aides rewrote the script long used to certify elections, making clear that false elector slates wouldn't fly.
- "After ascertaining that the certificates are regular in form and authentic the tellers will announce the votes cast by the electors for each state, starting with Alabama that the parliamentarians have advised me is the only certificate of vote from that state, and purports to be a return from the state, and that has annexed to it a certificate from an authority of that state purporting to appoint or ascertain electors."
Under the Electoral Count Act, electors picked by the party of the winning candidate in each state are required to meet in mid-December to formally cast their ballots. In seven states won by Biden, however, the Trump campaign worked with state Republican parties to assemble their own elector meetings and cast ballots for Trump. Those false electors then signed certificates and mailed them to Washington. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/11/pence-jan-6-election-certification-script-00016539
New clues emerge about the money that might have helped fund the Jan. 6 insurrection. The committee's Feb. 23 subpoena of Salesforce emphasized its interest in the company's hosting of Trump emails asking for new donations that included false claims of election fraud. OpenSecrets has also identified these groups with financial ties to the so-called "March to Save America":
- Rule of Law Defense Fund - a 501(c)(4) nonprofit affiliated with the 527 Republican Attorneys General Association
- Black Conservatives Fund - a hybrid PAC
- Moms for America - a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
- Peaceably Gather - a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by First Liberty Institute
- Phyllis Schlafly Eagles - a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
"There are powerful indications that have surfaced and every day that passes we get more testimony shedding light on what exactly was taking place," Raskin said. "We should not discount the financial motive and imperative in the events leading up to Jan. 6." https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1085783310/new-clues-emerge-about-the-money-that-might-have-helped-fund-the-jan-6-insurrect
Trump lawyer knew plan to delay Biden certification was unlawful, emails show. John Eastman conceded that scheme represented violation of Electoral Count Act but urged Mike Pence to go ahead anyway. The admission that the scheme was unlawful undercuts arguments by Eastman and the Willard war room team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in seeking to have Pence delay the certification past 6 January – one of the strategies they sought to return Trump to power. It additionally raises the prospect that the other members of the Willard war room – including Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon – were also aware that the scheme to delay or stop the certification was unlawful from the start. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/10/trump-lawyer-plan-john-eastman-mike-pence
The former chairman of the U.S. right-wing group the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested on Tuesday on a conspiracy charge for his alleged role in plotting the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol in a bid to block certification of President Joe Biden's election. Tarrio, 38, appeared in a virtual Miami-based federal court hearing from a cellblock in a nearby local jail, and prosecutors said they were seeking to have him detained pending trial because they believe he is a danger to the community and poses a risk of flight. Tarrio told the judge he has "absolutely" no savings, and that he only recently got a job printing T-shirts that earns him $400-500 per week. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-proud-boys-chairman-tarrio-charged-with-conspiracy-washington-post-2022-03-08/
The Defense In The First Jan. 6 Trial's Closing Argument: Maybe The Evidence Is Fake. The jury is set to begin deliberating in Guy Reffitt's case on Tuesday. After three and a half days of testimony and evidence from government witnesses in the trial of Guy Reffitt, the first person charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection to stand trial, the defense on Monday made a brief appeal to the jury: Key witnesses — Reffitt's son and a former fellow militant group member — weren't reliable. Video showing Reffitt at the Capitol couldn't be trusted. And Reffitt himself was full of it. Monday's proceedings featured the final government witnesses and the defense's pushback to the overarching prosecution theory that Reffitt planned well in advance to storm the Capitol, brought guns and other equipment to carry out that plan, and tried to lead the mob in the initial breach of the Capitol and resisted a barrage of projectiles shot at his body by police officers before being finally thwarted by chemical spray. The jury is set to begin deliberating first thing Tuesday. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/guy-reffitt-capitol-riot-trial-defense
A Former Texas Militant Group Member Testified About Bringing Rifles And Handguns To DC For Jan. 6. Rocky Hardie received partial immunity to testify for the government against defendant Guy Reffitt. A former member of the Texas Three Percenters militant group testified Friday that both he and Guy Reffitt — the first Jan. 6 defendant to stand trial — traveled to Washington, DC, with rifles and handguns, carrying the latter with them as they made their way to the US Capitol during the insurrection. The jury heard Friday from Rocky Hardie, who signed an immunity agreement with the government for his testimony; the prosecutor had him explain that he understood he could still be prosecuted for his actions on Jan. 6, but the deal meant that any charges couldn't be based on information he'd given the government or testified about as part of the agreement. Late in the day, the jury then saw the weapons that the FBI seized from Reffitt's house and that Hardie said Reffitt brought to Washington: a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun and an AR-15-style rifle. The prosecutor showed a zoomed-in image of Reffitt's back while he was on a stairway in front of the Capitol, and an FBI agent identified a dark object near Reffitt's waist as a matte black holster, with a "silvery metallic linear object" that the government has alleged was the handgun. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/guy-reffitt-january-6-guns-trial
A Jan. 6 Defendant Texted And Recorded His Way Through Jan. 6. The Jury Got To See It All. "Multiple clay bullets and a battle cry like in Braveheart. The insurrection began immediately after," Guy Reffitt wrote, according to the government's evidence. The day ended with testimony from Reffitt's son, Jackson Reffitt, who bolstered the government's case with firsthand testimony about his father's messages and mindset around the time of the insurrection — and who described the emotional and familial fallout of his decision to cooperate with federal authorities. Reffitt cried when Jackson took the stand, according to a pool reporter in the room. The 19-year-old Jackson said he didn't regret his decision to share information with the FBI, but also spoke about the guilt and sadness he felt. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/reffitt-capitol-riot-trial-testimony
Court documents reveal Pence team's exasperation with Trump. "He came in and said, 'I'm here asking you to reject the electors.' That's how he opened at the meeting" on Jan. 5, Pence counsel Greg Jacob said of Eastman, according to his deposition before investigators for the House select committee. "I said, 'If this case got to the Supreme Court, we'd lose 9-0, wouldn't we, if we actually took your position and it got up there?' And he started out at 7 to 2. And I said, 'Who are the two?' And he said, 'Well, I think maybe Clarence Thomas,'" Jacobs said, before Eastman eventually relented the case would be unlikely to get any votes. Jacobs and Eastman would go on to have a heated email exchange, with Jacobs criticizing him for forwarding legal advice that "functioned as a serpent in the ear of the President of the United States." But the two men were able to end the discussion on a hopeful note. "When this is over, we should have a good bottle of wine over a nice dinner someplace," Eastman responded later in the chain. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/596743-court-documents-reveal-pence-teams-exasperation-with-trump
The 'Overwhelming' Evidence That Trump & Co. Committed Conspiracy. We talked to a prominent prosecutor who's laid out the way the DOJ could charge Trump and John Eastman for trying to overturn the election. "Conspiracy to defraud the United States" is when two or more people agree to obstruct or impede the proper functioning of government. Congress, by Constitution and statute, is supposed to show up at the Capitol on Jan. 6, count the votes, and certify the winner of the presidential election. Trump and others knowingly conspired to interfere with the peaceful transfer of presidential power, for reasons Trump knew to be false. That's fraudulent. I also theorize that when Trump tried to get Mike Pence to abuse his authority as vice president, he and his co-conspirators were conspiring to obstruct a federal proceeding. That's also a crime. https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7wkbe/the-overwhelming-evidence-that-trump-committed-conspiracy
Roger Stone will have some serious explaining to do next time he sees Donald Trump. Stone, Trump's most trusted adviser for decades, was reportedly caught talking trash about the former president, going so far as to call him the "greatest single mistake in American history." The Washington Post has obtained extraordinary documentary footage of Stone as he worked to overturn the 2020 election. In one section, filmed on Joe Biden's Inauguration Day, the Post reports that Stone can be seen in a car with the filmmakers when he lets rip on Trump. After describing his ally as America's worst ever mistake, Stone said Trump would regret failing to pardon himself, saying: "A good, long sentence in prison will give [Trump] a chance to think about it, because the Southern District is coming for him, and he did nothing." After his rant, Stone is reported to have turned to the filmmakers and said: "Obviously if you use any of that, I'll murder you." In an interview with The Daily Beast on Friday morning, Stone pushed back on the Post recounting of the documentary and said it contained several errors. https://www.thedailybeast.com/roger-stone-distances-himself-from-stop-the-steal-and-insurrection-as-a-storm-foretold-footage-emerges
Roger Stone Distances Himself From 'Stop the Steal' and Insurrection After WaPo Documentary Bombshell. The Trump adviser pushed back as footage emerged showing him appearing to launch "the Big Lie" in the hours after the election and rushing to leave DC as the Capitol riot unfolded. "I really want to get out of here," Stone told an aide, as they were filmed at the hotel by a Danish camera crew for a documentary on the veteran Republican operative. Stone said he feared prosecution by the incoming attorney general, Merrick Garland. "He is not a friend," Stone said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2022/roger-stone-documentary-capitol-riot-trump-election/ https://www.thedailybeast.com/roger-stone-distances-himself-from-stop-the-steal-and-insurrection-as-a-storm-foretold-footage-emerges
For most of his life, J. Michael Luttig has operated behind the scenes at the top of the conservative legal world. He started his career as a young aide at the U.S. Supreme Court, worked as an attorney in the Reagan White House, clerked for Judge Antonin Scalia before he was a legal icon, helped guide the appointment of two other Supreme Court justices and was appointed to a federal judgeship by former President George H.W. Bush. https://news.yahoo.com/untold-story-former-judge-beat-100000623.html
@judgeluttig https://twitter.com/judgeluttig The only responsibility and power of the Vice President under the Constitution is to faithfully count the electoral college votes as they have been cast. https://twitter.com/judgeluttig/status/1346469787329646592
Pence: Trump is 'wrong' to say election could be overturned. Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday directly rebutted Donald Trump's false claims that Pence somehow could have overturned the results of the 2020 election, saying that the former president was simply "wrong." In a speech to a gathering of the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trump's intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative that, as vice president, he had the unilateral power to prevent Joe Biden from taking office. "President Trump is wrong," Pence said. "I had no right to overturn the election." https://apnews.com/article/mike-pence-donald-trump-election-2020-84ff467d9ff5bfaad084e274f69ac521
WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/0bdaba1c-a2a6-4aa5-8acd-62d782590c54/note/c71c8a31-8623-4236-94ec-ce99dac1a51e.#page=1
Republicans in Congress were in on Trump's coup plot. They knew that Donald Trump was plotting a coup and they said nothing. By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 4, 2022 https://www.salon.com/2022/02/04/in-congress-were-in-on-coup-plot/
The New York Times' front-page profile of "defiant" Jan. 6 "marchers" is a taste of what comes next. https://boingboing.net/2022/01/24/the-new-york-times-front-page-profile-of-defiant-jan-6-marchers-is-a-taste-of-what-comes-next.html
Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states. Giuliani and his allies coordinated the nuts-and-bolts of the process on a state-by-state level, the sources told CNN. One source said there were multiple planning calls between Trump campaign officials and GOP state operatives, and that Giuliani participated in at least one call. The source also said the Trump campaign lined up supporters to fill elector slots, secured meeting rooms in statehouses for the fake electors to meet on December 14, 2020, and circulated drafts of fake certificates that were ultimately sent to the National Archives. Trump and some of his top advisers publicly encouraged the "alternate electors" scheme in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico. But behind the scenes, Giuliani and Trump campaign officials actively choreographed the process, the sources said. One fake elector from Michigan boasted at a recent event hosted by a local Republican organization that the Trump campaign directed the entire operation. "We fought to seat the electors. The Trump campaign asked us to do that," Meshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, said at a public event last week that was organized by the conservative group Stand Up Michigan, according to a recording obtained by CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html
Wife of Supreme Court justice who praised Capitol rioters wants Cheney and Kinzinger out of GOP for investigating it. Virginia 'Ginny' Thomas is a veteran conservative activist whose political activities have often concerned matters before the Supreme Court. The wife of one of the Supreme Court justices who could be charged with deciding whether the House January 6th select committee can view Trump administration White House records has signed on to an open letter calling for the committee's two Republican members to be ousted from the House GOP conference. Virginia "Ginny" Thomas, a longtime conservative activist and the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, was one of more than 60 signatories to the open letter, which was organised by the pro-Trump Conservative Action Project and asks House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to "act immediately to remove" Reps Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the Republican conference "due to their egregious actions as part of the House of Representative's January 6th Select Committee". https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ginny-thomas-cheney-kinzinger-jan-6-b1995752.html
Capitol rioters called Nancy Pelosi's office looking for a 'lost and found' for items they left behind on January 6, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin. Rioters were calling "asking whether there was a lost and found because they forgot their phone there, or they left their purse or what have you," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Insider on Friday in a Q&A. Police officers swiftly took down information from the callers, Raskin said. "The officers quickly got on the phone and said, yeah, just give us your name, your address, your social, you know, and we'll tie up those loose ends," Raskin said. "But what's so fascinating to me about that there really were people who felt as if they had been summoned to Washington by the president." "And when they were told that they were trespassing and invading the Capitol, they said the president invited them to be there," he said. "They didn't have any kind of subtle understanding of the separation of powers. They just thought that the number one person in the US government had invited them to be there, and therefore they had a right. https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-rioters-called-pelosis-office-for-lost-and-found-raskin-2022-1
Yale law graduate founder of far-right Oath Keepers group is charged - along with ten others - with seditious conspiracy: Faces 20 years in prison for organizing Jan 6th riot and instructing his members from OUTSIDE Capitol building. Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, and 10 alleged accomplices charged with seditious conspiracy stemming from January 6 Capitol riots. Rhodes and more than a dozen members and associates of far-right militia are suspected of planning and carrying out attack to stop Biden's certification. Rhodes was in restricted area of Capitol grounds and directed the attack from there, indictment claims. Another eight suspects named in indictments charged with corruptly obstructing an official proceeding. It is largest conspiracy case brought by federal prosecutors as a consequence of the January 6 insurrection Seditious conspiracy charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale Law School graduate, started the Oath Keepers in 2009. He is known for his eye patch: a former firearms instructor, he dropped a loaded handgun when he was 28 and it shot him in the face, blinding him in his left eye. Rhodes and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, were arrested on Thursday. The others who were charged were already facing criminal charges related to the attack. Those include Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Berryville, Virginia; Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Florida; Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of Titusville, Florida; Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama; Kelly Meggs, 52, of Dunnellon, Florida; Roberto Minuta, 37, of Prosper, Texas; David Moerschel, 44, of Punta Gorda, Florida; Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia and Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, Ohio. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10399809/Oath-Keepers-founder-charged-organizing-January-6-riot.html
Congressional Staff Pressed Justice Department Officials For Safety Plans Before The Capitol Riot. "Soooo this has taken a turn for the worse," one congressional staffer wrote to federal law enforcement agencies during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. At least two congressional staffers from House and Senate committees reached out to the FBI and the Justice Department concerned about security at the Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 riots, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News. The inquiries support accusations that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies were not prepared for the pro-Trump mob that stormed the US Capitol despite direct warnings and calls for help. BuzzFeed News is publishing another cache of documents turned over by the Justice Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the agency and the FBI related to events around Jan. 6. Emails released last November revealed that top Justice Department officials were told there were "no credible threats" hours before the riot. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/congress-staff-january-6-email-justice-department
In prison interview, QAnon Shaman shares paranoid fantasies about the Deep State's "two-tiered slavery system". On Trump's legacy: "He was trying to create peace in the Middle East, you know, he released the JFK file, he created the space force. There was also during the Trump administration, there was a declassification of a zero-point energy engine and inertia propulsion or anti-gravity craft that the Navy put out there. Okay, I'll put it this way. Q is the only major movement in history, as far as I can tell, that is working to disclose the full truth about, say government Special Access Programs, top secret information and technologies, the truth about things like aliens are interdimensional beings and their role here on the planet. https://boingboing.net/2022/01/06/in-prison-interview-qanon-shaman-shares-paranoid-fantasies-about-the-deep-states-two-tiered-slavery-system.html
The Jan. 6 Defendants Are Getting Off Easy. We reviewed all 733 criminal cases connected to the insurrection. Here is what we found. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/01/jan-6-capitol-riot-criminal-prosecutions-status.html
Biden's blistering speech on Trump praised by supporters, calling it his 'best'. Speech described as 'forceful', 'passionate', 'riveting', and a 'hinge moment in his presidency'. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joe-biden-trump-capitol-riot-speech-b1988097.html
Biden eviscerates Trump for holding a 'dagger to the throat of Democracy' by watching Jan 6 riot live on TV and doing nothing to stop it: Donald hits back and calls Joe's speech 'political theater' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10375211/Biden-heads-Capitol-January-6-speech-blame-Trump-chaos-carnage.html
Election Falsehoods Surged on Podcasts Before Capitol Riots, Researchers Find. Researchers at the Brookings Institution reviewed transcripts of nearly 1,500 episodes from 20 of the most popular political podcasts. Among episodes released between the election and the Jan. 6 riot, about half contained election misinformation, according to the analysis. In some weeks, 60% of episodes mentioned the election fraud conspiracy theories tracked by Brookings. Those included false claims that software glitches interfered with the count, that fake ballots were used, and that voting machines run by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged to help Democrats. Those kinds of theories gained currency in Republican circles and would later be leveraged to justify additional election audits across the country. The biggest offender in Brookings' analysis was Steve Bannon, Trump's former adviser. His podcast, "Bannon's War Room," was flagged 115 times for episodes using voter fraud terms included in Brookings' analysis between the election and Jan. 6. "You know why they're going to steal this election?" Bannon asked on Nov. 3. "Because they don't think you're going to do anything about it." https://news.yahoo.com/election-falsehoods-surged-podcasts-capitol-125322535.html
A photographer's helmet cam captured the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-01-04/photographers-point-of-view-of-the-capitol-riot-jan-6-anniversary
More than 1,000 US public figures aided Trump's effort to overturn election. Insurrection Index identifies those who acted as accomplices by participating in 6 January attack or spreading Trump's 'big lie'. Among them are 213 incumbents in elected office and 29 who are running as candidates for positions of power in upcoming elections. There are also 59 military veterans, 31 current or former law enforcement officials, and seven who sit on local school boards. When the index goes live on Thursday, it will contain a total of 1,404 records of those who played a role in trying to overturn the 2020 election. In addition to the 1,011 individuals, it lists 393 organizations deemed to have played a part in subverting democracy. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/05/trump-capitol-attack-democracy-election-insurrection-index
Trump incited Insurrection January 06, 2021, Qanon, MAGA Zombies. archived January 05, 2022
New Texts Show Sean Hannity Panicking About Trump's State of Mind After Jan. 6. The committee investigating the attack on the Capitol is asking the Fox News host to answer questions about his communications with Trump and Mark Meadows. The Jan. 6 committee is requesting voluntary cooperation from Sean Hannity, Chair Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney wrote in a letter released Tuesday. The letter cites previously unreleased text messages obtained by the committee, including one sent on Jan. 10 in which the Fox News host appears to express concern over what Trump might do ahead of Biden's inauguration. "Guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in 9 days," Hannity wrote to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "He can't mention the election again. He can't mention the election again. Ever. I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I'm not sure what is left to do or say, and I don't like not knowing if it's truly understood. Ideas?" https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jan-6-committee-sean-hannity-request-cooperation-1278476/
We Know Exactly Who the Capitol Rioters Were. A year later, a fuller picture of who really drove the riot is clear. The lessons for 2022 and beyond are sobering.We've now studied nearly 700 who have been arrested, and we've brought the study up to date as of early December. What we see is, over half of those who have been arrested are business owners, CEOs from white-collar occupations, doctors, lawyers, and architects. If you look at extremist group membership, again, 13 percent of those nearly 700 arrested as of early December are members of militia groups like the Oath Keepers or extremist groups like the Proud Boys. As I said, this is very different than about half that we normally find. If you look at their ages, two-thirds of those arrested for Jan. 6 are over the age of 34. They're concentrated in their 40s and 50s. Normally for right-wing extremists, it's two-thirds under the age of 34. Typically, only 10 percent have a college degree. Here, the Jan. 6 arrestees, 25 percent have a college degree, which is close to the national average of the U.S. electorate at 30 percent. About 15 percent of those on Jan. 6 had prior U.S. military service, but that compares with what we usually see in right-wing extremists at 40 percent. About 10 percent of the U.S. electorate has prior military service, so it's a little higher than that, but much closer to the U.S. mainstream than to the usual right-wing extremists. What if we look at criminal history? Well, 30 percent of those arrested on Jan. 6 had prior criminal history, mostly for misdemeanors like marijuana charges, but with other right-wing extremists, it's 64 percent have prior criminal history. The U.S. electorate overall has 20 percent with criminal history. When you look at this, it's just one category after another after another that shouts out mainstream. The Jan. 6 insurrectionists really are best understood as a product of the mainstream. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/01/january-6-capitol-riot-arrests-research-profile.html
Trump cancels Jan. 6 event amid GOP complaints. Republican senators said the press conference wasn't a "good idea" hours before the former president canceled it. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/04/gop-trump-jan-6-speech-526487
Secret commandos with the authority to 'shoot-to-kill' were at the Capitol on January 6 under Trump's orders over fears of a terrorist attack or a plot to attack Pence or a member of Congress, report claims. Ex-Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who ran Donald Trump's Justice Department at the time of the Capitol riot, reportedly acted alone in deciding to activate the elite units. FBI teams reportedly arrived on Capitol Hill early that day to collect evidence on explosives found near the Republican and Democrat national headquarters. The agency's snipers and other SWAT members provided cover to nearby Congressional buildings. And when violent Trump supporters breached the Capitol's parameters, members of the Hostage Rescue Team were among the first law enforcement officers in the building. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10365429/Secret-commandos-authority-shoot-kill-Capitol-January-6-Report.html
Ashli Babbitt a martyr? Her past tells a more complex story. The attack on Norris is an example of erratic and sometimes threatening behavior by Babbitt, who was shot by a police officer while at the vanguard of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Former President Donald Trump and his supporters have sought to portray her as a righteous martyr who was unjustly killed. In the months before her death, Babbitt had become consumed by pro-Trump conspiracy theories and posted angry screeds on social media. She also had a history of making violent threats. The Capitol Police officer who shot Babbitt, Lt. Michael Byrd, said in a televised interview in August that he fired as a "last resort." When he pulled the trigger, he said, he had no idea whether the person jumping through the window was armed. https://apnews.com/article/ashli-babbitt-capitol-siege-a15c7e52a04d932972b7a284c7a8f7df
At time of Capitol prayer service Jan. 6, Trump will deliver remarks doubling down on the 'Big Lie'. The riot at the Capitol briefly looked like it had broken Trump's hold on the GOP. Instead, he has reaffirmed his dominion over the party. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/02/trump-capitol-riot-aftermath-526277
Retired General Steven M. Anderson blasts Trump supporters in the military, calling them a 'threat from within' and advising them to stop listening to 'The Pillow Guy' Mike Lindell. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10361869/Retired-Gen-Steven-M-Anderson-blasts-Trump-supporters-military-calls-threat-within.html
Some Of The Biggest Lies Being Spread About The Jan. 6 Insurrection. The events from last Jan. 6 in Washington unfolded on live television but they've since been up for debate.
- Claim: The Rioters Weren't Trump Supporters
- Claim: The Rioters Weren't Violent
- Claim: Trump Did Not Encourage The Rioters
- Claim: Ashli Babbitt Was Killed By An Officer Working For Democrats
- Claim: The Jan. 6 Suspects Are Political Prisoners And Are Being Mistreated
Conspiracy theories paint fraudulent reality of Jan. 6 riot. Millions of Americans watched the events in Washington last Jan. 6 unfold on live television. Police officers testified to the violence and mayhem. Criminal proceedings in open court detailed what happened. Yet the hoaxes, conspiracy theories and attempts to rewrite history persist, muddying the public's understanding of what actually occurred during the most sustained attack on the seat of American democracy since the War of 1812. By excusing former President Donald Trump of responsibility, minimizing the mob's violence and casting the rioters as martyrs, falsehoods about the insurrection aim to deflect blame for Jan. 6 while sustaining Trump's unfounded claims about the free and fair election in 2020 that he lost. Spread by politicians, broadcast by cable news pundits and amplified by social media, the falsehoods are a stark reminder of how many Americans may no longer trust their own institutions or their own eyes. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conspiracy-theories-paint-fraudulent-reality-of-jan-6-riot
So You Admitted To Storming The Capitol. Now What? Judges are figuring out in real time what the consequences should be for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/capitol-riot-judges-accountability-trump-insurrection
Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Lays Out How He and Bannon Planned to Overturn Biden's Electoral Win. A former Trump White House official says he and right-wing provocateur Steve Bannon were actually behind the last-ditch coordinated effort by rogue Republicans in Congress to halt certification of the 2020 election results and keep President Donald Trump in power earlier this year, in a plan dubbed the "Green Bay Sweep." In his recently published memoir, Peter Navarro, then-President Donald Trump's trade adviser, details how he stayed in close contact with Bannon as they put the Green Bay Sweep in motion with help from members of Congress loyal to the cause. But in an interview last week with The Daily Beast, Navarro shed additional light on his role in the operation and their coordination with politicians like Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-advisor-peter-navarro-lays-out-how-he-and-steve-bannon-planned-to-overturn-bidens-electoral-win
The clear and present danger of Trump's enduring 'Big Lie' https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1065277246/trump-big-lie-jan-6-election
Movie at the Ellipse: A Study in Fascist Propaganda. Scholars on the Nazis and anti-Semitism have seen this before. https://www.justsecurity.org/74504/movie-at-the-ellipse-a-study-in-fascist-propaganda/
New January 6 video shows three hours of violent and chaotic assault on police. The Justice Department this week released a three-hour video of a battle between rioters and the police at the US Capitol Building on January 6 where rioters brandished weapons, officers were viciously beaten, and a member of the mob died on Capitol steps. The assault on the Lower West Terrace was one of the most violent confrontations between Capitol Police and the crowd. Officers held the line until the building was cleared without letting rioters inside. Some officers have since said they did not know the Capitol had already been breached in other areas. The video, taken from a Capitol security camera, does not have sound. It starts as officers retreat, helping each other as they stumble inside and washing their eyes out with water from chemical spray. Rioters crowd in behind them, coordinate efforts to attack and push through in infamous moments that have haunted the public, and officers, ever since. The Justice Department released the videos after CNN and other outlets sued for access. It is the longest video from the riot released by the government thus far. https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/24/politics/january-6-video-capitol-hill-riot/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a3RGlu5yLs
People Got Sick at a Conspiracy Conference. They're Sure It's Anthrax. The fact that the conference was likely a COVID outbreak and superspreader event has been almost entirely ignored. This far-right conspiracy claim began after a dozen people spent time together in a confined space at the ReAwaken America tour event in Dallas over the weekend of Dec. 10. And the fact that this was likely a COVID outbreak and superspreader event has been almost entirely ignored. https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7wz5a/people-got-sick-at-a-conspiracy-conference-theyre-sure-its-anthrax
New York Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Obstruction Charges Related to Jan. 6 Capitol Breach. Wednesday, December 22, 2021 Defendant Planned Activities as Member of Proud Boys Chapter in Central New York. A New York man pleaded guilty today to crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election. According to court documents, Matthew Greene, 34, of Syracuse, conspired with fellow members of the Proud Boys, a self-described "pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world; aka Western Chauvinists." Greene pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Greene was arrested on April 21, 2021, following his indictment along with two other individuals in this case, Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Rochester, New York, and William Pepe, 32, of Beacon, New York; they have pleaded not guilty to charges. According to court documents, Greene officially joined the Central New York Proud Boys chapter in December 2020. In advance of Jan. 6, he and other members of the Proud Boys planned to come to Washington and coordinate their activities through various communication methods they had previously obtained, including programmable radios. On Jan. 6, they met up at the Washington Monument, intentionally dressed in clothing that concealed their membership as Proud Boys. Greene and other Proud Boys members then marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, where Greene witnessed the tearing down of barricades and advanced with others into the restricted area. Greene was among the first wave to cross a downed police line and advance into the West Plaza. He later advanced to a set of stairs that ran from the West Plaza to the Upper West Terrace. He witnessed rioters assault the police and overrun them. Greene followed others up the stairs moments after the police line was breached. Finally, after exiting the stairs, he participated with other rioters, including members of the Proud Boys, in moving additional police barricades. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/new-york-man-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-and-obstruction-charges-related-jan-6-capitol
Syracuse Proud Boy pleads guilty to conspiracy, will cooperate with prosecutors. On Monday, 34-year-old Syracuse man and accused Proud Boy Matthew Greene pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of official proceedings for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol; Greene also said he will cooperate with federal prosecutors. https://cnycentral.com/news/local/syracuse-proud-boy-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-will-cooperate-with-prosecutors
What we've learned from the Meadows documents.
- Waldron could help fill in the gaps. Subpoenaed this week was a man otherwise not on the radar of many: a retired U.S. Army colonel and distillery owner who helped distribute a PowerPoint on plans for Jan. 6 and who briefed lawmakers on the plans for the day. The committee on Thursday demanded testimony from Phil Waldron, who was among those present at the Willard Hotel "war room" for the Trump campaign and appeared to play a key role in pushing forward the strategy to contest the election.
- Text messages show it was a two-way street. The committee this week also released numerous text messages sent to Meadows to suggest the plan laid out by the Trump campaign and those such as Eastman and Waldman not only resonated with Republicans but left them encouraging the White House to follow through. Numerous text messages sent to Meadows show ideas about how to block the election were flowing from Trump's inner circle to Capitol Hill and the GOP back to the White House as they mulled how to undermine Biden's victory.
- GOP publicly downplayed attack while privately panicking. For the better part of a year, prominent conservative allies have followed Trump's lead and downplayed the violent rioters who attacked police officers with bear spray, flag poles and baseball bats. They've been described as "peaceful patriots," normal tourists and victims. But as mayhem and violence erupted that January day, text messages show a trio of popular Fox News personalities, GOP lawmakers and even Donald Trump Jr. were frantically trying to reach the president — through Meadows — to have him stop the attack and send his supporters home.
"He's got to condemn this shit ASAP," the president's eldest son texted Meadows as the attack unfolded on live TV. "It has gone too far and gotten out of hand."
Meadows Jan. 5 email indicated Guard on standby to 'protect pro Trump people,' investigators say. The context for the message is unclear, but it comes amid scrutiny of the Guard's slow response to the Jan. 6 violence at the Capitol. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/12/meadows-jan-6-national-guard-trump-524133
'He's got to condemn this …': Panel releases urgent Jan. 6 texts from Donald Trump Jr., lawmakers and Fox hosts. House investigators held Mark Meadows in criminal contempt after releasing a trove of messages aimed at getting President Donald Trump to take stronger action amid the Capitol riot.
- "He's got to condemn this [shit] Asap. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough," Donald Trump Jr. texted, one of a series of messages Meadows provided to the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the former president's effort to overturn the election.
- "Hey Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home … this is hurting all of us … he is destroying his legacy," Laura Ingraham wrote.
- "Please get him on tv. Destroying everything you have accomplished," Brian Kilmeade wrote.
- "Can he make a statement? … Ask people to leave the Capitol," Sean Hannity urged.
- "The president needs to stop this ASAP," an unnamed lawmaker texted Meadows on Jan. 6
- Another unidentified lawmaker told Meadows after the attack: "Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I'm sorry nothing worked."
Retired Army colonel circulated proposal to challenge the 2020 election. A retired U.S. Army colonel who circulated a proposal to challenge the 2020 election, including by declaring a national security emergency and seizing paper ballots, said that he visited the White House on multiple occasions after the election, spoke with President Donald Trump's chief of staff "maybe eight to 10 times" and briefed several members of Congress on the eve of the Jan. 6 riot. Philip Waldron, the retired colonel, was working with Trump's outside lawyers and was part of a team that briefed the lawmakers on a PowerPoint presentation detailing "Options for 6 JAN," Waldron told The Washington Post. He said his contribution to the presentation focused on his claims of foreign interference in the vote, as did his discussions with the White House. A version of the presentation made its way to the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 5. That information surfaced publicly this week after the congressional committee investigating the insurrection released a letter that said Meadows had turned the document over to the committee. "The presentation was that there was significant foreign interference in the election, here's the proof," Waldron said. "These are constitutional, legal, feasible, acceptable and suitable courses of action." Waldron, 57, who is based in Dripping Springs, Texas, told The Post that before the election, he started working with the Texas company Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG). Russell J. Ramsland Jr., ASOG's leader, was also photographed at the Willard in the days before the riot, and Eastman told The Post that he met Ramsland around that time. Over the previous two years, the firm promoted claims about the dangers of electronic voting to a procession of conservative lawmakers, activists and donors, The Post has reported. The Arizona graph appeared, with the same design, text and font, in a Dec. 1 affidavit from Ramsland that pro-Trump lawyerSidney Powell included as purported evidence of fraud in a lawsuit seeking to "decertify" Arizona's election results. Arizona Senate President Karen Fann consulted Waldron in deciding to hire the Florida firm Cyber Ninjas to conduct that review, according to text messages that the nonprofit American Oversight obtained through a public records request. Waldron was named in a 2020 state corporate filing as the chief executive of PointStream Inc. of Dripping Springs, which bills itself as a discreet cybersecurity firm. Specialties that PointStream touts on its website include "deep access to the Internet of Things, Social Media, and Dark Web," conducting untraceable "cyber lurking," and providing data sets "virtually unknown" to either private industry or the U.S. government. PointStream was awarded a little over $60,000 in federal contracting in 2018. Spending records show the award was for "highly adaptive cybersecurity services" for the Defense Department's U.S. Southern Command. Waldron also has worked as a firearms instructor and owns a distillery, according to a company website and a state corporate filing. https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2021-12-11/retired-army-colonel-circulated-proposal-challenge-2020-election-3936120.html
Donald Trump attempted to spin his inflammatory speech ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection into something much more mellow and measured on Friday night. The former president, during an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, claimed the incendiary address that whipped his supporters up into storming the U.S. Capitol in a bid to overturn the 2020 election was "extremely calming." "Honestly, I have nothing to hide," Trump told Ingraham during a conversation about a federal appeals court's refusal to let him block the release of records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 violence. "I wasn't involved in that," Trump declared. "And if you look at my words and what I said in the speech, they were extremely calming, actually." Instead, Trump claimed, the insurrection took place on Election Day, and the attack on the Capitol was just a protest. https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-defies-belief-spin-082555407.html
Kanye West publicist pressed Georgia election worker to confess to bogus fraud charges. Weeks after the 2020 election, a Chicago publicist for hip-hop artist Kanye West traveled to the suburban home of Ruby Freeman, a frightened Georgia election worker who was facing death threats after being falsely accused by former President Donald Trump of manipulating votes. The publicist knocked on the door and offered to help. The visitor, Trevian Kutti, gave her name but didn't say she worked for West, a longtime billionaire friend of Trump. She said she was sent by a "high-profile individual," whom she didn't identify, to give Freeman an urgent message: confess to Trump's voter-fraud allegations, or people would come to her home in 48 hours, and she'd go to jail. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/kanye-west-publicist-pressed-georgia-election-worker-confess-bogus-fraud-charges-2021-12-10/
Trump's White House Passed Around a PowerPoint on How to End American Democracy. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over a trove of pre-Jan. 6 documentation. It's damning stuff. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/mark-meadows-overturn-election-results-jan-6-committee-1269532/
'Absolute liars': Ex-D.C. Guard official says generals lied to Congress about Jan. 6. In a 36-page memo to the Capitol riot committee, Col. Earl Matthews also slams the Pentagon's inspector general for what he calls an error-ridden report. Matthews' memo, sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month and obtained by POLITICO, includes detailed recollections of the insurrection response as it calls two Army generals — Gen. Charles Flynn, who served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of Army staff — "absolute and unmitigated liars" for their characterization of the events of that day. Matthews has never publicly discussed the chaos of the Capitol siege. Matthews' memo levels major accusations: that Flynn and Piatt lied to Congress about their response to pleas for the D.C. Guard to quickly be deployed on Jan. 6; that the Pentagon inspector general's November report on Army leadership's response to the attack was "replete with factual inaccuracies"; and that the Army has created its own closely held revisionist document about the Capitol riot that's "worthy of the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist." https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/06/jan-6-generals-lied-ex-dc-guard-official-523777
'Handful of fanatics' to blame for Capitol riot, Trump ally Meadows says in book. Ex-chief of staff downplays Trump involvement in insurrection and says mob had 'absolutely no urging' from the president. Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows claims in his new book that a "handful of fanatics" is to blame for the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, accusing Donald Trump's critics of selectively focusing on what he described as a few bad apples. "No one would [focus] on the actions of… those supporters of President Trump who came [to Washington on January 6] without hate in their hearts or any bad intentions," he writes in the upcoming book The Chief's Chief, per The Guardian. "Instead, they would laser in on the actions of a handful of fanatics across town." More than 700 people have so far been charged in connection with the attempted insurrection, which left five people dead. While Trump called on his supporters to "fight like hell" and "take back our country" just before the mob stormed the Capitol building, Meadows insisted that the rioters had "absolutely no urging from President Trump." Meadows recently became the highest-ranking former White House official to cooperate with congressional investigators in a probe of the Jan. 6 attack. The move came after he faced the threat of a contempt of Congress charge for defying a subpoena. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/02/trump-capitol-attack-mark-meadows-memoir-book
New FBI video shows interrogation of Jan. 6th defendant accused of tasing officer. A federal judge ordered the release of the interrogation video of Jan. 6th defendant Danny Rodriguez accused of tasing Officer Fanone. Ryan Reilly joins Lawrence O'Donnell to discuss his behavior during his interrogation, including what Reilly describes as an "ongoing theme" in which these defendants espouse "machismo heated rhetoric" until they face consequences and "suddenly we see them break down and that veil falls." https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/new-fbi-video-shows-interrogation-of-jan-6th-defendant-accused-of-tasing-officer-127588421984
Trump fan accused of tasing police officer at Capitol riot cries and calls himself 'piece of s***' in FBI interview. Daniel Rodriguez told agents he was radicalised by InfoWars and online right-wing pundits and comedians. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/maga-daniel-rodriguez-capitol-riot-b1939984.html
Roger Stone, an ally of former President Donald Trump, claimed this week that former Trump aide Katrina Pierson was "deeply involved" with the violence of the January 6 attack targeting the U.S. Capitol. Posting to Telegram early Thursday morning, Stone appeared to suggest that Pierson deserved a great deal of blame for the pro-Trump attack against the legislative branch of government. Stone also seemed to be unaware that Pierson—like himself—has been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack. "Given what I know, I am perplexed as to why the January 6 committee has not issued a subpoena to Katrina Pierson, in other words, someone deeply involved in the violent and unlawful acts of January 6, rather than me, given that I was not there and have no advance knowledge or involvement whatsoever in the events at the Capitol That day #Jan6Cmte," Stone wrote in a message to his Telegram channel subscribers. Pierson served as a national spokesperson for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The longtime Trump ally was brought in to arrange with the White House who would share the stage with the then-president during the January 6 rally event just ahead of the Capitol attack. FEC records show that the Trump campaign paid Pierson $10,000 every two weeks for her work from September 2019 to December 2020, the Associated Press previously reported. Although Trump and his allies continue to claim that the November 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen" in favor of Biden, they have not brought forward evidence substantiating this extraordinary allegation. Dozens of election challenge lawsuits have failed in state and federal courts. Even judges appointed by Trump and other Republicans have rejected the claims. Meanwhile, audits and recounts across the country have consistently reaffirmed Biden's victory. https://www.newsweek.com/roger-stone-claims-ex-trump-aide-katrina-pierson-deeply-involved-jan-6-violence-1653368
Texts Show Kimberly Guilfoyle Bragged About Raising Millions for Rally That Fueled Capitol Riot. Text messages reviewed by ProPublica represent the strongest indication yet that members of the Trump family inner circle were involved in financing and organizing the Jan. 6 "Save America" rally, which immediately preceded the Capitol riot. In a series of text messages sent on Jan. 4 to Katrina Pierson, the White House liaison to the event, Guilfoyle detailed her fundraising efforts and supported a push to get far-right speakers on the stage alongside Trump for the rally, which sought to overturn the election of President Joe Biden. A House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 has subpoenaed more than 30 Trump allies for testimony and documents, including Pierson and Caroline Wren, a former deputy to Guilfoyle. But Guilfoyle herself has so far not received any official scrutiny from Congress. "Literally one of my donors Julie at 3 million," she added. Guilfoyle was referring to Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a Publix supermarket heir who Guilfoyle had developed a professional relationship with during the campaign. Until now, Wren has been the only person identified as having worked with Fancelli. As ProPublica reported last month, Wren also boasted in private conversations with colleagues of raising $3 million for the events of Jan. 6. https://www.propublica.org/article/texts-show-kimberly-guilfoyle-bragged-about-raising-millions-for-rally-that-fueled-capitol-riot
Trump incited Insurrection January 06, 2021, Qanon, MAGA Zombies. archived November 18, 2021
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced the U.S. Capitol rioter nicknamed the "QAnon Shaman" for his horned headdress to 41 months in prison for his role in the deadly Jan. 6 attack by former President Donald Trump's followers. Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to impose a longer 51-month sentence on Jacob Chansley, who pleaded guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding when he and thousands of others stormed the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-seeks-four-years-prison-capitol-rioter-qanon-shaman-2021-11-17/
Trump cannot shield White House records from Jan. 6 committee, judge rules. "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President," Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/09/trump-executive-privilege-court-ruling-kings-520512
House Jan. 6 panel subpoenas 10 former White House aides. The 10 former officials who were subpoenaed Tuesday either could not be reached or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The panel said Tuesday that it had issued subpoenas for Miller, who Thompson said had "participated in efforts to spread false information about alleged voter fraud" and McEnany, who the committee said was present at times with Trump as he watched the insurrection and spoke at a rally that morning. The panel is also demanding documents and testimony from Keith Kellogg, former Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser, writing in the subpoena that it wants to hear from him because "you were with President Trump as the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol unfolded and have direct information about the former president's statements about, and reactions to, the Capitol insurrection." His subpoena says that according to several accounts, Kellogg urged Trump to send out a tweet aimed at helping to control the crowd. Other former Trump White House aides subpoenaed Tuesday include personal assistant Nicholas Luna, who the panel said may have witnessed a phone call from Trump to Pence pressuring him not to certify Biden's win; special assistant Molly Michael, who the committee said sent information about election fraud to "various individuals at the direction of President Trump"; deputy assistant Ben Williamson, a senior adviser to Meadows; deputy chief of staff Christopher Liddell, who was in the White House on Jan. 6 and considered resigning, according to reports; and personnel director John McEntee and special assistant Cassidy Hutchinson, who the committee said were also in the White House that day and at the rally. The panel also subpoenaed Justice Department official Kenneth Klukowski, who Thompson said communicated with former senior Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark about a letter Clark sent to Georgia election officials urging them to delay certification of the voting results in that state because of purported fraud. The letter said Clark and Klukowski spoke before a Jan. 3 meeting at the White House in which Trump contemplated replacing acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen with Clark. Rosen and other leaders at the department had pushed back on the false fraud claims. The committee has also subpoenaed Clark, who appeared for a deposition last week but declined to testify, partly based on Trump's claims that documents the committee is trying to obtain from the National Archives are privileged. Trump has sued to shield the documents from the panel but Biden has so far said he will allow the release of most of them. On Monday, the panel issued subpoenas to Bill Stepien, manager of Trump's 2020 reelection campaign; Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the campaign; Angela McCallum, national executive assistant to the campaign; John Eastman, a lawyer who advised the former president; Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to Trump who talked with Trump ahead of the insurrection; and Bernard Kerik, who the committee says paid for hotel rooms that served as command centers ahead of Jan. 6. https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-joe-biden-donald-trump-stephen-miller-capitol-siege-cd795b70e428f2306e73ac23a7abe02e
Movie at the Ellipse: A Study in Fascist Propaganda. Scholars on the Nazis and anti-Semitism have seen this before. On January 6, Trump supporters gathered at a rally at Washington DC's Ellipse Park, regaled by various figures from Trump world, including Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. Directly following Giuliani's speech, the organizers played a video. To a scholar of fascist propaganda, well-versed in the history of the National Socialist's pioneering use of videos in political propaganda, it was clear, watching it, what dangers it portended. In it, we see themes and tactics that history warns pose a violent threat to liberal democracy. Given the aims of fascist propaganda – to incite and mobilize – the events that followed were predictable. Before decoding what the video presents, it is important to take a step back and discuss the structure of fascist ideology and how it can mobilize its most strident supporters to take violent actions. https://www.justsecurity.org/74504/movie-at-the-ellipse-a-study-in-fascist-propaganda/
'Off the rails': New Tucker Carlson project for Fox embraces conspiracy theories. The network's top host is now leading them to an examination of the violent Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol in a three-part series called Patriot Purge, which was released this week on the network's right-wing streaming service Fox Nation. In the series, Carlson strongly suggests that the insurrection was not orchestrated by former President Donald Trump's fans but by his foes, including violent leftist antifa groups and even the FBI and other national security divisions. He plants the idea that the siege was a "false flag" operation to discredit Trump supporters. Carlson is promoting the series on his own prime-time show on Fox News — which is the top-rated program in all of cable news — and on the popular Fox & Friends morning show. "These kinds of conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 used to be relegated to weird blogs and known conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones," says Jared Holt, who monitors extremism on social media for the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. https://www.npr.org/2021/11/03/1051607945/tucker-carlson-fox-news-insurrection-conspiracy-new-show
Key findings of The Post's Jan. 6 investigation: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/jan-6-insurrection-capitol/#key-findings
CONTAGION: Threats and disinformation spread across the country in the wake of the Capitol siege, shaking the underpinnings of American democracy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/what-happened-trump-jan-6-insurrection/
BLOODSHED: For 187 harrowing minutes, the president watched his supporters attack the Capitol — and resisted pleas to stop them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/what-happened-trump-jan-6-insurrection/
RED FLAGS: As Trump propelled his supporters to Washington, law enforcement agencies failed to heed mounting warnings about violence on Jan. 6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/what-happened-trump-jan-6-insurrection/
The FBI Received Highly Specific Tips About Violence Set for Jan. 6—But Declined to Act. A blockbuster new investigation by the Washington Post details previously unreported "red flags." https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/10/washington-post-january-6-red-flag-warnings-fbi/
Lindsey Graham urged police to use their guns during the Capitol riot, report says. The Post described Graham as "irate that senators were forced to flee their own chamber." "He yelled at the Senate sergeant-at-arms. 'What are you doing? Take back the Senate! You've got guns. Use them,'" the report said, citing a Republican senator with knowledge of the exchange. The report said Graham repeated himself. "We give you guns for a reason," he said. "Use them." The report also said Graham and other Republican senators tried to contact President Donald Trump and urge him to call off his supporters. https://news.yahoo.com/lindsey-graham-urged-police-guns-110313579.html
WaPost won't publish full Trump response due to 'unrelated, inflammatory claims'. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/579355-washington-post-decides-not-to-publish-full-trump-response-to-series-due-to
On Oct. 31, The Washington Post published a three-part investigation that found that law enforcement officials failed to heed mounting red flags that there would be violence when Congress formalized the electoral college vote on Jan. 6. The project documented the consequences of President Donald Trump's inaction during the Capitol siege and examined how his false claims of election fraud helped incite the attack and, in the ensuing months, fostered a deep distrust of the voting process across the country. The Post investigation was based on interviews with 230 people and thousands of pages of court documents and internal law enforcement reports, along with hundreds of videos, photographs and audio recordings. The Post provided Trump a list of 37 findings reported as part of its investigation. His spokesman Taylor Budowich provided a lengthy written response that included series of unrelated, inflammatory claims that The Post is not publishing in full. In response to the investigation's findings, Budowich said that the former president "greatly objected" to all of them. He disputed The Post's investigation as "fake news" and falsely cast people who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 as "agitators not associated with President Trump." The statement repeated Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/31/response-trump-jan-6-insurrection/
GOP candidate: Michael Flynn trying to run extortion plot on U.S. officials to reinstall Trump. Pennsylvania Senate candidate Everett Stern made the bombshell accusation in a press conference Saturday. Because of his intelligence background, Stern claims at least two people representing a Flynn-linked group called "Patriot Caucus" approached him earlier this year after a speech with an offer to hire his firm to gather "dirt" on officials and recruit others to assist in the plot. At one point, one of the men allegedly told Stern that they had retained the services of active intelligence officials "both domestic and foreign." https://www.salon.com/2021/10/31/candidate-michael-flynn-trying-to-run-extortion-scheme-on-us-officials-to-reinstall/
'A roadmap for a coup': inside Trump's plot to steal the presidency. A startling memo, a surreal Oval Office encounter – just some of the twists in the unfolding story of Trump's bid to cling to power, which critics say was no less than an attempted coup. The 2020 presidential election was the largest in US history, with a record 156 million votes cast and the highest turnout of eligible voters since 1900. By all official accounts, it was also among the most secure and well-conducted in US history. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/30/trump-2020-election-steal-presidency-coup-inside-story
EXCLUSIVE: Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in 'Dozens' of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff. Two sources are communicating with House investigators and detailed a stunning series of allegations to Rolling Stone, including a promise of a "blanket pardon" from the Oval Office. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/exclusive-jan-6-organizers-met-congress-white-house-1245289/
All Democrats and 9 Republicans vote to hold Steve Bannon in CONTEMPT of Congress for defying January 6 subpoena: Biden's DOJ will now decide whether to criminally charge Trump adviser https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10117815/All-Democrats-9-Republicans-vote-hold-Steve-Bannon-CONTEMPT-Congress.html
What is Tommy Tuberville doing here? The college football coach-turned-U.S. Senator objected to Biden's victory on Jan. 6. He's not looking back. "I have no regrets," he says. Tommy Tuberville had a decision to make. So did the other Republican senators huddling with him in the storage closet. It was Jan. 6, right-wing rioters were ransacking the U.S. Capitol, but these lawmakers were already in a secured part of the complex and had been milling about a hearing room with a larger group of senators. They weren't hiding from the mob. They were hiding from their colleagues. The group, led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), had planned to object to the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential campaign — a gesture of solidarity with President Donald Trump, who had spent months trying to overturn his loss. The siege of the Capitol by Trump's supporters, however, had some lawmakers thinking that formally objecting to Biden's victory might be a bad look. So into the closet they went, for privacy's sake — around a dozen Republicans, including the Alabama newbie known as "Coach." https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/10/19/tommy-tuberville-senator-coach/
Jan. 6 Committee To Seek Criminal Charges Against Steve Bannon. The select committee will vote next week on "adopting a contempt report," triggering a process that could end with Bannon paying a fine or behind bars. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/capitol-riot-committee-steve-bannon_n_61686ac5e4b0f26084f221a5
Black flag: Understanding the Trumpists' latest threatening symbol. Trump zealots have begun flying black U.S. flags, which signal no quarter for enemies. It's a threat of violence. My neighbor has one of these. OCTOBER 12, 2021 https://www.salon.com/2021/10/12/black-flag-understanding-the-trumpists-latest-threatening-symbol/
Trump enjoyed watching Capitol riot and boasted of crowd size, new book claims. Ex-president reportedly argued with aides who wanted him to put out a message calling off his supporters. Former President Donald Trump boasted about the size of the crowd on 6 January as rioters attacked the US Capitol, a new book claims. Mr Trump watched on a television in the White House private dining room as a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol and chanted "hang Mike Pence", writes ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in his new book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show. He reportedly enjoyed what he saw and argued with aides who wanted him to put out a message to his supporters to stop rioting. "Trump had to tape the message several times before they thought he got it right," an aide who was present said. Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy allegedly spoke to Mr Trump spoke during the riot, and told him: "I just got evacuated from the Capitol! There were shots fired right off the House floor. You need to make this stop." According to a source familiar with the call, Mr Trump responded by saying, "They are just more upset than you because they believe it more than you, Kevin," referring to the "Big Lie" that the presidential election had been stolen. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-capitol-riot-enjoyment-book-b1936451.html
In a video, Trump wished Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt a happy birthday and called for a 'fair and nonpartisan' investigation into her death. Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and endorser of QAnon conspiracy theories, was shot by a US Capitol Police officer when she and other rioters tried to enter a door that led to the House of Representatives on January 6, which Trump described in the video as a "horrible day." "Together, we grieve her terrible loss," Trump said. "There was no reason Ashli should've lost her life that day. We must all demand justice for Ashli and her family. So on this solemn occasion, as we celebrate her life, we renew our call for a fair and nonpartisan investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt." https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-capitol-riot-ashli-babbitt-happy-birthday-video-doj-investigation-2021-10
GOP leader won't say if election was stolen under questioning from Fox's Chris Wallace. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Sunday repeatedly avoided answering whether or not believes the 2020 presidential election was "stolen," after Fox News' Chris Wallace pressed him on the matter. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Scalise blasted the Biden administration's handling of the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic and the two major bills that have stalled in Congress. After Scalise's numerous condemnations of the White House, Wallace specifically asked the GOP leader if he believed the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and whether such claims undermines American democracy. "Well Chris, I've been very clear from the beginning. If you look at a number of states, they didn't follow their state passed laws that govern the election for president. That is what the United States Constitution says. They don't say that the states determine what the rules are, they say the state legislature determined that," said Scalise. https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/576109-foxs-chris-wallace-presses-gop-leader-on-whether-he-believes
'Can you believe this?': key takeaways from the report on Trump's attempt to steal the election. The former president and his chief of staff pressed top department of justice deputies to investigate allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. For weeks after the November election, Trump and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, pressed acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and top Department of Justice deputies to pursue fanciful allegations of election fraud, according to the report. Jeffrey Clark was willing to carry out Trump's wishes and tried to pressure the acting attorney general. Jeffrey Clark was willing to carry out Trump's wishes and tried to pressure the acting attorney general. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/08/department-of-justice-report-key-takeaways-trump
Jan. 6 rioters exploited little-known Capitol weak spots: A handful of unreinforced windows. Four major access points that Jan. 6 rioters used to break into and overtake the U.S. Capitol had something unusual in common: They were among a dozen or so ground-floor windows and glass-paned doors that had not been recently reinforced. The majority of the Capitol's 658 single-pane windows were quietly upgraded during a 2017-19 renovation of the historic building. The original wooden frames and glass were covered with a second metal frame containing bomb-resistant glass. But planners skipped about a dozen ground-floor windows, including some located in doors, because they were deemed to be low risk in the event of implosion, largely due to their discreet or shielded location, or because the building couldn't structurally handle the load of the heavier frames. And whether by sheer luck, real-time trial and error, or advance knowledge by rioters, several of those vulnerable windows and two glass-paned doors — protected with only a thin Kevlar film added after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — became easy entry points for hundreds of Trump supporters who overran and ransacked the building on Jan. 6. Video shows some of the first rioters to break through the police line running past 15 reinforced windows, making a beeline for a recessed area on the Senate side of the building, where two unreinforced windows and two doors with unreinforced glass were all that stood between them and hallways leading to lawmakers inside who had not begun to evacuate. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-10-04/jan-6-rioters-exploited-little-known-capitol-weak-spots-a-handful-of-unreinforced-windows
Police Radio Calls Reveal Pro-Trump Mob Overwhelmed Cops Hours Before Capitol Riot. U.S. Park Police radio recordings raise new questions about why law enforcement was so unprepared for Jan. 6 violence. One call announced the beginning of the day's true nightmare: "The Capitol has been breached. Protestors have entered the building." Officers were so outnumbered by then that police couldn't even risk making arrests when an officer was attacked with a pipe. "We cannot afford to lose the personnel up here," said a person on one of the calls. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/park-police-radio-calls-capitol-riot_n_61568891e4b050254230d5ab
Jan. 6 investigators subpoena organizers of rallies that preceded Capitol attack. The subpoenas come as the panel accelerates its investigation into the insurrection. The Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed Katrina Pierson, a veteran Trump campaign operative who helped organize the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol. The subpoena was one of 11 issued to organizers of the events of Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, which drew thousands of Trump supporters — including those who turned violent at the Capitol — to Washington. Targets also included top organizers Amy Kremer and Caroline Wren, as well as Maggie Mulvaney — the niece of former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — who was described in official paperwork as the "VIP Lead" for the rally. The panel specifically is asking Pierson about a reported Jan. 4 meeting she had with then-President Donald Trump at which he asked about a separate event featuring speakers like Ali Alexander and Roger Stone. Pierson reportedly informed Trump about a Jan. 5 rally organized by a group called the Eighty Percent Coalition, whose leader Cindy Chafian also received one of the 11 subpoenas. Other subpoena targets include Tim Unes, the leader of a company called Event Strategies, which was affiliated with the Jan. 6 event; Unes' associate Justin Caporale, who is listed as a "project manager" for the event; Megan Powers, listed on paperwork as an "operations manager" for the event; Kylie Jane Kremer, who is listed as a point of contact for the event; Hannah Salem Stone, who is listed as an operations manager for the event; and Lyndon Brentnall, listed as an "on-site supervisor" for the event. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/29/jan-6-committee-subpoenas-capitol-514756
Jan. 6 panel subpoenas four ex-Trump aides Bannon, Meadows. The special committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Thursday sent subpoenas to four former advisers to President Trump, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and strategist Steve Bannon. The letters were also sent to Dan Scavino, Trump's deputy chief of staff for communications, and Kashyap Patel, chief of staff to then-acting Secretary of Defense Chrishoper Miller. All four have all been asked to appear for a deposition in mid-October. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/573743-jan-6-panel-subpoenas-four-ex-trump-aides-bannon-meadows
Bannon says he discussed how to 'kill this administration in the crib' with Trump before Jan. 6. "We said and told President Trump. 'you need to kill this administration in the crib early on just by its own incompetence and its illegitimacy,'" Bannon said on Wednesday's episode of his podcast. "It killed itself," Bannon continued. "Just let this go with what this illegitimate regime is doing. It killed itself. We told you from the very beginning. Just expose it. Just expose it. Never back down. Never give up. This thing will implode." Bannon's comments follow reporting from the new book "Peril," by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward and The Washington Post's Robert Costa, in which Bannon expresses similar sentiment to then-President Trump ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection. "He's also someone who we realized was talking to President Trump in the final days of the Trump presidency," Costa said on MSNBC, speaking of Bannon. "Talking to President Trump even on Jan. 5, the eve of the insurrection and saying to president Trump, based on our reporting, to kill the Biden presidency in the crib." https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/573617-bannon-says-he-discussed-how-to-kill-this-administration-in-the-crib
Memo shows Trump lawyer's six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election. Under Eastman's scheme, Pence would have declared Trump the winner with more Electoral College votes after the seven states were thrown out, at 232 votes to 222. Anticipating "howls" from Democrats protesting the overturning of the election, the memo proposes, Pence would instead say that no candidate had reached 270 votes in the Electoral College. That would throw the election to the House of Representatives, where each state would get one vote. Since Republicans controlled 26 state delegations, a majority could vote for Trump to win the election. The plan was first proposed to Pence when Eastman was with Trump in the Oval Office on January 4, during one of Trump's attempts to convince Pence that he had the authority to stop the certification of the election. "You really need to listen to John. He's a respected constitutional scholar. Hear him out," Trump said to Pence at that meeting, Woodward and Costa write in "Peril." In the memo, Eastman went so far as to suggest Pence should take action without warning. "The main thing here is that Pence should do this without asking for permission -- either from a vote of the joint session or from the Court," Eastman wrote. "The fact is that the Constitution assigns this power to the Vice President as the ultimate arbiter. We should take all of our actions with that in mind." https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/politics/trump-pence-election-memo/index.html
A brief guide of spotting militia members in your area https://militia.watch/resources/birdspotting-01/
The Capitol Police Granted Permits For Jan. 6 Protests Despite Signs That Organizers Weren't Who They Said They Were. The chief of the Capitol Police and its top intelligence officer personally approved permits for six demonstrations to be held on Jan. 6, 2021, despite signs that one of the applications was filed for an organization that didn't exist and that five of them were a proxy for a group staging large, violent protests across the country. Capitol Police documented concerns that organizers had attempted to conceal their affiliation with Ali Alexander, the right-wing activist behind the group Stop the Steal, in a secret effort to coordinate their protests against the results of the 2020 presidential election. Despite those concerns, and COVID-19 policies that capped demonstrations at 50 people each, the Capitol Police force's intelligence assessment said there were "no plans for participants to enter the buildings" and noted "no adverse intelligence related to the upcoming event." It assessed "the Level of Probability of acts of civil disobedience/arrests to occur" during the demonstration "as Highly Improbable." https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/the-capitol-police-said-jan-6-unrest-on-capitol-grounds
6 Capitol Police officers facing discipline for Jan. 6 actions, dozens absolved. Three of those six officers, who the department did not identify, were flagged for "conduct unbecoming." https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/11/capitol-police-officers-discipline-jan-6-511352
Judge Refuses to Let Jacob Chansley Out of Jail Ahead of Sentencing, Calls Him a 'Mascot' for QAnon and 'Hopes' He's Really Had a Change of Heart. https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-breach/judge-refuses-to-let-jacob-chansley-out-of-jail-ahead-of-sentencing-calls-him-a-mascot-for-qanon-and-hopes-hes-really-had-a-change-of-heart/
January 5 Pipe Bomb Investigation: Route and Video of Suspect. Sep 8, 2021 This virtual map depicts the approximate route an unknown suspect walked on January 5, 2021, while placing two pipe bombs in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The map also features video of the suspect at various points along the route. More at https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/suspected-pipe-bombs-in-washington-dc https://youtu.be/DVGedQ17XqI
@thehill Rep. Kevin McCarthy: "You can't put politics before people." https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1433422205967294464
Rep. McCarthy threatens tech and telecom firms that comply with Jan.6 committee's request. "If these companies comply with the Democrat order to turn over private information, they are in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States," McCarthy said. "If companies still choose to violate federal law, a Republican majority will not forget and will stand with Americans to hold them fully accountable under the law." It is not clear what law McCarthy is asserting the companies would be breaking if they comply with the panel's request. McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/jan-6-riot-mccarthy-trump-telecom-companies/2021/09/01/cad1753c-0b1d-11ec-9781-07796ffb56fe_story.html
Trump's political operation paid more than $4.3 million to Jan. 6 organizers but questions remain about the full extent of its involvement. The House subpoena names Caroline Wren, a veteran GOP fundraiser who received at least $170,000 from the Trump political operation as the campaign's national finance consultant with the joint fundraising committee. Wren was listed as a "VIP Advisor" on the permit granted by the National Park Service for the Jan. 6 rally. Megan Powers, one of two operations managers listed on the rally permit, is not listed in the House request but was paid around $300,000 as the Trump campaign's director of operations. And Make America Great Again PAC paid around $20,000 more to Powers for "recount administrative consulting" in 2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/08/trumps-political-operation-paid-more-than-4-3-million-to-jan-6-organizers-questions-remain-about-full-involvement/
GOP Congressman Says He Wants to Bust Out Jan. 6 'Political Prisoners' "The reason why they have taken these political prisoners is they're trying to make an example," said Rep. Madison Cawthorn. "The big problem is we don't actually know who all the political prisoners are, and so if we were actually to go and try to bust them out—and let me tell you, the reason why they have taken these political prisoners is they're trying to make an example, because they don't want to see the mass protest going on in Washington," he said at a Macon County Republican Party event on Sunday. Someone in the audience then asked, "When will you call us to Washington again?" "We are actively working on this," Cawthorn responded. "We have a few plans in motion I can't make public right now," he said, before calling those facing charges for their role in the January 6 insurrection "political hostages"—for the second time. The speech was streamed live on Facebook by the Macon County Republican Party on Sunday. His comments were first noticed by a local anti-Cawthorn activist: https://www.vice.com/en/article/88n3ev/madison-cawthorn-gop-jan-6-political-prisoners
Trump incited Insurrection January 06, 2021, Qanon, MAGA Zombies. archived August 31, 2021
Records rebut claims of unequal treatment of Jan. 6 rioters. Some people charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and their Republican allies claim the Justice Department is treating them harshly because of their political views. An Associated Press review of court documents in more than 300 federal cases stemming from the protests sparked by George Floyd's death last year shows that dozens of people charged have been convicted of serious crimes and sent to prison. The AP found that more than 120 defendants across the United States have pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial of federal crimes including rioting, arson and conspiracy. More than 70 defendants who've been sentenced so far have gotten an average of about 27 months behind bars. At least 10 received prison terms of five years or more. The dissonance between the rhetoric of Capitol rioters and their supporters and the record established by courts highlights both the racial tension inherent in their arguments — the pro-Donald Trump rioters were largely white and last summer's protesters were more diverse — and the flawed assessment at the heart of their claims. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/records-rebut-claims-unequal-treatment-jan-rioters-79718704
A lawsuit was filed today by Capitol Police Officers against Donald Trump, Roger Stone, Ali Alexander, Brandon Straka, Proud Boys Inc, and several other insurrectionists. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21049557/8-26-21-smith-v-trump-complaint.pdf
The leader of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced to more than five months in jail on Monday for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington and bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into the nation's capital days shortly before the Jan. 6 riot. Enrique Tarrio told the court he was "profusely" sorry for his actions, calling them a "grave mistake." https://www.npr.org/2021/08/23/1030430809/proud-boys-enrique-tarrio-sentence
Timeline: Rep. Jim Jordan, a Systematic Disinformation Campaign, and January 6. https://www.justsecurity.org/77852/timeline-rep-jim-jordan-a-systematic-disinformation-campaign-and-january-6/
Floor staffers were a quiet force on Jan. 6. Now they're getting an award. 'Democracy Awards' recognize staffers who toiled behind the scenes. https://www.rollcall.com/2021/08/18/floor-staffers-quiet-force-jan-6/
A bodybuilding Trump fan photographed dragging a police officer during the Capitol riot has been arrested after a months long hunt by internet sleuths. Logan Barnhart, a 40-year-old Michigan bodybuilder, faces multiple charges, including assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, the FBI said. https://www.businessinsider.com/bodybuilder-photographed-dragging-officer-during-capitol-riot-arrested-2021-8
The Four Tortured, Pathetic Arguments Republicans Use to Downplay January 6th. GOP pols went from holding Trump "responsible" for the insurrection to blaming… Nancy Pelosi? It Wasn't That Bad! The Insurgents Weren't Trump Supporters! Black Lives Matter Demonstrations Were Worse! It Was Nancy Pelosi's Fault! https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jan-6-trump-republicans-1211749/
GAO today released 28-page report on the January 6th attacks on the US Capitol: "Special event designations could have been requested for January 6, 2021, but not all DHS is clear," requested by House Democrats. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-105255.pdf
DHS concerned about violence tied to Trump reinstatement conspiracy theory. "[D]HS is providing awareness of reports regarding an increasing but modest level of activity online calling for violence in response to unsubstantiated claims of fraud related to the 2020 election and the alleged 'reinstatement' of former President Trump," the notice said, according to CNN, which cited a source. "As public visibility of the narratives increases, we are concerned about more calls to violence. Reporting indicates that the timing of these activities may occur during August 2021, although we lack information on specific plots or planned actions," the notice added, according to CNN. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/566843-dhs-concerned-about-violence-stemming-from-trump-reinstatement
Why did Lauren Boebert lead a late-night Capitol tour three weeks before Jan. 6? Before she became a member of Congress, Boebert led a family tour that appeared to break all the Capitol's rules. https://www.salon.com/2021/08/04/why-did-lauren-boebert-lead-a-late-night-capitol-tour-three-weeks-before-jan-6/
Trump Administration Brings Federal Charges Against Portland Protesters. September 30, 2020 5:08 AM ET https://www.npr.org/2020/09/30/918572968/trump-administration-brings-federal-charges-against-portland-protesters
Justice Dept.: Sedition charge may apply to protest violence. September 17, 2020 Attorney General William Barr has been pushing his U.S. attorneys to bring federal charges in protest-related violence whenever they can, keeping a grip on cases even if a defendant could be tried instead in state court. Federal convictions often result in longer prison sentences; sedition alone could lead to up to 20 years behind bars. The memo cited as a hypothetical example "a group has conspired to take a federal courthouse or other federal property by force," but the real thing took place in Portland, Oregon, during clashes that erupted night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators. https://apnews.com/article/state-courts-violent-crime-arson-violence-crime-cbca8672a70f9f170a086a7a252a751e
READ: Notes From Top DOJ Official On Trump's Conspiracy To Overturn 2020 Election. The House Oversight Committee released handwritten notes on Friday authored by former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, who recorded two late-December meetings in which former president Trump tried to use the DOJ to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The notes also show that Trump praised both Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as a "fighter" and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) for having "done a great job getting to the bottom of things." https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/read-notes-from-top-doj-official-on-trumps-conspiracy-to-overturn-2020-election
GOP lawmaker Mo Brooks says he wore body armor at the January 6 Trump rally and was tipped off to 'risks'. Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama said he wore body armor to Donald Trump's January 6 rally in Washington, DC, after being tipped off about "risks" in the days leading up to the event, Slate reported. "I was warned on Monday" — January 4 — "that there might be risks associated with the next few days," Brooks told the Slate politics writer Jim Newell. "And as a consequence of those warnings, I did not go to my condo," he added. "Instead, I slept on the floor of my office. And when I gave my speech at the Ellipse, I was wearing body armor. "That's why I was wearing that nice little windbreaker. To cover up the body armor." https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-lawmaker-mo-brooks-wore-body-armor-to-jan-6-trump-rally-2021-7
The DOJ Won't Defend Rep. Mo Brooks In Court Against Claims He Incited The Jan. 6 Riot. The Justice Department says Brooks was engaged in campaign activity when he participated in the rally. That is not within the scope of his duties as a member of Congress, so he doesn't qualify for legal immunity for his actions, the department said. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/28/1021611663/the-doj-wont-defend-rep-mo-brooks-in-court-against-claims-he-incited-jan-6-riot
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz abandon their own Capitol riots presser as it descends into chaos. Republicans were complaining about treatment of Capitol riot suspects as committee hearings into 6 January insurrection were beginning near by. Rep Louie Gohmert, one of the members of Congress to speak at the news conference, briefly returned to speak to reporters after the news conference dissolved into chaos but was drowned out by a large brass band, DC Critical Condition, which was apparently contracted by demonstrators to show up and drown out the news conference with music. The band could still be heard playing a while after the presser ended, as demonstrators celebrated and danced outside of the Justice Department building while still waving their signs and the Trump effigy. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gaetz-taylor-greene-brass-band-b1891648.html
What did Jim Jordan know about the insurrection and when did he know it? Sidney Blumenthal I have some questions for the Republican congressman about events at the US Capitol on 6 January. Jim Jordan is a wiry, hyperactive bundle of nerves who tosses off his suit jacket, coiled to leap into the ring and twist the arms of his opponents. The former college wrestling champion in the 134lb class represents the locker-room jock culture in the House of Representatives, snapping his towel in committee hearings to show off his primacy as an alpha big man on campus. Jordan's political moves are drawn from his wrestling repertoire: the leg shot, the half-nelson and the slam. From 1987 to 1995, Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at the Ohio State University, where many athletes claim he knew about and turned a blind eye to Dr Richard Strauss's sexual abuse of at least 177 students. Jordan has denied that he engaged in a cover-up. One of the abused wrestlers, Mark Coleman, who was a close friend and roommate of Jordan and became an Ultimate Fighting Champion, told the Wall Street Journal (in comments he would later retract): "There's no way unless he's got dementia or something that he's got no recollection of what was going on at Ohio State." Another abused wrestler, Dunyasha Yetts, said: "If Jordan says he didn't know about it then he's lying." Jordan refused to cooperate with the university's investigation: goodbye, Columbus. On 11 January, the same day an article of impeachment was filed in the House against Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection", Trump awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a closed ceremony at the White House. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/27/jim-jordan-republican-capitol-attack-insurrection-house-select-committee
Jim Jordan: It's Pelosi Who Needs To Answer Questions About Jan. 6. Accuses Democrats of normalizing anarchy. That's when hundreds of people, many of whom had been at a rally led by President Trump, went to the building. Evidence suggests Trump's opponents also were embedded in the crowd. There were dozens who broke windows or doors to get in and then vandalized parts of the building. Hundreds of others simply walked into the building, sometimes as security officers held the doors open for them. "The fundamental question is why wasn't there a proper security posture that day? It wasn't like we didn't know there was a rally in town. It wasn't like we didn't know it would be a big rally, after all it was a President Trump rally," he explained. "Why wasn't there a proper security presence? That is a question that only the speaker of the United States House of Representatives can answer," he said. "My guess is the reason she didn't have the proper presence there is because – think about what happened last year. The Democrats normalized anarchy. They said 'Oh, if you are a rioter or a looter, you are attacking police that we are defunding and you are destroying small business we are going to raise money to bail you out of jail.' So with that background, she couldn't have the presence that you need that day." Jenna Ellis, who served as an attorney for Trump, slammed Pelosi's rejection of Jordan and Banks. "This is NOT about getting to the truth," she wrote on Twitter. "It's political persecution from Democrats. "They will stop at nothing to take down Trump." https://www.citizensjournal.us/jim-jordan-its-pelosi-who-needs-to-answer-questions-about-jan-6/
Rep. Jim Banks unloads on Pelosi, vows to get Jan. 6 answers via GOP panel. Banks alleged that Pelosi and Democrats on the committee are hesitant to look into potential shortcomings that could reflect poorly on the speaker, with Republicans questioning whether she played a role in delaying the deployment of the National Guard that day. "If you want to study what happened at the Capitol, you've got to study the political violence that happened in big cities around the country. And I think you've got what happened on Good Friday with the Capitol Police officer that was killed by a left-wing extremist," he said. "I think all of it deserves attention, because again it gets back to leadership and it gets back to protocols. And I'll tell you what the leader of the Capitol Police union told us today said, on Jan. 6, the leadership of the Capitol Police didn't prepare them for what was going to happen even though they had three weeks to prepare with legitimate intelligence," Banks said. "They didn't train them for what was going to happen on Jan. 6. They didn't equip them for what was going to happen on Jan. 6, so why aren't we talking about that? It's serious." https://nypost.com/2021/07/21/banks-unloads-on-pelosi-vows-to-get-jan-6-answers-via-gop-panel/
Jim Jordan among McCarthy picks for Jan. 6 panel. The others , sources said, are Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee and the co-founder of the far-right Freedom Caucus; Rep. Rodney Davis (Ill.), the top Republican on the Administration Committee; and Reps. Kelly Armstrong (N.D.) and Troy Nehls (Texas), a former county sheriff. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/563789-jim-jordan-tops-mccarthy-picks-for-jan-6-panel
In addition to Cheney, Pelosi's other picks include Democratic Representatives Bennie Thompson, Elaine Luria, Jamie Raskin, Stephanie Murphy, Pete Aguilar, Adam Schiff and Zoe Lofgren. Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, will chair the January 6 panel. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/january-6-committee-liz-cheney-pelosi-members/
Pence refused to leave the Capitol during the January 6 riot despite Secret Service agents urging him to evacuate, saying, 'I'm not getting in the car': book. The protective detail then ushered Pence, along with his wife, Karen, daughter Charlotte, and his brother Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana, down a staircase to his armored limousine, the book says. Pence refused to get in the car. "I trust you, Tim, but you're not driving the car," Pence told Giebels, the book says. "If I get in that vehicle, you guys are taking off. I'm not getting in the car." Pence and his family then waited out the riot from an underground but undisclosed location inside the Capitol, the authors write. He was adamant that Congress finish its work that same night, the book says. "We need to get back tonight," Pence told top lawmakers and defense officials on a call, according to the book. "We can't let the world see that our process of confirming the next president can be delayed." "We're going back to the Capitol," Pelosi said on a call, according to the book. "You just tell us how long it will take to get rid of these people." "I want it cleared out now. The Senate needs to get its business done," McConnell said, according to the book. Congress reconvened, and Pence returned to the chamber at 8:06 p.m., the authors write. The lawmakers certified President Joe Biden's 2020 victory at 3:24 a.m. on January 7. Trump did not personally check in on Pence at any point during the riot, the book says. https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-refused-to-leave-capitol-during-riot-book-2021-7
Trump on Jan. 6 insurrection: 'These were great people'. The former president described the participants as loving and patriotic, and said Democrats could be blamed for any violence. Echoing his rhetoric about the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Trump said, "These were peaceful people, these were great people." He added: "Too much spirit and faith and love, there was such love at that rally, you had over a million people," inflating the size of his rally crowd. After Trump's speech, the Capitol was invaded by backers of his seeking to disrupt the Electoral College count. On the way in, they battled with police officers; according to the Department of Justice, approximately 140 police officers were assaulted. Hundreds of those who entered the Capitol have been charged with various crimes, including more than 50 who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. Referring to his remarks to the crowd before they stormed the Capitol as "a very mild-mannered speech," Trump also suggested that the blame for any violence that day could be placed on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats because they didn't take the potential for violence seriously. "They are the ones that were responsible," he said. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/11/trump-jan-6-insurrection-these-were-great-people-499165
Rep. Andy Kim bought a blue wool suit off the rack during post-holiday sales. J.Crew, cobalt blue, standard cut. He looked forward to wearing the suit to President Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20. But first Kim, a Democrat who represents New Jersey's 3rd District, wore his new suit to work in the halls of Congress on Jan. 6, to count and certify the ballots from the Electoral College. He was on his way to the House chamber around 1 p.m. that day when the U.S. Capitol was invaded by a mob trying to overturn the election by force. Kim made it back to his office, where he and his staff barricaded their doors. They stayed there for 8 hours, until the Capitol had been secured, and Congress resumed its constitutional duties after a foiled insurrection. "It was the most emotional experience I've ever had on any job," he told us, and before being elected to Congress, Kim worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations at the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council. "There was broken glass when I got to the Rotunda," he remembers. "Garbage, litter, bottles and cigarette butts people put out on statues. I felt heartbroken. The Capitol is the physical form of Article 1 of the Constitution," he told us. "'All legislative powers ... vested in a Congress...' So I found a roll of trash bags, got down on my knees, and just started trying to clean up a place I love." AP photographer Andrew Harnik came across him, and pictures of Rep. Kim on his knees, cleaning up after a mob that tried to disrupt democracy, were seen around the world. Perhaps because he wore a face mask, he became known as "the blue suit" on social media. Rep. Kim got tweets, cards and letters from people who said his pointed, simple response gave them hope. He wore the suit once more, a week later, to vote for the impeachment of Donald Trump. "The dust of cleaning up was still on my knees," he told us. "Then I put the suit in the back of my closet. I didn't want to see it again." But when the Smithsonian National Museum of American History called to ask for his blue suit, as an artifact of what happened on Jan. 6, Kim said he was glad to hand it over for display. He hopes his sons, August and Austin, now 3 and 5, will see it there one day. He says he'll tell them, "When something you love is broken, you fix it." https://www.npr.org/2021/07/10/1014848654/opinion-blue-suit-dusted-by-insurrection-goes-to-smithsonian
The Rise and Fall of the Proud Boys. The far-right extremist group helped mount an insurrection. Then it began to splinter. By EJ DICKSON JUNE 15, 2021 https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/proud-boys-far-right-group-1183966/
'So, So Angry': Reporters Who Survived the Capitol Riot Are Still Struggling. The reporters who survived the insurrection are still covering Congress. But things don't feel normal. https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avqqn/reporters-survived-capitol-riot-struggling
Videos show ally of Marjorie Taylor Greene among mob inside Capitol during January 6 riot. By Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN Updated 12:08 AM ET, Thu March 25, 2021 Footage from the January 6 riot at the US Capitol shows a close ally of Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene inside the building. CNN previously reported that Anthony Aguero, a conservative live-streamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the riot that he had been among those who entered the building. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/politics/kfile-marjorie-taylor-greene-ally-us-capitol/index.html
The FBI's Washington Field Office has released 11 new videos of suspects in violent assaults on federal officers during the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and is seeking the public's help to identify them. The 11 new videos depict suspects seen forcefully attacking law enforcement officers. https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/fbi-washington-field-office-releases-new-videos-of-suspects-in-violent-assaults-on-federal-officers-at-us-capitol-seeks-publics-help-in-identifying-them-070621#Videos
Nancy Pelosi Announces Liz Cheney Will Serve On Jan. 6 Committee. Cheney was ousted from her leadership role in the Republican Party for supporting Trump's impeachment after the Capitol riot. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-liz-cheney-january-6-commission_n_60ddd37ae4b0b94d34df4de6
Online activism is spilling into the streets of Southern California, sparking a post-Trump movement. "A year from now, I don't want to be back at this board demanding they repeal a requirement to donate a kidney," local activist Peggy Hall said into a microphone at the passport protest in May. "What's next? You're going to be sterilized for the common good?" "This is a humanitarian issue," said Jason Lefkowitz, a Los Angeles-based organizer behind the Dodger Stadium anti-vaccine protest and others. Like others here interviewed by The Post, he said he was motivated to became an activist during the pandemic, after losing his job and other freedoms. "It is about our civil liberties being taken away over a made-up pandemic. It is a global war over everything." Alan Hostetter, a former local police chief and yoga teacher as well as a speaker at the June rally attended by The Post, was indicted on a charge of his alleged role in the insurrection June 10. Shortly after, he went back on Facebook Live, YouTube, Spotify, Rumble and several other services, filming himself walking on the beach in San Clemente in a "Free Man" baseball cap. He decried the Jan. 6 riot as a "false flag staged event" and a "fakesurrection" because he believed infiltrators were in the crowd. https://www.yahoo.com/news/online-activism-spilling-streets-southern-144141393.html
NEWS: House Democrats introduce a resolution to create a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Speaker shall appoint 13 Members to the Select Committee, 5 of whom shall be appointed after consultation with the minority leader. https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-117hres503ih.pdf
New Capitol Riot Bodycam Footage Shows What An Hour Looked Like For Police On Jan. 6. The video begins with a view from the back of a moving van. It's timestamped in the corner Jan. 6, 2021, 1:53 p.m. There are at least three police officers seated up front; two are wearing helmets. There's no sound. From the vantage point of a camera attached to the uniform of an officer in the back, the viewer can see his hands as he adjusts his gear and straps on gloves. Two minutes in, after the officers have exited the van at a trot and clustered with other police on the street with the Capitol in the background, the sound suddenly turns on. Another officer is yelling at the group to make sure their cameras are working. The camera picks up the sound of sirens and the low roar of a crowd in the distance. The 52-minute video is one of a series of clips of police body camera footage that depict the frontline experience of officers who responded to the riots on Jan. 6 and were released over the past week. These videos had been referenced in court filings and played in court in some of the cases brought in connection with the assault on the Capitol, but they hadn't been available to the public. They were finally released after a coalition of media organizations, including BuzzFeed News, petitioned judges. The latest cache offers new, up-close perspectives of the situation outside the Capitol as an angry mob surged forward to try to break through police lines, hurling flag poles and other projectiles; deploying pepper spray; and lobbing insults, obscenities, and threats at the officers. The clips were cited by prosecutors and defense lawyers in different cases, but they all fell within the same one-hour window, starting just before 2 p.m. — minutes before the first rioters broke into the Capitol. This is what officers saw: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/capitol-riot-police-body-cam-footage
New Details Suggest Senior Trump Aides Knew Jan. 6 Rally Could Get Chaotic. Text messages and interviews show that Stop the Steal leaders fooled the Capitol police and welcomed racists to increase their crowd sizes, while White House officials worked to both contain and appease them. Women for America First, led by Amy Kremer, a Republican operative who helped found the tea party movement. The group initially wanted to hold a kind of extended oral argument, with multiple speakers making their case for how the election had been stolen. On the other was Stop the Steal, a new, more radical group that had recruited avowed racists to swell its ranks and wanted the President to share the podium with Alex Jones, the radio host banned from the world's major social media platforms for hate speech, misinformation and glorifying violence. Stop the Steal organizers say their plan was to march on the Capitol and demand that lawmakers give Trump a second term. https://www.propublica.org/article/new-details-suggest-senior-trump-aides-knew-jan-6-rally-could-get-chaotic
DHS official told lawmakers there's concern about Trump August reinstatement conspiracy theory. Sources familiar with the exchange said top DHS counterterrorism official John Cohen shared these concerns while speaking in a members only briefing with the House Homeland Security Committee. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) reportedly asked Cohen how DHS is monitoring the spread of disinformation and conspiracy as well as how they fuel violence, specifically pointing to the Trump reinstatement conspiracy theory that has become popular among QAnon followers. According to Politico's sources, Cohen said that DHS had not found anything linking violence to the conspiracy theory that Trump will be reinstated, though he did say the department was following online discussions in extremist communities. Cohen said that DHS was highly concerned about the conspiracy theory, however, as it fuels the narrative that the election was rigged, which could in turn spark violence among extremists. https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/560096-dhs-official-told-lawmakers-theres-concern-about-trump-august
Famous QAnon Couple Featured In Documentaries Arrested In Capitol Attack. Jamie and Jennifer Buteau face charges in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. The feds say Jamie Buteau threw a chair at officers. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jamie-jennifer-buteau-qanon-couple-trump-capitol_n_60d4b7b5e4b053314757931a
Capitol rioter allowed to go on vacation after making "divine special appearance" in court. https://boingboing.net/2021/06/24/capitol-rioter-allowed-to-go-on-vacation-after-making-divine-special-appearance-in-court.html
No jail time in 1st riot sentence; Oath Keeper pleads guilty. Graydon Young, who was accused alongside 15 other members and associates of the Oath Keepers of conspiring to block the congressional certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory, pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. It was the first guilty plea in the major conspiracy case brought against members of the group. Another Oath Keepers member, Jon Ryan Schaffer, has also pleaded guilty in the riot, but was not charged in the conspiracy case. Schaffer has agreed to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify against other defendants. Anna Morgan Lloyd, 49, of Indiana, was ordered by a federal judge to serve three years of probation, perform 120 hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution after admitting to unlawfully entering the Capitol. She pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge under a deal with prosecutors. After the riot, Lloyd described Jan. 6 on Facebook as the "best day ever." Robert Maurice Reeder of Maryland, admitted to entering the Capitol, but his lawyer said he didn't force his way inside and didn't damage any property or hurt anyone. Tennessee resident Brian Wayne Ivey, who pleaded guilty on Tuesday, entered the Capitol through a window that somebody else broke with a riot shield and spent roughly 30 minutes inside the building. Joshua Bustle of Virginia, who pleaded guilty alongside his wife, will also be seeking probation, his lawyer said. Jessica Bustle's attorney described them as "good, decent, hardworking people," who were urged to come to Washington by "very powerful people and groups." "They are not criminals or insurrectionists or rioters. They were not looking to break laws when they came to DC on the 6th. They violated minor laws on the 6th and they have accepted responsibility and accountability for doing so," Jessica Bustle's attorney, Nabeel Kibria, wrote in an email. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-capitol-siege-government-and-politics-87122373383f8d3f3c9f0b2ba3fa57d6
Ex-Florida GOP Governor Urges DeSantis to Probe Ties to Capitol Riot As State Leads in Arrests. Former Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist has called for Governor Ron DeSantis to investigate the state's ties to the Capitol riot after numerous Floridians were arrested in connection to the incident. Crist, a Democratic Florida representative who's running for governor in 2022, made the remarks during a press conference at the Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg on Friday. Crist previously served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican. "The unprecedented attack on our nation's Capitol on January 6th was an assault on our very democracy, our Constitution, and our fundamental right to vote," he said. "And we've recently learned that, unfortunately, Florida leads the nation in people facing criminal charges related to that insurrection." https://www.newsweek.com/ex-florida-gop-governor-urges-desantis-probe-ties-capitol-riot-state-leads-arrests-1602307
Trump incited Insurrection January 06, 2021, Qanon, MAGA Zombies, archived June 20, 2021
DOJ Releases Graphic New Video While Republicans Try to Gaslight America About the Insurrection. "We see what I would describe as a look of pure rage," one U.S. attorney said describing footage of a rioter. "His teeth are gritted. This is a man about to unleash some kind of violence". https://twitter.com/politicsvideo23/status/1405947047841349633 https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/doj-new-graphic-insurrection-video-1186360/
Mike Pence is called a 'TRAITOR' at faith conference: Hecklers drown out VP with boos at Faith & Freedom Coalition event where Ted Cruz called critical race theory 'as racist as the Klansmen'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9701813/Mike-Pence-called-TRAITOR-faith-conference.html#v-8378792159922570396 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9701813/Mike-Pence-called-TRAITOR-faith-conference.html
Tucker Carlson hosts guest who attended a white supremacist conference to rewrite the events of January 6. On the June 15 broadcast of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson hosted Darren Beattie, who left Donald Trump's White House after reporting emerged that he attended a white nationalist conference, to discuss a "report" published on far-right outfit Revolver that suggests the January 6 attack on the Capitol may have been orchestrated by FBI operatives. During the episode, Carlson claimed, without presenting any tangible proof, that "in potentially every single case," unindicted co-conspirators referenced in legal cases related to January 6 "were FBI operatives." https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/tucker-carlson-hosts-guest-who-attended-white-supremacist-conference-rewrite
@MacFarlaneNews ALERT: Court orders release of more video in Jan 6 case of Patrick McCaughey, who's accused of assaulting police on frontline I'm sharing *some* ... just listen to the audio in this clip... as the mob coordinates its attack on the police line ==> https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1405306368928714755
US intel report warns of more violence by QAnon followers. https://www.cleveland19.com/app/2021/06/14/us-intel-report-warns-more-violence-by-qanon-followers/
Diamond and Sulk: A Weekend With Mike Lindell and the MAGA Zombies. In a small Wisconsin town, the gang reunited to keep the MAGA 2020 dream alive. There were … some hiccups. "The park where we're going to be once had 40,000 for a concert, and we're going to try and break that record. I'll see you there. All I ask is you watch my videos." He pauses a moment. "And visit my freedom-of-speech website: frankspeech.com." https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/mypillow-mike-lindell-2020-election-1183676/
O.C. Stop the Steal organizer Alan Hostetter indicted on Capitol riot conspiracy charges. Two Orange County extremists — a former police chief and his partner in organizing Stop the Steal rallies — have been indicted along with members of the Three Percenters militia for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Alan Hostetter, the former chief of the La Habra police department, was indicted along with fellow Californians Russell Taylor, Erik Scott Warner, Felipe Antonio "Tony" Martinez, Derek Kinnison and Ronald Mele on multiple charges. Though all are charged with being in restricted areas of the Capitol, Warner is the sole indictee to be accused of entering the building, via a broken window. Kinnison and Warner are charged with destroying evidence, while Taylor also faces a weapons count for carrying a knife with a blade longer than 3 inches. The grand jury indictment, unsealed Thursday, alleges the men conspired on social media prior to the riot — including on a Telegram channel dubbed Answer the Call and via text messages — creating travel plans that included discussion of bringing weapons to the Capitol. On the day of the riot, they breached the Capitol and encouraged others to do so as well, posting videos and pictures as they went, the indictment says. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-10/orange-county-extremist-leader-indicted-in-capitol-riot
Mike Pence Saved The Republic On Jan. 6 – And No One Is Talking About It, Not Even Him. His refusal to carry out Donald Trump's demands staved off a constitutional crisis at the very least, and possibly national violence unseen since the Civil War. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-pence-trump-jan-6-hero_n_60c0eb74e4b059c73bd4eef5
In Exclusive Jailhouse Letter, Capitol Riot Defendant Explains Motives, Remains Boastful. The material obtained by ProPublica sheds light on the radicalization of a Jan. 6 defendant whom prosecutors have characterized as a "serious danger ... not only to his family and Congress, but to the entire system of justice." The letter is signed "the 1/6ers" and expresses no remorse for the assault on the Capitol, in which five people died. While no names appeared on it, ProPublica was able to determine, through interviews with his family and a review of his correspondence from jail, that it was penned by Guy Reffitt, a member of the Three Percenter right-wing militant group accused of participating in the riot. The letter said the inmates arrested for their role in the attack regularly recite the Pledge of Allegiance inside the Washington, D.C. jail and sing the national anthem "all in unison, loud and proud most everyday." "January 6th was nothing short of a satirical way to overthrow a government," said the letter, written by hand on yellow lined paper. "If overthrow was the quest, it would have no doubt been overthrown." https://www.propublica.org/article/in-exclusive-jailhouse-letter-capital-riot-defendant-explains-motives-remains-boastful
Facebook first suspended Trump's account for 24 hours on Jan. 6 in response to two posts he sent out during the Capitol Riot. One was a post reading, "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love in peace. Remember this day forever!" The other was a video addressed to the rioters in which he said, "We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special." The next day, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the suspension would continue until at least after Inauguration Day due to his belief that Trump was intent on undermining "the peaceful and lawful transition of power." https://slate.com/technology/2021/06/trump-facebook-ban-two-year-oversight-board.html
UPDATED LIST OF JANUARY 6 ASSAULT DEFENDANTS https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/04/18/updated-list-of-january-6-assault-defendants/ https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases
January 6 Conspiracy Case Deepens Against Oath Keepers. Sixteen are now charged, and the feds appear to be closing in on the group's founder. The cadre of accused Oath Keepers connects in multiple ways to longtime Trump ally Roger Stone. At least eight people charged in the conspiracy acted as "security" for Stone at events in Washington, DC, on January 5 and 6, or did so previously at "stop the steal" events in Florida where Stone promoted Trump's lies about election fraud, according to videos and other documentation. One of the four men newly charged on Sunday, Paul Hackett, 51, whom the Washington Post identified as a Florida chiropractor, appeared in video footage from a December "stop the steal" rally in Miami, where he could be seen guarding Stone. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/january-6-conspiracy-congress-insurrection-oath-keepers-trump-roger-stone/
QAnon's cowboy-themed "Patriot Roundup" sure sounds like it was full of horseshit. https://www.avclub.com/qanons-cowboy-themed-patriot-roundup-sure-sounds-like-1847008484
Four additional members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group that took part in the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January, have been indicted for participating in the event. Court documents unsealed on Sunday named three individuals living in Florida – Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Jason Dolan, 44, of Wellington, and William Isaacs, 21, of Kissimmee. The three appeared last Thursday before US magistrates in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Orlando. A fourth person's name was hidden. The four new defendants are charged with conspiring to obstruct Congress's confirmation of the 2020 presidential election results in a joint session of Congress that was interrupted by the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. Five deaths were ultimately linked to the attack. The four Oath Keepers are each accused of forcing entry through the Capitol's East Rotunda doors after marching up the steps wearing combat uniforms, tactical vests, helmets and Oath Keepers insignia. The new indictment is part of a larger criminal conspiracy case that now includes 19 members of the far-right group. Members previously charged in the government's case have pleaded not guilty. According to prosecutors, members of the group attended a 9 November meeting during which the Oath Keeper's founder Stewart Rhodes, referred to in government documents as Person One, described the attack as an insurrection. "We're gonna be posted outside DC, awaiting the president's orders. … We want him to declare an insurrection," according to documents. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/31/capitol-attack-four-more-oath-keepers-indicted
Senate Republicans KILL bill to create a Capitol riot commission despite SIX GOP rebels voting in favor with the Democrats. Senate Republicans tanked the House-passed bill that would create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack. Democrats were unable to override a Republican filibuster placed on the bill during a Friday vote of 54 to 35, with 60 votes needed. Republican Sens. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman and Ben Sasse joined the Democrats. 'Shame on the Republican Party for trying to sweep the horrors of that day under the rug because they're afraid of Donald Trump,' Sen. Chuck Schumer said Chaos in the Senate prevented the bill from getting a vote Thursday, when it was expected . https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9630163/Senate-Republicans-KILL-bill-create-Capitol-riot-commission.html
Here Are The Big Questions A Capitol Riot Commission Could Answer. The House approved a plan for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. What could it uncover? What did, or didn't, Trump do to stop the riot? How did Republicans respond? How did the attack come together, and who planned it? What did Capitol police and the National Guard do to prepare? Republicans have questions, too. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/capitol-riot-commission-questions_n_60a8018fe4b0d56a83e97e1e
Rep. Issa Votes Against Jan. 6 Probe, Says Questions Were 'Asked and Answered'. East County Rep. Darrell Issa said: "Over the last four months, essential inquiry and important questions regarding the events of January 6th have been asked and answered, while individuals responsible for breaking the law have been held to account." In a statement, he continued: "I believe the essential and ongoing bipartisan oversight work of Congress should be allowed to continue, and there is no reason that the current framework is insufficient to answering any legitimate questions that may remain." https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2021/05/19/rep-issa-votes-against-jan-6-probe-says-questions-were-asked-and-answered/
Marjorie Taylor Greene defends 'abused' Capitol rioters and Ashli Babbitt in House floor speech. Republican congresswoman demands investigation into Black Lives Matter protests as GOP rejects bipartisan investigation into pro-Trump assault. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-speech-capitol-b1849580.html
Watch GOP reps claim Capitol riot was a "normal tourist visit" CNN showed footage of the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol side-by-side with Big Lie GQP representatives telling whoppers that would make a cow laugh. Of course, Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) don't expect anyone to believe their lies about "people in an orderly fashion staying in between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures" like a "normal tourist visit" when they were actually pepper spraying police, breaking windows and doors, assaulting police, and hunting for "traitors" like Pence and Pelosi to hang them on the gallows they erected outside. No, Clyde and Norman are telling these obvious lies to demonstrate their fealty to their god-emperor-in-exile at Mar-a-Lago, because it will get them re-elected. When Clylde was later asked to explain his comments that the rights looked like a "normal tourist visit," Clyde said "you didn't take what I said in context," then got into a pickup truck in a hideous shade of maroon. https://boingboing.net/2021/05/13/watch-gqp-reps-claim-capitol-riot-was-a-normal-tourist-visit.html https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/05/13/republican-andrew-clyde-ralph-norman-capitol-riot-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/
In a letter sent from behind bars, a key defendant in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol said he and fellow inmates have bonded in jail, and boasted that those attacking the building could have overthrown the government if they had wanted. The letter is signed "the 1/6ers" and expresses no remorse for the assault on the Capitol, in which five people died. While no names appeared on it, ProPublica was able to determine, through interviews with his family and a review of his correspondence from jail, that it was penned by Guy Reffitt, a member of the Three Percenter right-wing militant group accused of participating in the riot. The letter said the inmates arrested for their role in the attack regularly recite the Pledge of Allegiance inside the Washington, D.C. jail and sing the national anthem "all in unison, loud and proud most everyday." The family shared group text message chats from the past year and some of their correspondence with Guy Reffitt during his more than three months in jail. The material sheds light on the radicalization of Reffitt, whom federal prosecutors characterized in a court filing as a "serious danger ... not only to his family and Congress, but to the entire system of justice." https://www.propublica.org/article/in-exclusive-jailhouse-letter-capital-riot-defendant-explains-motives-remains-boastful
Interesting raw data on who stormed the capitol. https://cpost.uchicago.edu/research/domestic_extremism/
The Capitol Rioters Aren't Like Other Extremists. We analyzed 193 people arrested in connection with the January 6 riot—and found a new kind of American radicalism. First, the attack on the Capitol was unmistakably an act of political violence, not merely an exercise in vandalism or trespassing amid a disorderly protest that had spiraled out of control. The overwhelming reason for action, cited again and again in court documents, was that arrestees were following Trump's orders to keep Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the presidential-election winner. Dozens of arrestees, court records indicate, made statements explaining their intentions in detail on social media or in interviews with the FBI. "I am incredibly proud to be a patriot today," wrote a 37-year-old man from Beverly Hills, California, "to stand up tall in defense of liberty & the Constitution, to support Trump & #MAGAforever, & to send the message: WE ARE NEVER CONCEDING A STOLEN ELECTION." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/the-capitol-rioters-arent-like-other-extremists/617895/
The Secrets of QAnon's Appeal. Here's what QAnon documentaries reveal about how conspiracies flourish. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/18/review-qanon-documentary-hbo-into-the-storm-politics-482694
What We Know About The Suspect Who Planted Bombs Before The Capitol Riot April 14, 2021 Here's what is known: The suspect was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a COVID-19 mask and expensive sneakers — Nike Air Max Speed Turf with a distinctive yellow logo. Sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., the suspect placed one pipe bomb on a park bench near the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and another behind the Republican National Committee headquarters. https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986457987/what-we-know-about-the-suspect-who-planted-bombs-before-the-capitol-riot
Capitol Riot Suspect Wore 'I Was There' Shirt When Arrested. On Feb. 12, a grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted Miller on 12 counts, including civil disorder. Garret Miller didn't speak to the law enforcement officers who arrested him on charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol in January, but the T-shirt he was wearing at his Dallas home that day sent a clear and possibly incriminating message. On a recorded call immediately after his arrest, Miller told his mother, "I don't feel that I've done anything wrong and now I'm being locked up," according to prosecutors. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/national-international/capitol-riot-suspect-wore-i-was-there-shirt-when-arrested/2562768/
New Proud Boys Busted for Capitol Riot Have Wild Police Ties. From an allegedly violent North Carolina Proud Boy appearing in a disturbing photo op with a D.C. cop to the son of a Philly officer, the connections keep getting worse. In late September 2019, Charles Donohoe took to the encrypted messaging app Telegram with a call to arms. "We need to stop fighting antifa in the streets where the cops are and start fighting them in bars and alleys," Donohoe, a member of the far-right streetfighting group the Proud Boys, wrote. "We need to stomp them. We need to ruin their lives physically like they have ruined ours financially with doxxing. We need to rack up their hospital bills. We need to use special operations tactics and lightning strike them." During a July 2019 Proud Boys demonstration in Washington, D.C., Donohoe ran into Collin Cole, a Metropolitan Police Officer with whom he had previously served in the Marines. The pair shook hands and the image soon circulated in Proud Boys circles as evidence that the group was not racist. (Cole is Black.) https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-proud-boys-charles-donohoe-and-zach-rehl-busted-for-capitol-riot-have-wild-police-ties
@page88 In late 07, I wrote abt Ron Paul's neo-Nazi ties. His supporters hit me w/a vast & vicious trolling campaign. Stewart Rhodes, a Paul aide, then smeared Paul's enemies on his blog. Then he founded the Oath Keepers. Online & offline terrorism are linked. https://twitter.com/page88/status/1375278194618740736 https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/oath-keeper-communications-stewart-rhodes-capitol/2021/03/25/792e8b7e-8d65-11eb-a730-1b4ed9656258_story.html
Prosecutors Are Accusing A Member Of The Oath Keepers Of Lying About His Paramilitary Training. Kelly Meggs had a 97-second phone call with the Oath Keepers' founder, Stewart Rhodes, on the day of the Capitol insurrection, prosecutors said. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/prosecutors-accuse-oath-keeper-of-lying-about-paramilitary
FBI Washington Field Office Releases Videos of Assaults on Officers at U.S. Capitol, Seeks Public's Help to Identify Suspects. March 18, 2021 https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/fbi-washington-field-office-releases-videos-of-assaults-on-officers-at-us-capitol-seeks-publics-help-to-identify-suspects
F.B.I. agents have arrested two organizers for the Proud Boys in Philadelphia and North Carolina, and prosecutors filed new charges against two other prominent members of the far-right group in Florida and Washington State as federal authorities continued their crackdown on its leadership ranks, three law enforcement officials said on Wednesday. With the new conspiracy indictment, prosecutors have now brought charges against a total of 13 people identified in court papers as members of the Proud Boys. Federal investigators have described the group, which appeared in force in Washington on Jan. 6, as one of the chief instigators of the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. In the indictment, prosecutors accused Charles Donohoe, a Proud Boys leader from North Carolina, and Zach Rehl, the president of the group's chapter in Philadelphia, of conspiring to interfere with law enforcement officers at the Capitol and obstruct the certification of President Biden's electoral victory. Two other high-ranking Proud Boys who were already facing similar charges — Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Wash., and Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Fla. — were also implicated as part of the conspiracy. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/us/politics/proud-boys-charges-capitol-riot.html
Two men who allegedly assaulted Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray as thousands of MAGA rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 have been arrested. Julian Elie Khater, a 32-year-old resident of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, a 39-year-old from West Virginia, were arrested Sunday for their roles in the siege, The Washington Post first reported. Both men are expected to appear in federal court Monday. Authorities allege the pair is seen in videos discharging a canister of bear spray into the face of Sicknick and two other officers. Sicknick died two days after defending the building during the siege. https://www.thedailybeast.com/julian-khater-george-tanios-accused-of-spraying-bear-mace-in-capitol-cop-brian-sicknicks-face-before-he-died
6 Questions Officials Still Haven't Answered After Weeks of Hearings on the Capitol Attack. More than 15 hours of testimony failed to answer fundamental questions about the Capitol attack. Among them: Why national security officials responded differently to BLM protesters than to Trump supporters. https://www.propublica.org/article/6-questions-officials-still-havent-answered-after-weeks-of-hearings-on-the-capitol-attack
Officers maced, trampled: Docs expose depth of Jan. 6 chaos https://apnews.com/article/docs-expose-depth-january-6-capitol-siege-chaos-fd3204574c11e453be8fb4e3c81258c3
Threats to Capitol prompt House to cancel Thursday votes https://thehill.com/homenews/house/541485-threats-to-capitol-prompt-house-to-change-vote-schedule
QAnon believers think Trump will be inaugurated again on March 4. Law enforcement is preparing for potential threats, but there's no evidence of mass mobilization yet. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22280323/qanon-march-president-trump-inaugration-conspiracy-theory
A close ally of Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took part in the January 6 mob at the Capitol and said he was among those who eventually made their way into the building. Greene, a freshman congresswoman with a history of promoting dangerous and violent conspiracies and comments, encouraged the big lie that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump by voting to object to the election certification and fanned the flames of the insurrection by telling her supporters to "fight for Trump." In tweets after the Capitol insurrection, Greene falsely suggested that those who had broken into the Capitol were not Republicans and instead falsely implied so-called "Antifa" dressed as Trump supporters were to blame. In fact, Anthony Aguero, a conservative livestreamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the January 6 assault on the Capitol that he had been among those who entered and attacked those who falsely claimed it was done by "Antifa." "We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself," said Aguero in a video posted on January 7. "I walked amongst all those people," he added, later defending entering the Capitol. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/kfile-marjorie-taylor-greene-close-ally-in-capitol-mob/index.html
9 Oath Keepers charged with sweeping conspiracy for role in Capitol insurrection. The Justice Department accused the nine militia members of coordinating efforts to storm Congress. In addition to Caldwell, Meggs and Watkins, prosecutors indicted Donovan Crowl, 50, of Champaign County, Ohio, Sandra Parker, 60, and Bennie Parker, 70, of Warren County, Ohio; Graydon Young, 54, of Englewood, Fla.; Laura Steele, 52, of Thomasville, N.C.; and Meggs' wife Connie, 59, of Dunnellon, Fla. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/19/oath-keepers-capitol-insurrection-470308
Guns, knives, bombs and bear spray: Here are the weapons Trump supporters brought to DC on the day of the Capitol attack https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/17/politics/capitol-insurrection-weapons-ron-johnson/index.html
'I'm running for my life. I cannot talk to you right now': 23 women in Congress recall the Capitol riot. https://19thnews.org/2021/02/women-in-congress-capitol-riot/
Trump's 5 Hours at the White House on Jan. 6: What We Know So Far. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-5-hours-white-house-160708543.html
Large bitcoin payment made to far-right individuals before U.S. Capitol attack: report. Nick Fuentes, who was permanently suspended from YouTube last year for hate speech, received 13.5 bitcoins, worth about $250,000 at the time of the transfer, making him by far the biggest beneficiary of the donation, according to the blog post. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-cryptocurrency/large-bitcoin-payment-made-to-far-right-individuals-before-u-s-capitol-attack-report-idUSKBN29J2PM
Inside the Capitol Riot: What the Parler Videos Reveal. The trove of more than 500 videos recovered from a largely pro-Trump social platform provides a uniquely immersive account of the violence and confusion as seen from inside the insurrection. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-capitol-riot-what-the-parler-videos-reveal
"I Don't Trust the People Above Me": Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection. Interviews with 19 current and former officers show how failures of leadership and communication put hundreds of Capitol cops at risk and allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress. It was only through Pittman's testimony at a closed Congressional briefing on Jan. 26 that most Capitol Police officers learned that the force did in fact have intelligence warnings of possible violence. She admitted that the department failed to adequately act on it. The officers said they are still waiting for an apology. Many are looking for new jobs. "Let's face it. Now the whole world knows where the vulnerabilities of the Capitol are," said one officer. "I don't trust the people above me to make decisions to bring me home safe." https://www.propublica.org/article/i-dont-trust-the-people-above-me-riot-squad-cops-open-up-about-disastrous-response-to-capitol-insurrection
An Oath Keeper Extremist Who Stormed The Capitol Kept A 'Death List' Prosecutors say Thomas Caldwell researched weapons, kept a "death list" of his enemies, and talked about mutilating the corpses of his political opponents." Caldwell also discussed and organized plans to attend the Jan. 6 rally with other extremists who would later storm the Capitol. Messages between Caldwell and militia members Donovan Crowl and Jessica Watkins include discussions of logistics for attending the rally and talk of other Oath Keepers who would attend. Watkins, a military veteran and member of the Oath Keepers, also texted Caldwell about how they could sneak weapons into Washington, D.C., and discussed having Oath Keepers waiting outside the city to deliver them guns. Trump wants all able bodied patriots to come," Watkins messaged, adding that she would "hate to miss it" if Trump invoked the insurrection act ― a reference to a QAnon conspiracy theory claiming that Trump was planning to authorize a military takeover of the government at the time. Prosecutors charged Caldwell, Watkins and Crowl last month with a series of offenses that include conspiracy to injure or impede an officer, violent entry or disorderly conduct, and obstruction of an official government proceeding. They are part of a growing number of rioters associated with far-right groups and anti-government militias who have been charged in connection with the insurrection. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/caldwell-capitol-riot-oath-keepers_n_6025a319c5b6591becd7859e
Trump impeachment: What the Proud Boys did before president's speech https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55959134
The Plan: Another theory posited that Trump's comments on Thursday about a "smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power" were not about an incoming Biden administration but about imminent military rule led by Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, whose Twitter account was suspended last week as part of the platform's widening ban on QAnon content. Most theories converged on a key point for QAnon, which over years of missed deadlines for an impending conquest by Trump has hinged on promoting and anticipating some new blockbuster event: that Trump was going to drop reality-shifting intelligence in the days and weeks ahead. "The reason we had to go through all this drama," one user posted on Telegram, "was for people to become aware, angry and ready to look at the evidence and demand justice." https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/13/qanon-capitol-siege-trump/
The January 6, 2020 siege on the US Capitol should not come as a surprise. Rather, it was preceded by a month-long frenzy of incitements, strategizing, and embrace of violence against lawmakers—fueled by Trump's December 19 tweet promising that the event "will be wild." Many of the president's supporters interpreted his words as "marching orders," declaring, "[Trump] can't exactly openly tell you to revolt…This is the closest he'll ever get." The movement behind the siege on the Capitol building has only become more emboldened in the event's aftermath. Trump-supporting extremists have already praised the siege as a "stunning success" and announced further armed protests, including the day of Biden's inauguration. As a member on TheDonald threatened: "No matter how all this plays out, its only the beginning." https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Far-Right-/-Far-Left-Threat/how-a-trump-tweet-sparked-plots-strategizing-to-storm-and-occupy-capitol-with-handcuffs-and-zip-ties.html
Trumpism Coup, archived February 10, 2021
Wren was no ordinary event planner. She served as deputy to Don Jr.'s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle at Trump Victory. In a text about the budget of the Jan. 6 event, she mentions Justin Caporale, a former top aide to Melania Trump. Text Messages Show Top Trump Campaign Fundraiser's Key Role Planning the Rally That Preceded the Siege. Caroline Wren, a Trump fundraiser, is listed as a "VIP Advisor" in a National Park Service permit for the Jan. 6th rally at the Ellipse. Text messages and a planning memo show the title downplays the active role she played in organizing the event. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-campaign-fundraiser-ellipse-rally
Liz Cheney: Trump's Pence Tweet During Riot Could Be 'Premeditated Effort to Provoke Violence'. Cheney also said that Republicans "are mistaken" to believe that BLM and antifa were responsible for the violence at the Capitol riot. The tweet in question, sent by Trump as the insurrection raged out of control, said: "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!" https://www.thedailybeast.com/liz-cheney-says-trumps-pence-tweet-during-riot-could-be-premeditated-effort-to-provoke-violence
Congress launches investigation into movements of Trump allies the day of the Capitol siege as new video emerges of Roger Stone surrounded by Oath Keeper militia members hours before the riot https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9231289/Roger-Stone-claims-never-left-DC-hotel-insurrection.html
We're Not Saying This MAGA Video Is Identical to Nazi Propaganda, but Look for Yourself. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/maga-nazi-propaganda-january-sixth-ellipse-video.html
How one billionaire family bankrolled election lies, white nationalism — and the Capitol riot. Rebekah Mercer is "one of the chief financiers of the fascist movement," says longtime GOP insider Steve Schmidt. https://www.salon.com/2021/02/04/how-one-billionaire-family-bankrolled-election-lies-white-nationalism--and-the-capitol-riot/
REVEALED: Heir to Publix Super Markets chain bankrolled MAGA rally before Capitol riot with $300,000 donation alongside Alex Jones who gave $50,000 to event that was organized by Trump supporter who charged $730,000. Julie Jenkins Fancelli, heiress to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, has been revealed as the top donor to the January 6 MAGA rally in D.C.
- She gave $300,000 in a deal orchestrated by Alex Jones.
- The money was donated through Trump fundraising official Caroline Wren
- Wren and her firm were paid $730,000 by the Trump campaign and a joint GOP committee in the 2020 election cycle
- Jones himself gave $50,000 in seed money to the event in exchange for a top speaking slot, which was eventually used for another rally
Fancelli's donation funded most of the event, which cost $500,000 in total to run. Fancelli previously donated more than $980,000 to the Trump campaign and Republican Party during the last election cycle. She is a heir to Florida-based Publix Super Markets, established by her father in 1930, making her a member of one of the richest families in America. Several pro-Trump groups had organized various events around D.C. that day with the main Ellipse event led by Women for America First. None of the groups involved had received a permit to march. Wren has now been identified among the main organizers, alongside Ali Alexander, a far-right activist and leader of the 'Stop the Steal' movement. Women for America First had applied for the permit to hold the rally, listing Wren as 'VIP coordinator'. According to the permit and Federal Election Commission records acquired by the Wall Street Journal, Wren and at least five former Trump campaign staffers were involved in the organization of the Ellipse rally. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign told the publication that it had no involvement in fundraising for the event. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9204875/The-woman-bankrolled-Capitol-riot-MAGA-rally.html
After being harassed by Marjorie Taylor Green, Cori Bush moves her office out of safety concerns. https://boingboing.net/2021/01/29/after-being-harassed-by-marjorie-taylor-green-cori-bush-moves-her-office-out-of-safety-concerns.html
Publix heiress paid for Trump rally preceding Capitol riots, WSJ reports. Julie Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of Publix founder George W. Jenkins, contributed $300,000 to the Jan. 6 rally, just the latest far-right cause financed by Publix heirs or the chain itself. Publix heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli provided the "lion's share" of funding for the Washington Ellipse rally preceding the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. It's only the latest in a series of major contributions to far-right causes by Publix heirs or the popular supermarket chain itself. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Fancelli picked Trump campaign fundraiser Caroline Wren to coordinate funding for the Jan. 6 rally. Wren was listed as "VIP Coordinator" in the event's permit and played a major role in organizing it. Fancelli is the daughter of Publix founder George W. Jenkins, who died in 1996. https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/01/30/publix-heiress-paid-for-trump-rally-preceding-capitol-riots-wsj-reports/
Alex Jones claims he paid for rally that preceded Capitol riot. Jones also said he paid close to $500,000 to book the Ellipse, the park where Trump's supporters initially gathered, and other areas near the Capitol. He said 80% of the money came from an unnamed donor. "By the time I got out there 20 minutes, 30 minutes before Trump finished his speech, there were already hundreds of thousands of people ahead of me marching. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/01/09/alex-jones-claims-he-paid-rally-preceded-capitol-riot/6608721002/
Woman charged in Capitol riot said she wanted to shoot Pelosi 'in the friggin' brain,' FBI says. Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were identified by law enforcement after the FBI said it received a tip on Jan. 12 with a video purportedly capturing the two women as they left the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 amid a large mob of people, according to a criminal complaint. "We broke into the Capitol. . . . We got inside, we did our part," Bancroft said in the video she sent to her children, according to the FBI. "We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her." https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/29/dawn-bancroft-capitol-riot-pennsylvania-pelosi/
The two pipe bombs that were discovered on Jan. 6 near the U.S. Capitol shortly before a mob stormed the building are believed to have been planted the night before, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by The Washington Post. The explosive devices, which were placed blocks from one another at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, have been largely overshadowed by the violent attempted insurrection at the Capitol. But finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips leading to the person's arrest from $50,000 to $75,000. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2021/01/29/pipe-bomb-suspect-video/
Christianity on display at Capitol riot sparks new debate. The rioters who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, leading to federal charges against more than 130 people so far, included several people carrying signs with Christian messages, and video showed one man in a fur hat and horns leading others in a prayer inside the Senate chamber. They also included multiple current or former members of the U.S. military or law enforcement, as well as a West Virginia state lawmaker. https://apnews.com/article/christianity-capitol-riot-6f13ef0030ad7b5a6f37a1e3b7b4c898
Roger Stone Did Something Wrong. Stone raised funds for "security" for January 6 events, mingled with Oath Keepers, and urged "an epic struggle" for Trump. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/01/roger-stone-did-something-wrong/
Democrats stunned by briefing on Capitol's security before insurrection: 'It was only by pure dumb luck' more weren't killed. https://us.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/democrats-stunned-by-capitol-briefing-insurrection/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/capitol-police-chief-apology/index.html
Proud Boys leader was 'prolific' informer for law enforcement. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters. Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrio's denial. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrio's case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that "he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes." In November and December, Tarrio led the Proud Boys through the streets of D.C. after Trump's loss. Video shows him on December 11 with a bullhorn in front of a large crowd. "To the parasites both in Congress, and in that stolen White House," he said. "You want a war, you got one!" The crowd roared. The next day Tarrio burned the BLM banner. Former prosecutor Johannes said she was surprised that the defendant she prosecuted for fraud is now a key player in the violent movement that sought to halt the certification of President Joe Biden. "I knew that he was a fraudster – but had no reason to know that he was also a domestic terrorist," she said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-proudboys-leader/exclusive-proud-boys-leader-was-prolific-informer-for-law-enforcement-idUSKBN29W1PE
Sacramento Republican leader Jorge Riley forced to resign after involvement in US Capitol siege. Jorge Riley, corresponding secretary of the California Republican Assembly and president of the Sacramento Republican Assembly, resigned from both positions Thursday afternoon. Photos and posts on his personal Facebook page document his participation in the siege. https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-republican-leader-forced-resign-involvement-us-capitol-siege/35221426
Oath Keeper Leader Charged With Conspiracy in Capitol Riots. Prosecutors allege Thomas Caldwell helped organize a group of at least eight people who were at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots. According to a criminal complaint first obtained by The Washington Post, prosecutors allege Caldwell helped organize a group of at least eight people, who were seen "aggressively approaching an entrance to the Capitol." The group was seen wearing military-style gear and helmets as they moved "in an organized and practiced fashion and force[d] their way to the ground of the crowd gathered around a door to the U.S. Capitol." Prosecutors allege Caldwell began plotting with other Oath Keepers at least five days before the insurrection, citing a Jan. 1 message on Facebook in which he admitted he was looking for housing for several individuals at a Comfort Inn in Ballston, Virginia. The hotel, which is eight miles from the Capitol, "would allow us to go hunting at night if we wanted to," Caldwell said in a Facebook message to Oath Keepers member Jessica Watkins, according to the affidavit. "I don't know if Stewie has even gotten out his call to arms, but it's a little friggin late. This is one we are doing on our own. We will link up with the north carolina [sic] crew," Caldwell continues in the Jan. 1 post, apparently referring to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. https://www.thedailybeast.com/thomas-edward-caldwell-oath-keeper-leader-charged-with-conspiracy-in-capitol-riots
Ohio Bartender and Her 'Militia' Drove to D.C. to Join the Capitol Breach. A Champaign County bartender who runs a self-identified militia, joined by three others in her unit, drove to Washington D.C. last week to join what descended into a seditious mob invasion of the U.S. Capitol. A still from footage of the riots in Washington D.C. captures Jessica Watkins, 38, seen with several people in Oathkeepers regalia, heading up the Capitol stairs. Footage shows Watkins and several members of the Oathkeepers forming a line with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, slicing through the crowd to get up the Capitol stairs. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/01/13/ohio-bartender-and-her-militia-drove-to-d-c-to-join-the-capitol-breach/
Violent words in St. Paul: When does free speech become terroristic threat? Alley Waterbury cheered on the violent insurrection in Washington as she warned Gov. Tim Walz that there would be consequences if he did not meet with her and other protesters at the Minnesota Capitol. Within hours, she was outside the governor's residence shouting through a bullhorn. "Do not underestimate us, because we will cross the line!" the Woodbury activist yelled across the front gate. State officials probing this month's Storm the Capitol rally in St. Paul are confronting a legal challenge that has divided scholars and jurists alike for decades: What is protected speech, and what words should be treated as criminal threats? https://www.startribune.com/violent-words-in-st-paul-when-does-free-speech-become-terroristic-threat/600011557/
A Reporter's Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege. https://www.newyorker.com/news/video-dept/a-reporters-footage-from-inside-the-capitol-siege
Among the Insurrectionists. The Capitol was breached by Trump supporters who had been declaring, at rally after rally, that they would go to violent lengths to keep the President in power. A chronicle of an attack foretold. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/25/among-the-insurrectionists
Episode 1: A premeditated lie lit the fire. Trump had planned for Americans to go to bed on Nov. 3 celebrating — or resigned to — his re-election. The maps they saw on TV should be bathed in red. But at 11:20 p.m. that vision fell apart, as the nation's leading news channel among conservatives became the first outlet to call Arizona for Joe Biden. Inside the White House, Trump's inner circle erupted in horror. https://www.axios.com/trump-election-premeditated-lie-ebaf4a1f-46bf-4c37-ba0d-3ed5536ef537.html
Democrats point fingers on whether Capitol rioters had inside help. on Dec. 30, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) spoke on the phone with a Capitol Police captain, warning that the online and social media chatter she was seeing was so violent that she feared Trump supporters would try to storm the Capitol and "kill half of Congress" along with Vice President Pence. She urged police to harden security around the building, as did Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in a phone call a day later with then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund. Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.), who signed on to the Sherrill letter, said that on Jan. 5 she saw two groups of Trump supporters in the Rayburn building. That legislative office building, located next to the Capitol, houses nearly 170 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/534468-democrats-point-fingers-on-whether-capitol-rioters-had-inside-help
Longtime Trump advisers connected to groups behind rally that led to Capitol attack. Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn all promoted the Jan. 6 rally. https://abcnews.go.com/US/longtime-trump-advisers-connected-groups-rally-led-capitol/story?id=75261028
Capitol rioters communicated using military hand signals, law enforcement official says. The identification of individuals using military, small unit tactics is among the "highest priorities" for a Sedition Task Force being run by the D.C. U.S. Attorney's office. The apparent use of "small unit tactics," trained to military and law enforcement, drew immediate scrutiny from investigators. These tactics were witnessed both outside and inside the Capitol Building, CBS News has learned. Federal authorities have charged more than 40 people in connection with the Capitol riot. Among them were two off-duty Rocky Mount, Virginia, police officers, Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, who are each facing one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Fracker is a corporal in the Virginia National Guard, and he is not currently on duty with Virginia National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. The Virginia National Guard will be conducting an investigation. Prosecutors wrote in a complaint that Robertson wrote in a social media post, "CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business ... The right IN ONE DAY took the f***** U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us." Fracker posted a since-deleted comment on Facebook that read, "Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around... Sorry I hate freedom? …Not like I did anything illegal…y'all do what you feel you need to," according to the complaint. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/capitol-riots-military-hand-signal-communication/
Identifying far-right symbols that appeared at the U.S. Capitol riot https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/far-right-symbols-capitol-riot/
PELOSI'S PURGE: Speaker Threatens to Prosecute Any Lawmaker Who 'Aided' Capitol Hill Rioters "If, in fact, it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection — if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that," Pelosi said Friday at a news conference at the Capitol. "Right now, our managers are solemnly and prayerfully preparing for the trial, which they will take to the Senate," Pelosi added. https://hannity.com/media-room/pelosis-purge-speaker-threatens-to-prosecute-any-lawmaker-who-aided-capitol-hill-rioters/
Chilling Supercut Exposes Violent Pre-Riot Rhetoric From Donald Trump And His Enablers. Shocking and divisive comments from the president and his allies are laid bare in the "Daily Show" montage. Saluting the Heroes of the Insurrection | The Daily Social Distancing Show https://youtu.be/nz-zWeqtVo8
Carlsbad Chiropractor Among Those in D.C. During Capitol Riot. Cordie Williams, a chiropractor from Carlsbad, isn't shy about posting his views on social media. Known online as the Megaphone Marine and the founder 1776 Forever Free, Williams has Instagram and Twitter accounts with thousands of followers. He encouraged people to join him by going to Washinton, D.C., on Jan. 6 -- the day that pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol -- and since then, his publicly posted videos urge folks to attend weekly Constitution classes, attend protests, run for office and arm themselves. "We're all about freedom for all," Williams told NBC 7 in a sit-down interview Tuesday morning. "You want to wear a mask? Great, just don't tell me I have to. You want to vaccinate your kids? Great, just don't tell me I have to. You want to get the COVID vaccine? Great, just don't tell me I have to. And that's really what this organization is about." "I think it's incredibly harmful," Benavidez said of the language in William's posts. "It's misleading and harmful. I think the concern is: What will this inspire people to do?" Williams goes on to say, "We are at war." https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/marine-carlsbad-chiropractor-among-those-in-d-c-during-capitol-riot/2494764/
Sponsors of the Pre-Attack Rally Have Taken Down Their Websites. Don't Forget Who They Were. Here are the organizers of the event that led to the assault on the Capitol. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/01/sponsors-of-the-pre-attack-rally-have-taken-down-their-websites-dont-forget-who-they-were/
FBI, NYPD told Capitol Police about possibility of violence before riot, senior officials say. The FBI visited more than a dozen extremists before the rally last week to urge them not to travel to D.C., senior law enforcement officials said. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fbi-nypd-told-capitol-police-about-possibility-violence-riot-senior-n1253646
Alex Jones says he paid $500,000 for rally that led to Capitol riot. Mr Jones pushed the conspiracy theory that antifa was responsible for Trump supporters attacking the US Capitol. "And so, by the time I got out there 20 minutes, 30 minutes before Trump finished his speech there were already hundreds of thousands of people ahead of me marching. And before Trump ever took the stage, antifa, dressed up - over a hundred of them - as patriots, was there," he said. Mr Jones was reportedly seen later in the day, standing on top of a car near the Capitol building and shouting into a bullhorn. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/alex-jones-paid-rally-capitol-riot-b1784603.html
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a gun-toting supporter of the QAnon movement, is facing backlash after she was accused of live-tweeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) location during the attack on Capitol Hill last week. Boebert shared the tweet soon after President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol with deadly results. "The Speaker has been removed from the chambers," Boebert wrote. https://www.rawstory.com/lauren-boebert-twitter/
Another U.S Capitol Police Officer Has Died After Trump Supporters' Riot. Officer Howard Liebengood died on Saturday, the department announced. He is the second officer to die since Wednesday's violent siege of the Capitol. video of chasing cop up stairs https://www.huffpost.com/entry/capitol-police-another-officer-has-died_n_5ffb3544c5b66f3f795eec94
The Capitol siege was far from San Diego. Its fringe ideologies were right at home. DEC's founder, Justin Haskins, was among those who traveled to Washington for the vote certification. At the same time, some local vocal Republicans and political conservatives doubled down, if anything turning up the heat. "This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny," said California Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a former Santee mayor who at one point left the Republican party for the tea party movement because he deemed the GOP too "liberal." "Tyranny will follow in the aftermath of the Biden swear in on January 20th." https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2021-01-09/capitol-siege-san-diego-roots
Now it's sinking in: Wednesday's Capitol Hill riot was even more violent than it first appeared. Only later did it become clear that lawmakers feared for their lives; that some of the attackers were hunting for congressional leaders; that there could have been a massacre. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/media/reliable-sources-january-8/index.html
NEW FOOTAGE: a long, disciplined line of men in body armor moves as a unit up the #CapitolBuilding steps. We need to identify this group. Grateful to @lehudgins for the find. Source: https://instagram.com/p/CJ10So2MqpF/ https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1348115530654347266?s=21 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ3mibDlR3X/
Jake Angeli, who wore fur hat and horns as mob raided U.S. Capitol, arrested and charged. Angeli told the FBI he came to D.C. "as part of a group effort, with other 'patriots' from Arizona, at the request of the President that all 'patriots' come to D.C. on January 6, 2021," the statement of facts reads. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/09/jake-angeli-qanon-man-fur-hat-horns-capitol-riot-arrested/6609039002/
'I have guns and ammo': Virtual trail left behind by Trump supporters killed during Capitol riot. Social media posts left behind by Benjamin Phillips, 50; Rosanne Boyland, 34; Ashli Babbit, 35; and Kevin Greeson, 55; give clues as to the supporters' mindsets ahead of the riot that would end their lives. https://fox5sandiego.com/news/politics/i-have-guns-and-ammo-virtual-trail-left-behind-by-trump-supporters-killed-during-capitol-riot/
US Capitol riot: 'It was like a zombie movie' https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-55581269
Baked Alaska, the QAnon Shaman … who led the storming of the Capitol? Collection of far-right activists and groups came to Washington DC to enact a familiar playbook. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/07/baked-alaska-the-qanon-shaman-who-led-the-storming-of-the-capitol
Members of Several Well-Known Hate Groups Identified at Capitol Riot https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/several-well-known-hate-groups-identified-at-capitol-riot/
Three Men Charged in Connection with Events at U.S. Capitol. Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona. Adam Johnson, 36, of Florida. Derrick Evans, 35, of West Virginia a recently elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/three-men-charged-connection-events-us-capitol
Neo-Nazis, QAnon and Camp Auschwitz: A guide to the hate symbols and signs on display at the Capitol riots. https://www.jta.org/2021/01/07/united-states/hate-on-display-your-guide-to-the-symbols-and-signs-on-display-at-the-stop-the-count-insurrection
Do You Know Them? FBI Releases Another 'Most Wanted' Poster of Capitol Goons https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/violence-at-the-united-states-capitol-4
Video shows fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol. Timothy McEntee, Babbitt's ex-husband, told The Post that his ex-wife owned a pool-cleaning business. "She's a small business owner in California and felt (much like others) that she was being wronged," McEntee wrote in a text message. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/story/2021-01-08/video-shows-fatal-shooting-of-ashli-babbitt-in-the-capitol
Babbitt — who spent four years on active duty in the Air Force and another 10 years in military reserves, and who had at least eight overseas deployments — was among pro-Trump extremists who stormed the U.S. Capitol. Babbitt's husband, Aaron Babbitt, told Fox 5 San Diego, that he sent his wife a message about 30 minutes before the shooting, but did not hear back. In recent months, her Twitter account included a photo of her at a Trump boat parade in a shirt reading "We are Q," and the phrase WWG1WGA — QAnon's acronym for "Where we go one, we go all." In one post last year, she referred to COVID-19 as the "controla virus." "We are being hoodwinked. The sheep need to wake up," she wrote. In another, she wrote, "TRUMP IS TELLING THE TRUTH. MSM (mainstream media) are liars." Babbitt spent 14 years in military service. The first four were in the Air Force, from 2004 to 2008, where she achieved the rank of senior airman, and her last job was as a security forces controller at a base in Texas, according to the Air Force press office. Babbitt — whose service records are under Ashli McEntee, the last name of her first husband — went on to serve in the Air Force Reserve for two years and then the Air National Guard for six years. A sign against wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19 covers the office door of Fowler's Pool Services and Supply Inc, in Spring Valley on Thursday. Court records show the business was sued twice, in San Diego and New York, in the past several years over breach of contract issues. In San Diego she was a defendant in a suit filed by EBF Partners over a merchant cash advance agreement. EBF alleged that after buying $65,250 in future business, the company stopped payments. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2021-01-07/san-diego-woman-killed-in-capitol-siege-was-iraq-war-veteran
Police identify woman fatally shot in U.S. Capitol as Ocean Beach resident https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/top-stories/story/2021-01-06/family-says-woman-fatally-shot-in-u-s-capitol-was-ocean-beach-resident
Pro-Trump rioters smeared poop in U.S. Capitol hallways during belligerent attack. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ny-trump-capitol-riot-poopers-20210108-prlsqytyabgdhnexushotl4nam-story.html
On Far-Right Websites, Plans To Storm Capitol Were Made In Plain Sight. https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/07/954671745/on-far-right-websites-plans-to-storm-capitol-were-made-in-plain-sight
Six Republican lawmakers among rioters as police release photos of wanted. Suspects include Holocaust deniers, White supremacists, and conspiracy theorists. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/republican-lawmakers-rioters-capitol-photos-b1784170.html https://mpdc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/mpdc/publication/attachments/POIs%20of%20Interest_1.7.21.pdf
Violence at U.S. Capitol is only the beginning of 'Trumpism,' says California Republican. "It is the Republican Party that stands as the most immediate threat to our institutions." Mike Madrid, a longtime California Republican operative, wrote these words in an op-ed about "defeating Trumpism" that he submitted to The Sacramento Bee over the holidays. His words proved prescient. https://www.sacbee.com/podcasts/california-nation/article248329695.html
'An incredible day' as Lee statue removed in Charlottesville https://apnews.com/article/charlottesville-robert-e-lee-statue-removed-2efbc5e13b74e2545a0f6642e2384308
Charlottesville Removes Robert E. Lee Statue That Sparked A Deadly Rally Updated July 10, 2021 https://www.npr.org/2021/07/10/1014926659/charlottesville-removes-robert-e-lee-statue-that-sparked-a-deadly-rally
Probe: Protest not broken up because of Trump photo op. The report said that the protesters were cleared by US Park Police last June 1 so that a contractor could get started installing new fencing. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/nation-world/probe-protest-not-broken-for-trump-photo-op/507-950b08e1-880a-4d80-aea3-f15d4b1709cd
100 photos of protests in Portland in 2020. Taken by Doug Brown in Portland, Oregon, between May 31 - Nov. 4 on behalf of the ACLU of Oregon and in a personal capacity. https://dougbrownmedia.com/portland-protests-2020-photography
Mayor Gloria reacts to Pacific Beach protest, violence. "Stay home," said Gloria. "You don't need to do this." "After seeing what happened in Washington on Wednesday, what are you doing out on our streets supporting that mess? Racism, fascism, anti-democracy - why would you choose to be out there?" Gloria said. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/crime/gloria-pacific-beach-protest/509-67a80e95-66aa-4cf7-9cdc-ac149796926d
Unlawful assembly declared as Trump supporters, counter protesters clash in San Diego. https://thehill.com/homenews/533515-unlawful-assembly-declared-as-trump-supporters-counter-protesters-clash-in-san-diego
#breaking trump supporters clash with BLM and antifa on the boardwalk in PB. Heavy police presence some fights and scuffles. Pepper spray etc (not from pd). @fox5sandiego https://twitter.com/heyguyfox5/status/1348032632345432064
combatting online extremism
Working to end online harms, applying evidence, ethics, and human rights https://moonshotteam.com/redirect-method/
Polarization and Extremism and Research Innovation Lab (PERIL) https://www.american.edu/centers/university-excellence/peril.cfm
White supremacist threat remains, but experts see hope in combatting online extremism. https://news.yahoo.com/white-supremacist-threat-remains-experts-090012557.html
Oath Keepers, Militiamen, Vigilantes, Terrorists
The Pro-Trucker-Convoy Rally Is Another Failure for Far-Right Demonstrators in DC. But after January 6, authorities have little choice but to take these things seriously. Much of the media professionals at these rallies appeared to represent outlets based outside the US, but even domestic outlets face the same conundrum regarding these events that local law enforcement does: how seriously to take them after January 6, 2021. MAGA voices had touted the idea of invading the Capitol before former President Trump encouraged them to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress, which was scheduled to certify Joe Biden's victory over Trump that day. Still, very few in law enforcement foresaw the at-times medieval fighting that would ensue as several thousand people invaded the Capitol. Indeed, in a city that has seen increasingly organized incursions by far-right people going back to "Pizzagate," there's little choice but to take treat these events as possible threats to everyday life until they prove otherwise. Today's rally may have been a bust, but who knows what will happen next? https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/03/01/the-pro-trucker-convoy-rally-is-another-failure-for-far-right-demonstrators-in-dc/
Trucker convoy protest in Washington DC flops as no-one shows up. Organisers had expected thousands of people to attend Freedom Convoy event. "Where are the trucks?" organiser Kyle Sefcik asked during his speech. Mr Sefcik is an MMA fighter and independent candidate for governor in Maryland, and also the organiser of Freedom Convoy USA 2022, which was due to arrive in DC on Tuesday but was scrapped when just five trucks showed up in Las Vegas. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trucker-convoy-washington-dc-protest-b2026209.html
A Porno-Metal Song About Gay Cowboys Is Disrupting the Anti-Vaxx Trucker Convoy. "Ram Ranch" has become the unofficial anthem of leftist trolling the far-right protests in Ottawa. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/anti-vax-trucker-convoy-porno-metal-ram-ranch-1297926/
They're Burning Books in Tennessee. Greg Locke's zealots set fire to sacred millennial texts like Harry Potter and Twilight. https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/theyre-burning-books-in-tennessee/article_1f8c631e-850f-11ec-bc9f-dbd44d7e14d7.html
Roughly one in five applicants to the white supremacist group Patriot Front claimed to hold current or former military status, according to leaked documents reviewed by Hatewatch. The journalist collective Unicorn Riot leaked archives of Patriot Front's private chats on Jan. 21. Patriot Front held these conversations on Rocket Chat, an open-source chat program, where they published 87 different applications for membership. The applications show that 18 of those 87 applicants (21%) claimed to be current or former members of the U.S. military. One of the applicants, who claimed to be a former Marine, also stated in his application that he currently works for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/02/01/one-five-patriot-front-applicants-claim-military-ties
'We are desperate for new people': inside a hate group's leaked online chats. Chat logs depict Patriot Front as a tiny group reliant on vandalism and fake social accounts to promote its message. Chats indicate the white supremacist group has about 200 members. The messages show a coordinated effort to commit vandalism and intimidate people of color nationwide. The group requires members to deface racial justice murals and monuments to Black Lives Matter in their communities, much like a street gang that requires initiates to "tag" buildings as a form of vandalism and intimidation. Chats show that the group's leaders regularly reprimand members for failing to meet exercise or participation requirements. It also shows a group fixated on getting more members, a task it has found difficult. "We are absolutely desperate for new people. We've been in the 220's to 230's membership rut for nearly a full year," wrote Thomas Rousseau, the founder of Patriot Front. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/28/leaked-online-chats-white-nationalist-patriot-front
The FBI Said It Busted A Plot To Kidnap Michigan's Governor. Then Things Got Complicated. The case seemed like a lock — until an informant and one FBI agent were charged with crimes, another was accused of perjury, and a third was found promoting a private security firm. And that wasn't all. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/fbi-michigan-kidnap-whitmer
Oath Keepers, Militiamen, Vigilantes, Terrorists. archived December 18, 2021
Flynn's Fave Paramilitary Rebrands as Private Security Firm. "The Shepherd Group," a venture of 1st Amendment Praetorian, went live days before the right-wing group's leader, Robert Patrick Lewis, was subpoenaed in a Jan. 6 probe. Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 19, multiple social-media accounts associated with a California-based company calling itself "The Shepherd Group" went live, as did a website hawking its "holistic, boutique approach" to digital forensics, physical security, surveillance/counter-surveillance, and corporate intelligence. "Our clients include private individuals and corporations, law-enforcement agencies and the U.S. Government with a focus on missions that strive toward the betterment of the Republic and humanity," the page reads, although it provides no list of past jobs or customers. But a little digging reveals that the Shepherd Group is not entirely new: rather, it appears to be a front for the militant group 1st Amendment Praetorian, previously a volunteer outfit that has deployed its self-described force of former armed forces and police personnel as security for right-wing leaders and events. The group's name derives from the elite cadre of Roman soldiers who served as the emperor's personal retinue. Most prominently, the modern outfit chaperoned the conservative star-studded rally on D.C.'s Freedom Plaza on the eve of the Capitol riot. Experts suggested the pivot to a for-profit business model might represent a bid for legitimacy in the face of public scrutiny. After all, the shift came just weeks ahead of the order for its founder to appear before Congress, though it is unclear whether this timing was deliberate or fortuitous. The address that the Shepherd Group—which also purports to consist entirely of ex-police and service members—lists on its website is the same UPS mailbox in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas that 1st Amendment Praetorian LLC used when it filed to become a federal vendor last year. Those same filings identified "The Shepherd Group," which appears to have never received a government contract, as a trade name for 1st Amendment Praetorian. 1st Amendment Praetorian head Robert Patrick Lewis, a decorated former Green Beret, identifies himself as CEO of the Shepherd Group on his LinkedIn, and his initials adorn posts on the Shepherd Group's blog. https://www.thedailybeast.com/flynns-fave-paramilitary-rebrands-as-private-security-firm
A white supremacist march in D.C. was pushed by a fake Twitter account, experts say. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/12/06/white-supremacist-dc-march-patriot-front/
Bystanders booed as the far-right Patriot Front staged a rally in Washington DC to 'reclaim America'. The group's leader Thomas Rousseau gave a speech near the Capitol reflecting pool while bystanders booed, The Daily Beast said. "Our demonstrations are an exhibition of our unified capability to organize, to show our strength," Rousseau said, according to the outlet. "Not as brawlers or public nuisances, but as men capable of illustrating a message and seeking an America that more closely resembles the interests of its true people." https://www.businessinsider.com/far-right-patriot-front-rally-in-washington-dc-to-reclaim-america-2021-12
White Supremacists Stage Bizarro Rally in Downtown D.C., Find Themselves Stranded. Though they intended to "reclaim America," members of Patriot Front had more than enough trouble reclaiming their own ride. The rally by more than 100 members of the "Patriot Front" group, held just blocks from the White House, sparked fear among many bystanders and immediately attracted the attention of law enforcement, who shadowed the group to forestall any conflict. Members wore a uniform: white gaiters, sunglasses, blue jackets, khaki pants, and brown boots and hats. Some donned plastic shinguards, seeming to anticipate violence. As Patriot Front's leader Thomas Rousseau spoke beside the Capitol reflecting pool, bystanders booed. Asked about the reason for the march, Rousseau said, "Our demonstrations are an exhibition of our unified capability to organize, to show our strength—not as brawlers or public nuisances, but as men capable of illustrating a message and seeking an America that more closely resembles the interests of its true people." https://www.thedailybeast.com/patriot-front-white-nationalists-stage-bizarro-rally-in-downtown-dc-find-themselves-stranded
Veteran who infiltrated Three Percenters says leaders asked if he was ready to kill. https://www.rawstory.com/veteran-infiligrated-three-percenters/
A close reading of the QAnon Shaman's self-published manifesto. My friend Mark Dery, one of the finest cultural critics alive, read a copy of the QAnon Shaman's self-published polemical new age fascist screed, One Mind at a Time: A Deep State of Illusion. Mark survived to write about it, and how closely the QAnon Shaman's paranoid worldview aligns with today's Republican standard-bearers, on Lit Hub: How RFK Jr., Naomi Wolf, and an NYU Professor Ended Up on the Same Page as QAnon Cultist Jacob Chanley https://lithub.com/a-close-reading-of-the-qanon-shamans-conspiracy-manifesto/ https://boingboing.net/2021/11/15/a-close-reading-of-the-qanon-shamans-self-published-manifesto.html
Newly released FBI tapes show white supremacist members of 'The Base' plotting terror attacks. The two men were sentenced last month to nine years in federal prison. Patrik Mathews, a former Canadian Army reservist illegally in the U.S., and Brian Lemley, a Maryland resident and self-described white nationalist, fantasized about the brutal murders they'd soon carry out against law enforcement and Black people, all with the goal of bringing about the "Boogaloo," or the collapse of the U.S. government in order to prop up a white ethno-state, according to recordings of the pair's discussions. "We need to go back to the days of ... decimating Blacks and getting rid of them where they stand," Mathews said in one recording. "If you see a bunch of Blacks sitting on some corner you f***ing shoot them." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/newly-released-fbi-tapes-show-white-supremacist-members/story?id=80975917
STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY DIRECTOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS U.S. SENATE AT A HEARING ENTITLED "WORLDWIDE THREATS" https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony-Wray-2021-09-21-REVISED.pdf
How a Small-Town Sheriff Ended Up on a Crusade to Radicalize American Law Enforcement. Richard Mack is the leader of a growing "Constitutional Sheriffs" movement, which claims sheriffs hold ultimate authority over the federal government. https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnkgn/richard-mack-constitutional-sheriff-movement
Joe Biggs: Today is my 3 month anniversary being locked up, Not allowed to work out. My body feels as of it's aged so much. Can hardly move. Walking has become very difficult. I sleep on a piece of steel welded to a wall with a thin mattress. l now have major lower back issues and shoulder pain from the "bed". l've gotten maybe 10hrs outside all together since being here. I get to go outside maybe 3 times a month. The food here is all soy based. So its weakening our bodies. Hardly any protein. Mostly processed foods and some kind of gelatin dog food looking stuff. No privacy allowed when shitting allowed. You have to be in view of everyone. Each cell has a shelf. You are not allowed to use it. Nothing can be placed on it. Lights go out at 11:45 pm and back on @ 4am for "breakfast". Luckily the showers are only one person allowed at a time. Every cell has a Small window that has been sand blasted so you can never see outside. Breaking any rules can result In losing ability to talk to family or a trip the hole for a few weeks where you are stripped naked a left in a bright freezing room. I have anxiety bad now. Panic attacks so bad I black out. There are actual white supremacist gang members here who hate the fact the media call proud boys white supremacist. They tested me on what it means to be one of them a I failed miserably. Good. I have a
Two Californians charged in plot to blow up Democratic headquarters in Sacramento. Ian Benjamin Rogers, 45, of Napa and Jarrod Copeland, 37, of Vallejo, allegedly unhappy with the outcome of the November presidential election, plotted the attack in the hopes of sparking a "movement" of broader violence, federal prosecutors allege. Days after the election, the two men began discussing attacks on targets they associated with Democrats, including the governor's mansion and the Bay Area headquarters of Twitter and Facebook, according to an earlier court filing. By the end of November, they had picked their first target: the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters in a tree-lined residential area of Sacramento, just blocks from the Capitol, according to the indictment. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-16/two-californians-charged-in-plot-to-blow-up-democratic-headquarters
UK bans fifth neo-Nazi group under terror laws. An American neo-Nazi group which is led from Russia is to be banned as a terrorist organisation, the Home Secretary has said. Priti Patel condemned "evil white supremacist groups, who target vulnerable people across the world". The Base will be the fifth extreme right-wing group to be proscribed in the UK under anti-terror laws. Last year BBC Panorama exposed the organisation's recruitments efforts in the UK. A BBC investigation also exposed the group's American founder Rinaldo Nazzaro and revealed how he was directing The Base from his St Petersburg home. The Base, formed in 2018, seeks to create terrorist cells in the US and other countries in an attempt to establish fascist, white ethno-states through a "race war". The Home Office said the group shared aims and ideologies with Atomwaffen Division, and its alias National Socialist Order, which was banned earlier this year. The other right-wing extremist groups proscribed as terror organisations are National Action and Sonnenkrieg Division - both created in the UK - as well as Feuerkrieg Division, founded in Estonia. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57806800
"I Felt Hate More Than Anything": How an Active Duty Airman Tried to Start a Civil War. Steven Carrillo's path to the Boogaloo Bois shows the hate group is far more organized and dangerous than previously known. When Carrillo was finally subdued on June 6, cellphone footage captured him shouting at deputies as they led him away, "This is what I came to fight — I'm sick of these goddamn police." https://www.propublica.org/article/i-felt-hate-more-than-anything-how-an-active-duty-airman-tried-to-start-a-civil-war
Terrified White Supremacists Run Away After Philadelphia March Goes Awry. A Patriot Front march in Philly didn't go the way the group hoped when they had to flee angry counter-protesters. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/philadelphia-white-supremacists-run-away_n_60e3c7ece4b06fb1a6ee6545?8c9
Kyle Rittenhouse, American Vigilante. After he killed two people in Kenosha, opportunists turned his case into a polarizing spectacle. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/05/kyle-rittenhouse-american-vigilante
Revealed: neo-Confederate group includes military officers and politicians. Leaked data shows other high-profile members have overlapping membership in more explicitly racist or violent groups. Leaked membership data from the neo-Confederate Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) organization has revealed that the organization's members include serving military officers, elected officials, public employees, and a national security expert whose CV boasts of "Department of Defense Secret Security Clearance". But alongside these members are others who participated in and committed acts of violence at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and others who hold overlapping membership in violent neo-Confederate groups such as the League of the South (LoS). The national membership data was provided to the Guardian by a self-described hacktivist whose identity has been withheld for their safety. The data reveals the names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of almost 59,000 past and present members of the organization, including 91 who used addresses associated with government agencies for their contact email, and 74 who used addresses associated with various branches of the armed forces. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/28/neo-confederate-group-members-politicians-military-officers
Three Percenters, neo-Nazi group added to Canada's terrorist list. Banks can now freeze assets and police can charge anyone who financially supports them. There are now 77 terrorist entities listed under the Criminal Code — including the Proud Boys, who were added in February after the storming of Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 6. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/terrorist-list-three-percenters-1.6079984
This Militia-Fighting GOP Sheriff Thinks Jan. 6 Was Just the Start. Knezovich's office is in Spokane, a city of about 220,000 people dotted with turn-of-the-century brick buildings. But he and his deputies enforce the law in the surrounding rural areas, including swaths of rugged, forested mountains that are part of the so-called American Redoubt, where adherents to far-right ideologies and militia members move to get off the grid and away from the government. Knezovich has been especially critical of these movements, which have flourished in Washington and Idaho for decades, and which he accuses of trying to spark a civil war. "These are tyrants, these are true dictators that want to pull our country apart," he said of paramilitary groups and their supporters. "And they want to hide behind, 'Well, America was born out of revolution.'" Knezovich doesn't seem bothered by the criticism. He says what's keeping him up is what he sees as an existential threat to American democracy. "What happened on January 6 was the worst thing that I think I've ever seen happen in my nation, because that threatened the entire stability of this nation," he said. He says unless moderate voters start showing up to primary elections, we're only going to see more and more extremists take office, entrenching their once-fringe views deeper into the mainstream. In other words, the sheriff who has had a front-row seat to the resurgence of far-right movements doesn't have a rosy outlook about the future of extremist-driven instability in America. "We will live through about 10 years of hard times, because that's the cycle of these things," he said. "And we're in at the very beginning of this." https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-militia-fighting-gop-sheriff-thinks-jan-6-was-just-the-start
- Kelly Meggs, Connie Meggs, Zack Meggs, Ashley Cain, Andrew Smrecek, an unidentified man, Harrelson's wife, Kenneth Harrelson
Exclusive Video: Watch Roger Stone's Oath Keeper Bodyguards Practice Headshots to "#Stopantifa". Prosecutors are scrutinizing training that the Capitol attackers performed at Florida shooting ranges. These sessions, held on September 20 and October 25, are notable. In the first, an instructor coached the three militia members and others on how to "drop" adversaries by shooting them in the heart, lungs, or head. The instructor, a Florida resident named Andrew Smrecek, who describes himself as a former Marine Corps rifleman, posted the video and images from this training online with hashtags that include "#stopantifa," "#stopcommunism," and "#giveviolenceachance." Members of the group at the training, including Smrecek, later acted as security guards for Roger Stone at "stop the steal" events where the longtime Trump adviser claimed Donald Trump had been cheated out of an election win in November and urged Americans to fight to keep Trump in office. The material shows that Kelly Meggs, who later claimed to have been named the head of the Oath Keeper's Florida chapter, and his wife, Connie, as well as Kenneth Harrelson, all of whom were later charged with plotting to storm the Capitol, attended the September 20 training. Prosecutors say that on January 6, the trio were part of a squad of combat fatigue–clad Oath Keepers who formed a tactical formation called a "stack," a line in which members place their hands on the person in front of them, to push through the crowd outside the Capitol and enter the building. Another man who was at the training also appears to have been among the Oath Keepers who breached the Capitol, according to images published by the New York Times. He has not yet been identified. The training also included the Meggs' son Zack, who since his parents' February arrest has been raising money to cover his family's living expenses. "My parents are good people who love their country and wanted to support their president, Donald Trump, and did nothing wrong," he wrote in one solicitation. Kelly Meggs and the unidentified man from the training session appear in a video from December 12 guarding Stone at a "stop the steal" rally in Miami. And Meggs is pictured in a photo with Stone taken outside Stone's Fort Lauderdale home and posted to Facebook on December 13, according to the Washington Post. Meggs was also part of a security detail of Oath Keepers around Stone after he spoke outside the Supreme Court on January 5, Mother Jones previously reported. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/exclusive-video-roger-stone-oath-keeper-bodyguards-training-stopantifa/
Burt Colucci, commander of one of the United States' oldest white supremacist groups, was arrested on Monday in a Phoenix suburb for pointing a loaded handgun at a Black man and threatening to kill him and his friends, according to police records. The altercation began outside a hotel in Chandler, Arizona, after Colucci placed trash on the car of the African Americans and used racial slurs against them, according to statements police collected from Colucci, the Black people and an independent witness. Only Colucci was identified in the police report that was made public. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/neo-nazi-leader-arrested-arizona-aggravated-assault-2021-04-20/
In a recent indictment of nine people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, federal prosecutors went to great lengths to describe the magnitude of the day's events, the alarming threat to democracy their actions posed, and the powerful influence that one charismatic leader had in shaping their beliefs. They took care, however, not to refer to that man by name. Instead, they refer to him as "Person One." Elmer Stewart Rhodes III — a one-time Army paratrooper, disbarred Yale lawyer, constitutionalist, gun enthusiast, and far-right media star — founded the group called the Oath Keepers in 2009. Since then, he has ridden crosscurrents of American anger and strife that ran from scrubby Western deserts to angry urban protests right into the Capitol rotunda. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jessicagarrison/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-early-history-conflicts
Feds now say right-wing extremists responsible for majority of deadly terrorist attacks last year. https://news.yahoo.com/right-wing-extremists-responsible-for-majority-of-deadly-terrorist-attacks-181352019.html
Exclusive: FBI document warns conspiracy theories are a new domestic terrorism threat. August 1, 2019 https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-documents-conspiracy-theories-terrorism-160000507.html
Exclusive: Large bitcoin payments to right-wing activists a month before Capitol riot linked to foreign account. "These extremist groups are probably more well organized and well funded than what was previously believed," she said. Chainalysis maintains a database of "domestic extremists" who have cryptocurrency accounts, and while the company has traced donations to right-wing groups over the years, the December deposit was "the single biggest month we've ever observed" directed toward these causes, the researchers wrote. "This is evidence to show they're raising money," Kennedy said. Additionally, the fact that the donor was outside the United States suggests "this has international scope," she continued, a fact that "law enforcement should be paying attention to." https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-large-bitcoin-payments-to-rightwing-activists-a-month-before-capitol-riot-linked-to-foreign-account-181954668.html
Black woman describes terrifying attack by Trump mob in L.A.: 'I'm thinking I'm dead'. They were hurling racial slurs at her and pouring pepper spray, hot like habaneros, into her eyes and ear. Someone or something — perhaps the butt of a metal flagpole carrying a "Don't tread on me" banner — pummeled her shoulder, leaving a circle-shaped bruise. Another person snatched her wig off. As a violent mob of President Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, a crowd of at least 20 pro-Trump demonstrators, many clad in "Make America Great Again" hats, surrounded 25-year-old Berlinda Nibo on a busy downtown Los Angeles street, she said, feet away from a gaggle of police officers. "It seemed like these people were trying to kill me," said Nibo, 25. "To use me to make some kind of statement or something." https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-08/black-woman-describes-terrifying-attack-by-trump-mob-in-l-a-im-thinking-im-dead
Reports identify make of gun recovered from Michael Reinoehl in WA; tests continue to see if same gun used in Portland homicide. The gun found in the pants pocket of self-described antifa activist Michael Reinoehl after he was killed by police in Washington fits the make of the gun likely used to kill a man after a pro-Trump rally in Portland last summer, new reports indicate. Portland police records released this week show that the gun recovered from Reinoehl in Washington was an Inter Ordnance Hellcat .380-caliber pistol – one of three types of .380-caliber guns that ballistics tests indicate likely killed Aaron "Jay" Danielson, an Oregon States Police forensic scientist reported. Yet a full forensic examination of the gun hasn't been completed yet, Thurston County Sheriff's Lt. Ray Brady said this week. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/01/reports-identify-make-of-gun-recovered-from-michael-reinoehl-in-wa-tests-continue-to-see-if-same-gun-used-in-portland-homicide.html
FOX 5 has learned that Proud Boys' leader Enrique Tarrio has been arrested in D.C. FOX 5 's Evan Lambert reports Tarrio is facing misdemeanor destruction of property charges in relation to him saying he burned a Black Lives Matter flag that was stolen from a Black church in December during a protest in the District. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-arrested-in-dc-police-say
American Legion removes Escondido post commander from national leadership role over Proud Boys affiliation. Photos shared on two social media accounts show J.B. Clark Post 149 Commander Michael Sobczak, 56, wearing a Proud Boys jacket and marching along with other Proud Boys during a Dec. 12 pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. that eventually turned violent. In a video shared on a personal Facebook account under the name "Mick Florio," Sobczak describes a beating he says he gave an anti-Trump activist in self defense during an earlier protest in Yorba Linda in Orange County. Sobczak, an admitted member of the Proud Boys, wears a Defend East County tank top. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-01-03/american-legion-investigating-escondido-post-commander-after-street-brawls-and-proud-boy-declaration
After pardon, Blackwater guard defiant: 'I acted correctly'. The Blackwater rampage marked one of the darkest chapters of the Iraq war, staining the U.S. government reputation and prompting an international outcry about the role of contractors in military zones. The guards have long maintained they were targeted by insurgent gunfire at the traffic circle where the shooting occurred. Prosecutors argued there was no evidence to support that claim, noting that many victims were shot while in their cars or while taking shelter or trying to flee. After a monthslong trial in 2014, a jury convicted the men in the deaths of 14 civilians and of injuring even more. A judge called the shootings an "overall wild thing" that cannot be condoned. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-shootings-baghdad-only-on-ap-iraq-7b3e202ac353db544180fb2a61d2902c
Proud Boys to attend Jan. 6 DC rallies 'incognito'. Members of the far-right group the Proud Boys will attend Washington, D.C., rallies for President Trump on Jan. 6 "incognito," with leaders of the group saying they will dress in "all BLACK" to mimic the attire of anti-fascist groups and counterprotesters. The group is known for its signature black and yellow clothing during rallies and protests, where they typically appear in large groups. The group's chairman, Enrique Tarrio, announced on social media that group members "might dress in all BLACK for the occasion." Additionally, members of the group will likely branch off into smaller formations to remain "incognito." https://thehill.com/homenews/news/532362-proud-boys-to-attend-jan-6-dc-rallies-incognito
Proud Boys' Hotel Hangout Shutting Down On Jan. 6 'Wild Protest' Day. The Washington, D.C., hotel and bar where the white nationalist Proud Boys hang out when they're in town for protests has announced it will be closed Jan. 6, the day Congress is scheduled to certify the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden. It's also the day of a planned "Wild Protest" in Washington to rail against Donald Trump's reelection loss. The president is urging his followers to turn out that day in his desperate, last-ditch effort to stay in the White House. A number of people were stabbed, four critically, near the Hotel Harrington in clashes Dec. 12 between the Proud Boys and counterprotesters at the last demonstration in support of Trump. The Proud Boys are known to stay at the hotel and congregate in Harry's, the hotel bar. The 106-year-old hotel, the city's oldest, issued a statement Sunday saying it will be closed Jan. 4, 5 and 6 for the "safety of visitors and employees." https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/hotel-harrington-closed-proud-boys-january-6-052548112.html
Nashville Suicide Bomber Anthony Quinn Warner's Cop-Hating 'Hippie' Past. "He was kind of a hippie. Had long hair, a Magnum, P.I. mustache... He was a smart, cocky kind of guy." https://www.thedailybeast.com/alleged-nashville-bomber-anthony-quinn-warner-hated-cops-and-loved-weed-former-co-worker
Nashville blast suspect died in explosion, police say. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-tennessee-blast-idUKKBN2910M8
Anthony Quinn Warner Named as Nashville Bombing Person of Interest. https://heavy.com/news/anthony-quinn-warner/
As lawmakers meet, protesters attempt to storm Capitol building. Roughly 200 protesters gathered outside of the Capitol as lawmakers convened for the year's third special session to address issues created by the Covid pandemic. A group attempted to forcibly disrupt the session, smashing windows, blocking streets, assaulting journalists and spraying unidentified chemicals on police. https://www.salemreporter.com/posts/3322/as-lawmakers-meet-protesters-attempt-to-storm-capitol-building
How a Trump booster group helped the head of extremist Proud Boys gain access to the White House. Several hours before members of the extremist group the Proud Boys clashed with police and opponents on the streets of Washington, D.C., last weekend, the head of the group was strolling the halls of power. "Last minute invite to an undisclosed location," Enrique Tarrio wrote on the social media site Parler, posting photos on the steps of the White House. Latinos for Trump president Bianca Gracia's Facebook page shows her attending White House events in August 2019, October 2019 and April 2020. A photo from November 2019 shows Tarrio standing, grinning, next to Donald Trump Jr. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-booster-group-helped-head-110046328.html
MAGA protesters damage historic Black church in DC. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/maga-protesters-damage-historic-black-church-in-dc
After pro-Trump rallies, Proud Boys roam D.C. terrorizing people in mob violence, stabbings reported. XENI JARDIN 6:43 PM SAT DEC 12, 2020. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/12/after-pro-trump-rallies-hundreds-of-proud-boys-roam-d-c-terrorizing-people-at-night.html
Kenosha Shooter Kyle Rittenhouse's MAGA-Loving Defense Team Implodes. Two of Rittenhouse's defense attorneys withdrew after complaints from prosecutors. Another Rittenhouse ally has turned his focus to election lawsuits. From the start of the high-profile case, Rittenhouse's lawyers have attracted nearly as much attention as he has. Now, the 17-year-old's main lawyer, John Pierce, is off the case, after prosecutors argued that fundraisers for Rittenhouse could act as a "slush fund" for the embattled attorney. Another prominent attorney who has associated himself with Rittenhouse, Lin Wood, also appears to have pivoted away from the case in order to focus his efforts on overturning President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss. https://www.thedailybeast.com/kenosha-shooter-kyle-rittenhouses-maga-loving-defense-team-implodes
Video shows Fairfax resident confronting man pasting swastika stickers around town. An out-of-town visitor wandered through town putting up stickers of swastikas Tuesday until a local, 21 year-old Noah Mohan, confronted him. A video of the encounter has spread on social media. "Let me see your stickers? Why you putting that up in my f---ing town, bro?" he asks in the video. "Putting up Nazi stickers in Fairfax? Let me see your face, bro. You keep putting them up and I will keep ripping them off." Fairfax police confirm the man in the photos and the video is a 19-year-old from Livermore. Despite detaining him, they will not yet release his identity. On Wednesday, the police forwarded charges to the Marin County District Attorney for hate crimes and vandalism. https://abc7news.com/society/bay-area-resident-confronts-man-putting-up-swastika-stickers/8262638/
The QAnon Congresswomen, Who've Threatened the Squad With Physical Violence, Want to Carry Guns At the Capitol. Newly elected members of Congress haven't even started yet, but that hasn't stopped QAnon fans Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene from pulling a bit of a stunt—one that's a good preview of what their wild and, god willing, brief time in Congress may look like. As the Associated Press reported, Boebert—whose successful campaign was built heavily around her outsized love of guns and who owns a gimmicky restaurant in Colorado where staff famously openly carry firearms—has asked officials if she can carry her beloved Glock on Capitol Hill. https://theslot.jezebel.com/the-qanon-congresswomen-whove-threatened-the-squad-wit-1845746200
Kyle Rittenhouse says he used coronavirus stimulus check to buy AR-15 used in fatal shooting. "No, I don't regret it," Rittenhouse told the Washington Post of the deadly incident in Kenosha. "I feel like I had to protect myself." https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kyle-rittenhouse-says-he-used-coronavirus-stimulus-check-buy-ar-n1248290
Disturbing new details in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. New filings claim there was a Plan B the militiamen had drawn up, that involved a takeover of the Michigan capitol building by 200 combatants who would stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials. And, according to government documents now on file in lower Michigan court, there was also a Plan C -- burning down the state house, leaving no survivors. https://abc7chicago.com/michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-militia/8079861/
Police riots and violence, collaboration, disinformation, propaganda, and lies
Police shot dead a record 1,055 people last year - the highest number in SEVEN years: Black people killed at twice the rate as white The Washington Post on Thursday released the latest analysis from its database of fatal police shootings in the United States The number of people killed by officers was the highest since they began keeping records seven years ago, with 1,055 dying in 2021 In 2020 the figure was 1,021, which criminologists say is not a statistically significantly change with 2021 The most affected people were young black men, and 14 percent had known mental health struggles Three quarters of those killed were armed with a gun or a knife - 632 had a firearm, and 154 had a knife California had the most fatal police shootings, with 141, while Rhode Island only had one https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10500759/Police-shot-dead-record-1-055-people-2021-young-black-men-disproportionate-majority.html
Portland police training material included far-right meme. The text on the image known as the "Prayer of the Alt Knight" references violence against a "dirty hippy" and is attributed to "Based Stickman," an alias of far-right activist Kyle Chapman, who founded a subset of the far-right Proud Boys group, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The meme "is only coming to light because plaintiffs stood up to the City and sued them," said attorney Juan Chavez, one of the lawyers representing Don't Shoot Portland. https://apnews.com/article/police-portland-ted-wheeler-82f27c5a87a3187fc95c4de55f63ce84 https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1299796-based-stickman
The U.S. Cops Suckered by Foreign Spies With Honeytraps, Blackmail and Luxury Vacations. Foreign intelligence agencies around the world are itching to recruit U.S. police officers to do their bidding in America—and they've had success doing so in the past. The FBI has spent "two decades trying to warn state local law enforcement," Evanina said, with the help of national law enforcement organizations. But it's been an uphill battle, with some 18,000 police departments across the country, most with little clue to the designs of foreign adversaries or the resources to vet them. They're easy prey for foreign agents pretending to be regular, friendly police officers. "I can no longer count the number of chiefs of police or assistant chiefs in this country I've run into who tell me they've been to Turkey and it's a beautiful place," Figliuzzi said, ruefully. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-american-cops-suckered-by-foreign-spies-with-honeytraps-blackmail-and-luxury-vacations
To veteran attorneys, Potter verdict comes as a surprise, hints of change. Lawyers surprised jury convicted Potter on both counts, wonder about possible turning point in policing standards. The convictions will be appealed, but Brown and Gaertner didn't point to any obvious issues that would allow the case to be overturned. Also, Gaertner noted that by law, appellate judges "give great deference to juries with front row seats to the facts." Orput said of the appellate court: "They're going to carefully look at the elements of the crime without a lot of drama imposed." The lawyers agreed the verdict sent a message. "Now cops know if they screw up — and it doesn't have to be death — they can go to prison," Brown said. "It's called the rule of law." https://www.startribune.com/to-veteran-attorneys-potter-verdict-comes-as-a-surprise-hints-of-change/600129974/
'Oh My God, I'm Scared': New York Man's Request for Supervisor Quickly Turned Into Violent Traffic Stop Caught on Video, Now He's Suing Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. things soon turn took a violent turn when he could not find the registration and the deputies asked him step out of the vehicle. Olivas said in the interview that when he responded by asking to speak to a supervisor the deputies attacked him. His suit says he was hit several times and restrained him to the point that he couldn't breathe. "After slamming me on the hood of his vehicle, he started to Mace me near my face." Olivas said, noting that at times he almost lost consciousness. "Oh my God, I'm scared.' I'm just trying not to do anything to make them think I'm trying to struggle or fight," he recalled of the incident. The man claims the incident left him with permanent brain and emotional trauma. https://news.yahoo.com/oh-god-m-scared-york-174100874.html
Prosecutor Going After Antifa Peddled Antisemitic George Soros Conspiracies. San Diego DA Summer Stephan, who is bringing a conspiracy case against leftist protesters, once paid for a website that accused George Soros of funding anti-fascists. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan has brought a sweeping new conspiracy case against left-wing protesters who counter-demonstrated at a pro-Trump rally in San Diego on Jan. 9. The result was a beachside brawl, during which rallygoers on the right flashed a knife and a BB gun and protesters on the left fired pepper spray. But rather than result in simple assault charges, Stephan is pressing conspiracy charges—and only against demonstrators on the left. https://www.thedailybeast.com/san-diego-prosecutor-going-after-antifa-once-peddled-antisemitic-george-soros-conspiracies
A 29-year-old man who was charged in connection with a heated skirmish with San Diego police officers during a protest last year was acquitted of all charges Thursday. A San Diego Superior Court jury found Denzel Draughn not guilty of eight felonies: two counts of using tear gas on officers and six counts of resisting officers. Prosecutors contented that Draughn pepper sprayed 11 officers during the protest against police violence in downtown San Diego on Aug. 28, 2020. One officer was blinded for roughly 40 minutes. Deputy Public Defender Damian Lowe told jurors Draughn sprayed the officers because he saw a group of them tackling a man to the ground, then punching and kicking him. District Attorney Summer Stephan's office declined to comment Thursday on the acquittal. In early September, after Draughn was charged, Stephan issued a statement that said, in part: "Protesting is an inalienable right recognized by the U.S. Constitution. Rioting, burning down businesses and assaulting peace officers are crimes that will be prosecuted. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-12-09/protester-acquitted-on-charges-of-resisting-officers-in-skirmish-with-san-diego-police-officers
"I join community leaders in calling for unity and peace, not violence and chaos, while we work together to build racial equity and destroy hate."
A U.S. Capitol Police officer has been indicted on obstruction of justice charges after prosecutors say he helped to hide evidence of a rioter's involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The officer, Michael A. Riley, is accused of tipping off someone who participated in the riot by telling them to remove posts from Facebook that had showed the person inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, according to court documents. https://apnews.com/article/riots-capitol-siege-indictments-obstruction-of-justice-36f12a272f9b955e6524aa1d8e55776e
Between now and November 2022, you will likely hear a lot about an alleged crime wave that is sweeping the country. Many Republicans are already keying in on the issue, including Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), who authored a piece about crime for Breitbart. The article is accompanied by pictures of people committing various property crimes. You might be surprised to learn that, according to FBI data cited by Cotton, property crime declined significantly in 2020. It continues a decades-long trend of fewer property crimes. The same FBI data shows that, overall, crime decreased. But violent crime did go up about 5%. Is that a "crime wave"? Let's put last year's increase in violent crime in context. https://popular.info/p/the-truth-about-crime-in-america
Hacked Oath Keepers Records Show Active Members Of Law Enforcement And The Military Tried To Join The Group After Jan. 6. The records from 2020 and 2021 also reveal a chaotic organization with hundreds of people demanding to cancel their memberships. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/oath-keepers-hacked-emails
Fatal police violence by race and state in the USA, 1980–2019: a network meta-regression. Across all races and states in the USA, we estimate 30,800 deaths (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 30,300–31,300) from police violence between 1980 and 2018; this represents 17,100 more deaths (16 600–17 600) than reported by the NVSS. Over this time period, the age-standardised mortality rate due to police violence was highest in non-Hispanic Black people (0·69 [95% UI 0·67–0·71] per 100,000), followed by Hispanic people of any race (0·35 [0·34–0·36]), non-Hispanic White people (0·20 [0·19–0·20]), and non-Hispanic people of other races (0·15 [0·14– 0·16]). This variation is further affected by the decedent's sex and shows large discrepancies between states. Between 1980 and 2018, the NVSS did not report 55·5% (54·8–56·2) of all deaths attributable to police violence. When aggregating all races, the age-standardised mortality rate due to police violence was 0·25 (0·24–0·26) per 100 000 in the 1980s and 0·34 (0·34–0·35) per 100,000 in the 2010s, an increase of 38·4% (32·4–45·1) over the period of study. We found that more than half of all deaths due to police violence that we estimated in the USA from 1980 to 2018 were unreported in the NVSS. Compounding this, we found substantial differences in the age-standardised mortality rate due to police violence over time and by racial and ethnic groups within the USA. Proven public health intervention strategies are needed to address these systematic biases. State-level estimates allow for appropriate targeting of these strategies to address police violence and improve its reporting. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01609-3/fulltext
What Black People Saw When Border Patrol Whipped Haitians on Horseback. For many Black Americans, images of Border Patrol agents on horseback chasing down Haitian migrants reopened old but familiar wounds. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5mnz/border-patrol-whips-haitians-black-community-reactions
Capitol Police officers face discipline for selfies with rioters, internal documents show. A Capitol Police officer facing disciplinary action told investigators that he posed for a photo with a suspect during the Jan. 6 riot in order to identify him later. But the officer never shared that plan with his supervisor, the Capitol Police's investigations unit or the FBI. It was only when the FBI contacted the Capitol Police about the officer's photo in Facebook posts they were using to obtain an arrest warrant that the officer filled in his supervisors, according to internal investigation documents obtained by McClatchy. In addition to the cases of unbecoming conduct, a special agent in the department's Protective Services Bureau faces disciplinary action on an allegation of improper dissemination of information. The allegation stems from a conversation the officer had with a friend the week after the riot in which he allegedly revealed information about the secure location he helped evacuate lawmakers to during the riot. The friend, who is referred to as "ANONYMOUS" in the documents, called the FBI tip line to report the conversation and expressed concerns that the agent subscribed to Trump's election conspiracy theories. "I don't want to report a friend of forty years but he's says enough concerning statements that I feel like I need to do this... he's just fallen into this cult and these beliefs," the documents quote the anonymous friend as saying in a subsequent interview with Capitol Police. The agent denied that he was sympathetic to the cause of the rioters, but he acknowledged that he may have inadvertently shared information about the secure location. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article254245798.html
Philadelphia to pay $2M to Black woman beaten by officers, separated from toddler during unrest. Officers smashed Rickia Young's windows with batons when she unknowingly drove into a protest. The union later claimed on social media that officers rescued her "lost" toddler. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1279134 https://twitter.com/pefrase/status/1437933700973535236
A $3 Million Deal Is Reached In The Rough Arrest Of A 73-Year-Old Woman With Dementia. Then-Officer Austin Hopp arrested Karen Garner after she left a store without paying for about $14 worth of items in Loveland, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Denver. Police body camera video shows that after she turned away from him, he grabbed her arm and pushed her to the ground. A federal lawsuit that Garner filed claimed he dislocated her shoulder by shoving her handcuffed left arm forward onto the hood of a patrol car. City Manager Steve Adams apologized to Garner and her family in the announcement of the proposed settlement, which was confirmed by Garner's lawyer, Sarah Schielke. "The settlement with Karen Garner will help bring some closure to an unfortunate event in our community but does not upend the work we have left to do," Adams said. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035236585/woman-dementia-colorado-arrest-settlement
Revealed: how California police chased a nonexistent 'antifa bus'. Authorities in rural northern counties spread misinformation and launched aircraft surveillance in response to false rumors about antifa 'infiltrators', according to records obtained by the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/23/revealed-california-police-antifa-misinformation
San Diego Sheriff Releases Details On Disputed Fentanyl Video, But Questions Remain. https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/aug/10/sd-sheriff-releases-more-details-disputed-fentanyl/
Emails Reveal Cops Fanned Flames as FBI Debunked Antifa Hoax. On Sept. 11, 2020, the same day the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a statement dismissing rumors that leftist activists were starting wildfires in Oregon, a sheriff in Washington state sent a very different message to other members of law enforcement. "One of the methods Antifa is using to start fire's,is to take a mason jar with tinder placed inside the jar, put it in brush with the lid open, so the hot sun light will create a slow start which allows them to be out of the area before the smoke appears [sic]," Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer wrote in an email to officials throughout the state. The white bus being driven by suspected Antifa/BLM has been spotted at events in Sequim, Seattle, Coeur d'Alene, Spokane and now Moses Lake. September 2020 email from Sheriff Bob Songer. To his knowledge, he told The Daily Beast in an interview, his department has done nothing to correct the record. https://www.thedailybeast.com/washington-sheriffs-in-counties-like-klickitat-spread-hoax-of-antifa-wildfires-emails-show
Two state legislators sue NYPD over being pepper sprayed, detained during George Floyd protests. State Senator Zellnor Myrie and State Assemblywoman Diana Richardson filed the suit in Brooklyn Federal Court Monday over a May 29, 2020, incident during which the two were pepper sprayed and Myrie was handcuffed and detained during a clash between protesters and cops in Brooklyn. The suit was filed against the city, the mayor, police brass, and five NYPD officers who allegedly took part in the pepper spraying and arrests. Myrie even texted then Commanding Officer of Brooklyn North Jeffrey Maddrey, to give his contact info and say he would be at the protest, the suit says. After Myrie was cuffed, he was not released until an NYPD officer recognized him. Then, Maddrey came over to him and ordered the officers to undo the zip ties that were restraining him, the suit says. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-zellnor-myrie-diana-richardson-lawsuit-nypd-20210628-r552wptmp5ec5b65wume66ik6y-story.html
Cop Flips Pregnant Woman's Car While She Tries To Pull Over Safely. An Arkansas State Police trooper used a PIT maneuver on a woman who had allegedly been speeding. Dunn says she fled, Harper clams she was trying to find a safe place to stop on a section of interstate that has a reduced shoulder. Dash camera video from Dunn's patrol car showed Harper pulled into the right lane, slowed down, and turned on hazards. Less than two minutes after turning on his blue lights, Dunn performed a PIT maneuver, which caused Harper's car to crash into the concrete median and flip. https://jalopnik.com/cop-flips-pregnant-womans-while-she-tries-to-pull-over-1847062704
A new investigation from the Trace shows that the ATF rarely enforces the law. https://boingboing.net/2021/06/04/a-new-investigation-from-the-trace-shows-that-the-atf-rarely-enforces-the-law.html
MPD attorney: Department used tear gas on Lafayette Park protesters in June 2020. Attorney Richard Sobiecki explained for the first time why MPD used tear gas against protesters fleeing federal police, though he did not say what exactly was used. In a federal court hearing Friday, MPD's attorney gave reasons for why the department used tear gas and other chemical irritants on protesters "The curfew, violence of past nights, chaos created by federal defendants, discharge of tear gas in that direction was not unreasonable," attorney Richard Sobiecki, representing MPD, said. Sobiecki added that because its officers "did not target specific protesters," their constitutional rights were not violated. "They suggested at various points they were encouraging people to move south on 17th street," Scott Michelman, DC ACLU's lead attorney for the protesters, said. "And that was encouraging via tear gas. That day was scarring in multiple ways, just in terms of the unexpected nature of the attack, the brutality of it, and the betrayal that many of them felt." https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/investigations/mpd-admits-it-tear-gassed-protesters-june-2020/65-b91a5d65-b683-4e22-b30a-7a740e9cf61d
Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death. Chauvin, 45, was immediately led away with his hands cuffed behind his back and could be sent to prison for decades. https://apnews.com/article/derek-chauvin-trial-live-updates-04-20-2021-955a78df9a7a51835ad63afb8ce9b5c1
'It stood out to me as egregious': Protesters, others allege LAPD violence at Echo Park sweep. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-30/protesters-others-allege-lapd-violence-at-echo-park-protests
Latino Man Who Escaped Atlanta Spa Shooting Handcuffed for Two Hours While Wife Died Inside. "He kept asking, 'Where's my wife? Where's my wife?' and nobody would give him an answer," the niece said. "He didn't get any answers until a couple hours later." Others tried to tell the officers that González wasn't lying about his identity but the cops didn't seem to care. Someone who worked next door even recognized Mario González. "I know," is all a police officer said when he was told that González's wife was inside. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/mario-gonzalez-atlanta-spa-shooting-handcuffs.html
Police Shrugged Off the Proud Boys, Until They Attacked the Capitol. Two Proud Boys accused of leading a mob to Congress followed a bloody path to get there. Law enforcement did little to stop them. A protester was burning an American flag outside the 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland when Joseph Biggs rushed to attack. Jumping a police line, he ripped the man's shirt off and "started pounding," he boasted that night in an online video. But the local police charged the flag burner with assaulting Mr. Biggs. The city later paid $225,000 to settle accusations that the police had falsified their reports out of sympathy with Mr. Biggs, who went on to become a leader of the far-right Proud Boys. Two years later, in Portland, Ore., something similar occurred. A Proud Boy named Ethan Nordean was caught on video pushing his way through a crowd of counterprotesters, punching one of them, then slamming him to the ground, unconscious. Once again, the police charged only the other man in the skirmish, accusing him of swinging a baton at Mr. Nordean. Now, Mr. Biggs, 37, and Mr. Nordean, 30, are major targets in a federal investigation that prosecutors on Thursday said could be "one of the largest in American history." They face some of the most serious charges stemming from the attack on the U.S. Capitol in January: leading a mob of about 100 Proud Boys in a coordinated plan to disrupt the certification of President Donald J. Trump's electoral defeat. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/proud-boys-law-enforcement.html
The police officer whose head was smashed in a doorway by pro-Trump mob at US Capitol was injured and will be out of work 'for a while'. Video from the riots on Wednesday shows a crazed pro-Trump mob barking as they crushed the head of a law enforcement officer between doors at the US Capitol. The rioters pulled on the officer's gas mask, push him, and hit him in the face. The video was filmed by Jon Farina for the outlet Status Coup. https://www.yahoo.com/news/video-capitol-shows-pro-trump-200949954.html
Rampage Weighs on Congressional Staff Members and Capitol Workers. The violence caused by a pro-Trump mob on Wednesday has shaken many who work at the Capitol. And some people of color say the law enforcement response reopened old wounds. on Sept. 11, 2001, when, he said, the police did not even inform kitchen workers of the terrorist threat to the Capitol, let alone evacuate them. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/us/politics/capitol-rampage-congressional-staff.html
The Collectible Coins That Celebrate the Dark Side of American Policing. Challenge coins have become the dirty currency of the warrior cop. https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2021/01/police-challenge-coins/
Lawsuits: Police beat and falsely arrested marcher and photographer during protests. Denver Foote and Mark 'Ted' Nieters, both of Des Moines, are suing the city and individual officers involved in their arrests, which took place May 31 and June 1 amid widespread protests that in some cases broke into looting and vandalism. Both lawsuits were filed Wednesday in state court by Des Moines attorney Gina Messamer, who has been involved in a number of civil and criminal cases alleging misconduct by local law enforcement officers. Nieters and Foote are seeking compensation for injuries and other losses as well as damages for libel and violations of their constitutional rights. Both were charged with crimes related to the protests that later were dismissed for lack of evidence, according to court records. In an interview, Foote told the Des Moines Register that the attack by the officers left her in fear for her life. "I just remember saying 'I'm not resisting,' and they kept hitting me," she said. "I literally thought I was going to be another person who died at the hands of the police, which was really terrifying." https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2020/12/24/des-moines-police-accused-beatings-false-arrests-george-floyd-protests/4038594001/
How Cities Lost Control of Police Discipline. In the chaos of 1960s Detroit, a fledgling police union laid the groundwork for a system that, to this day, constrains discipline for officers accused of misconduct. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/police-misconduct-discipline.html
US Police have stolen $68 billion in the past 20 years from American citizens without due process. The nonprofit Institute for Justice has just released the 3rd edition of its Policing For Profit report, examining the abuses of civil asset forfeiture by local police across the United States. According to their data, local police departments have seized more than $68 billion dollars worth of personal property without due process over the last 20 years. In fact, since 2014, police have been stealing more than actual burglars—and most of that came from people who hadn't been convicted of a crime. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/21/us-police-have-stolen-68-billion-in-the-past-20-years-from-american-citizens-without-due-process.html
BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS 'MOB MENTALITY' OF BOSTON POLICE WHO RESPONDED TO GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS, LAWYER SAYS. Hours of video given exclusively to The Appeal show police officers bragging about attacking protesters and multiple instances of excessive force and the liberal use of pepper spray. Many officers wore body cameras. During the unrest, the cameras recorded hours of footage that the department subsequently stored. That footage was given to attorney Carl Williams, who is representing some protesters arrested that night, as part of a discovery file encompassing 44 videos and over 66 hours of footage. Williams assembled a team of volunteer lawyers and law students to pore over the videos to find exculpatory evidence for his clients. What they found, however, was something more. The hours of video, given exclusively to The Appeal by Williams, show police officers bragging about attacking protesters, targeting nonviolent demonstrators for violence and possible arrest, discussing arrest quotas and the use of cars as weapons, and multiple instances of excessive force and liberal use of pepper spray. "It's this mob mentality," Williams said of the police behavior. "And I use 'mob' as a sort of a double entendre—mob like the mafia and mob like a group of a pack of wild people roaming the streets looking to attack people." https://theappeal.org/bodycam-video-shows-mob-mentality-of-boston-police-who-responded-to-george-floyd-protests-lawyer-says/
Woman shot with police beanbag round during La Mesa protest sues the officer who shot her. A woman partially blinded by a police beanbag round during a protest in La Mesa in late May has sued the officer who fired the round, accusing him of battery. In a lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court last week, Leslie Furcron also claims Detective Eric Knudson inflicted emotional distress and violated her First Amendment right to protest. Among other allegations, the lawsuit contends Knudson violated the Police Department's policies and standard law enforcement practices, alleging he fired a beanbag round into a large crowd at a long distance and aimed at Furcron's head instead of her arms or legs. The city, also named as a defendant, declined to comment on the allegations. City Manager Greg Humora said Knudson, a 12-year-veteran of the police force, remained on administrative leave as of Monday. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2020-12-14/woman-shot-with-police-beanbag-round-during-la-mesa-protest-sues-the-officer-who-shot-her
Addressing Law Enforcement Violence as a Public Health Issue https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2019/01/29/law-enforcement-violence
The Unmaking of the White Christian Worldview. Recent surveys by PRRI, an organization I lead, reveal disturbing realities among white evangelical Protestants today: 61% believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. And the idea of patriotism has taken a troubling turn: 68% believe Trump is a "true patriot," and one in three believe that "because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country." More than seven in ten deny that the history of slavery and discrimination in the U.S. has any bearing on economic inequalities between white and Black Americans today. White evangelicals are the religious group most likely to refuse COVID-19 vaccines and object to mask mandates. One in four are QAnon conspiracy believers. https://news.yahoo.com/unmaking-white-christian-worldview-110009548.html
- A Pro-Trump Billboard with a Bible Verse Didn't Even Get the Bible Verse Right. The verse on the billboard? That's Isaiah 9:6. https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/09/18/a-pro-trump-billboard-with-a-bible-verse-didnt-even-get-the-bible-verse-right/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Christian prayer group and Native Americans face off at Ohio's Serpent Mound. Deputies were called Sunday when a Christian prayer group and Native Americans faced off Sunday at the Great Serpent Mound, the Native American national historic site in southern Ohio. The Native American leader who was there says they were trying to protect a sacred site that belonged to their ancestors. The leader of the prayer group says the mound is a place where dark energy is released into the world. "I'm not calling the Indians dark," Dave Daubenmire told The Enquirer. "This has nothing to do with the Indians." Led by Daubenmire, the group was there on the Winter Solstice "praying down (the) Satanic serpent mounds," according to the group's YouTube video recording the event titled "PAGANS TRY TO PREVENT PRAYER." https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/12/21/christian-prayer-group-and-native-americans-face-off-serpent-mound/3992503001/
Secular Agenda for the 117th Congress & Biden Administration. https://ffrf.org/uploads/legal/TheSecularAgendaBidenAdministration.pdf
Judiciary, SCOTUS
Justice Thomas slams cancel culture for not allowing people to make mistakes when they're young and calls out efforts to stack the Supreme Court because it will 'compromise' the institution Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, 73, condemned the idea of 'packing or stacking' the Court at Senator Orrin Hatch's foundation event on Friday 'You continue to chip away at the respect of the institutions that the next generation is going to need if they're going to have civil society,' he said He also insinuated that Democrats were unhappy with the conservative Court and wanted to 'pack or stack' to get their way Democrats believe in and support the Constitution and the Rule of Law and we don't. 'Let's be honest. This is really about the results they want. They haven't been able to make the institutions do what they want, to give them what they want,' he said He also blasted the media and cancel culture and said people needed to 'learn to engage like we did when I grew up' He briefly discussed his wife Ginni, who has faced scrutiny recently for her political involvement, but the Justice simply said she was a 'good person' He also did not discuss the upcoming Supreme Court cases, such as the case that could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade or gun rights at the event https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10605259/Justice-Thomas-slams-cancel-culture-packing-Supreme-Court.html
An ex-Trump aide said a White House gathering with Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, was 'the craziest meeting I've ever been to'. Leonard Leo, the former executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, told the magazine that Trump sought to cultivate a relationship with Justice Thomas once he realized the immense popularity of the jurist among the Republican base, creating an opening for Ginni Thomas with the then-president. The magazine also detailed newly-reported ties between Ginni Thomas and organizers of a January 6, 2021 rally in support of Trump, along with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, in which Joe Biden oust the former president in a decisive 306-232 Electoral College victory. In January 2019, Ginni Thomas met with Trump at the White House alongside select members of her conservative group, Groundswell, where a Trump aide described the nature of the conversation in unflattering terms. "It was the craziest meeting I've ever been to," he told the magazine. "She started by leading the prayer." https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-clarence-thomas-wife-ginni-craziest-meeting-white-house-aides-2022-2
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a "position on, you know, Jews, right?". She asked, "Is there any kind of — I mean, how would you even know if a — if a school taught all religions are bigoted and biased or, you know, Catholics are bigoted or, you know — or we take a position on the Jewish-Palestinian conflict because of our position on, you know, Jews, right?" https://boingboing.net/2021/12/10/supreme-court-justice-amy-coney-barrett-has-a-position-on-jews.html
Details on F.B.I. Inquiry Into Kavanaugh Draw Fire From Democrats. The F.B.I. said some of the 4,500 tips it received about Justice Brett Kavanaugh were given to the Trump White House, leading some Democrats to call the process a sham. In a recent interview with the author Michael Wolff, Mr. Trump put his handling of Justice Kavanaugh into stark terms, asking "Where would he be without me? I saved his life." But in addition to offering shows of support, the Trump White House carefully controlled the investigations into Mr. Kavanaugh's past. After Dr. Ford came forward, Mr. Trump's staff tried to limit the number of people the F.B.I. interviewed as part of that probe. Only after an outcry from Democrats over the president's approach did the administration say the agency could conduct a more open investigation. Ultimately, 10 witnesses were interviewed by the F.B.I., according to the F.B.I.'s recent letter. Dr. Ford and Mr. Kavanaugh themselves were never interviewed by the F.B.I. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/22/us/politics/kavanaugh-fbi-investigation.html
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Rise Continues To Fascinate In 'Dissent'. Donald Trump's administration was marked by unprecedented chaos and drama, with major stories crowding one another out of the news on a daily basis. But one major event — the confirmation hearings of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — still sticks in the minds of Americans all along the political spectrum. Kavanaugh's ascension to the nation's highest court is the subject of Dissent, the new book from Los Angeles Times White House editor Jackie Calmes. It's not the first book to tackle the rise of the controversial justice — Ruth Marcus did so in Supreme Ambition, as did Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly in The Education of Brett Kavanaugh — but it's a fascinating look not only into the life and career of Kavanaugh, but also into the American conservative movement's successful long-term plan to move the Supreme Court rightward. As Calmes describes it, this was "a forty-year dream, taking control of the nation's highest court with an unquestionably conservative majority." Kavanaugh went on to earn his undergraduate and law degrees at Yale and earned his conservative bona fides early in his career as a lawyer, interning for Ken Starr, then President George H.W. Bush's solicitor general. He would later co-author Starr's famed government report on President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, which would lead to the Democrat's impeachment. https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007079892/supreme-court-justice-brett-kavanaughs-rise-continues-to-fascinate-in-dissent
Behind the dark-money web that put Barrett (and Kavanaugh and Gorsuch) on the Supreme Court. Neil and Ann Corkery have a mission: Load up the judicial branch with right-wing Catholics. It's definitely working. https://www.salon.com/2021/03/30/behind-the-dark-money-web-that-put-barrett-and-kavanaugh-and-gorsuch-on-the-supreme-court/
Ginni Thomas apologizes to husband's Supreme Court clerks after Capitol riot fallout. "I owe you all an apology. I have likely imposed on you my lifetime passions," Thomas, who goes by Ginni, recently wrote to a private Thomas Clerk World email list of her husband's staff over his three decades on the bench. "My passions and beliefs are likely shared with the bulk of you, but certainly not all. And sometimes the smallest matters can divide loved ones for too long. Let's pledge to not let politics divide THIS family, and learn to speak more gently and knowingly across the divide." Besides the friction there, Thomas has drawn outrage among liberals for public political commentary on her "Ginni Thomas" Facebook page. Her comments there celebrated Trump's supporters who assembled in D.C. on Jan. 6, hundreds of whom stormed the Capitol, resulting in the deaths of five people. In the early morning post, Thomas encouraged her Facebook followers to watch the day's events unfold on conservative news media, writing, "LOVE MAGA people!!!!" Thomas seemed to be seeking a peacemaking role in her Jan. 18 message to clerks. "I would ask those of you on the contrary side to have grace and mercy on those on my side of the polarized world, and feel free to call and talk to me individually about where I failed you as a friend here. I probably need more tutoring," she wrote. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/ginni-thomas-apology-clarence-thomas-clerks-trump-rally/2021/02/02/a9818cce-6496-11eb-8c64-9595888caa15_story.html
Supreme Court blocks NY from enforcing Covid limits on churches. The court said the restrictions violate religious freedom and are not neutral because they "single out houses of worship." The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and a coalition of synagogues, individuals, and other Jewish organizations brought the complaints that led to the decision. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-blocks-ny-enforcing-covid-limits-churches-n1249079
The IRS Is Targeting the Poorest Americans. The agency doesn't track the race of those it audits, but predominantly Black counties have higher audit rates than predominantly white ones. By Dorothy A. Brown https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/how-race-plays-tax-policing/619570/
The Number of People With IRAs Worth $5 Million or More Has Tripled, Congress Says. After ProPublica revealed that some wealthy Americans hold Roth IRAs worth hundreds of millions — compared to $39,000 for the average account holder — Democrats requested data. It shows more than 28,000 people with IRAs worth $5 million or more. https://www.propublica.org/article/the-number-of-people-with-iras-worth-5-million-or-more-has-tripled-congress-says
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax
Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank Yet, from the start, a small number of entrepreneurs, like Thiel, made an end run around the rules: Open a Roth with $2,000 or less. Get a sweetheart deal to buy a stake in a startup that has a good chance of one day exploding in value. Pay just fractions of a penny per share, a price low enough to buy huge numbers of shares. Watch as all the gains on that stock — no matter how giant — are shielded from taxes forever, as long as the IRA remains untouched until age 59 and a half. Then use the proceeds, still inside the Roth, to make other investments. https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tech-mogul-peter-thiel-turned-a-retirement-account-for-the-middle-class-into-a-5-billion-dollar-tax-free-piggy-bank
Former Attorney General William Barr says people have the wrong idea of his service under former President Trump. WILLIAM BARR: The media chose to weave a narrative that I was a toady to the president, and that was false from the beginning because I felt I could be independent, and I was. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1084510375
'I would imagine that if the book is anything like him, it will be long, slow, and very boring': Trump's full three-page letter to NBC's Lester Holt tearing into Bill Barr and saying he fired him because he had 'no backbone' Former Attorney General Bill Barr has appeared on NBC News multiple times over the last week to promote his new White House memoir In both the interviews and book excerpts, Barr shreds Trump's election fraud claims and said the ex-president is 'morally responsible' for the Capitol riot It appears NBC News reached out to Trump for comment, to which he sent back a three-page letter with detailed answers to several questions Trump claims his Democrat rivals 'broke' Barr like 'a trainer breaks his horse' He said Barr was now 'groveling to the media, hoping to gain acceptance' Barr dismissed the letter as 'childish' in a Monday morning interview https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10585869/Trump-sends-letter-NBCs-Lester-Holt-tearing-Bill-Barr-saying-no-backbone.html
House investigators have interviewed a former Justice Department official who drafted -- but never sent -- a resignation letter over what he said were former President Donald Trump's "direct instructions" to use the department to support his false election fraud claims. Patrick Hovakimian, chief of staff to then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, wrote the resignation letter January 3 in anticipation that Rosen would be fired at an extraordinary meeting that day with the former President at the White House, according to people briefed on the matter. It's among a trove of Justice Department documents turned over to House and Senate committees investigating events that led up to the January 6 US Capitol attack by Trump supporters who believed Trump's false fraud claims. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/04/politics/justice-resignation-threats-trump-election/index.html
Bill Barr told Trump that 'clownish' legal team was lying to him about 'bull***' voter fraud claims, reports say. Relationship between Barr and Trump fell apart after Trump's attention overtaken by election fraud conspiracy theories. This was during a December meeting in the White House that Mr Trump had asked Mr Barr to attend after seeing a story by the Associated Press that quoted Mr Barr as saying "we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election". The Washington Post reported in October that over 96 per cent of last summer's Black Lives Matter events were peaceful, involving no property damage or injuries to police officers. Mr Trump wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act and send troops into the street. Mr Barr was the one who ended up having to push back on the president's instincts. Both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper did not want the military involved. During a meeting in the Oval Office in the middle of August, Mr Trump told Mr Barr to facilitate a show of strength in Portland where protests raged. Mr Barr didn't budge. Slamming his fist on his desk, Mr Trump yelled "No one supports me. No one gives me any f****** support," Axios writes. Mr Barr looked at chief of staff Mark Meadows, and said: "Well that went well." Mr Barr said: "These things aren't panning out. The stuff that these people are filling your ear with just isn't true." Mr Barr told Mr Trump that the Department of Justice was looking at the claims of his legal team. "It's just bull****," Mr Barr said. Mr Barr said that Mr Trump's legal team was doing an awful job, adding: "I'm a pretty informed legal observer and I can't f****** figure out what the theory is here. It's just scattershot. It's all over the hill and gone." "Maybe," Mr Trump said in response. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/bill-barr-trump-fraud-election-b1788956.html
'I'm Haunted by What I Did' as a Lawyer in the Trump Justice Department. No matter our intentions, lawyers like me were complicit. We owe the country our honesty about what we saw — and should do in the future. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/20/opinion/trump-justice-department-lawyer.html
'Under the rug:' Sexual misconduct shakes FBI's senior ranks https://apnews.com/article/fbi-sexual-misconduct-investigation-a0d33e4770acef8ff5f4a48f0267202c
CBP, Immigration, Border, Wall
CBP Officer Who Asked Mexico to Deny Entry to Some US Citizens Speaks Under Oath. An Inspector General's report found the request to deny entry was without "genuine basis". Depositions taken in the lawsuit filed by Pastor Kaji Douša are allowing us, for the first time, to hear directly from a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer directly involved in those controversial tactics. CBP Officer Saro Oliveri testified he is the one who sent an email to the Mexican government in December 2018, asking them to deny entry to 24 people, including Pastor Douša and 13 other Americans. He called the request "unusual." "We were requesting for them to deny entry so that once they turned around we would be able to interview them," Oliveri said during his deposition. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/cbp-officer-who-asked-mexico-to-deny-entry-to-some-us-citizens-speaks-under-oath/2835644/
On the evening of Sept. 10, a soldier deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border slid a manifesto under each door in his brigade headquarters and then slipped away. The frustrated Army National Guardsman assigned to the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade headquarters had seen enough. Three soldiers had died in three months, the most recent in an alleged DUI just five days earlier, and more than a dozen troops from the mission had been arrested or confined for drugs, sexual assault and manslaughter. "Someone please wave the white flag and send us all home," the letter pleaded. "I would like to jump off a bridge headfirst into a pile of rocks after seeing the good ol' boy system and fucked up leadership I have witnessed here." https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/12/08/death-drugs-and-a-disbanded-unit-how-the-guards-mexico-border-mission-fell-apart/
I'm an evangelical pastor, and I biked 1,600 miles along the US-Mexico border. The only border crisis is America's disgusting treatment of migrants. https://news.yahoo.com/im-evangelical-pastor-biked-1-132800672.html
Border Patrol has a 'shadow police unit' that protects agents when they kill, groups say. The letter, written by the Southern Border Communities Coalition and Alliance San Diego, condemns the use of these units, which documentation shows have different names depending on their location, and suggests that the agents who worked for them could even be charged criminally with obstruction of justice. The units "have allowed border agents to get away with nearly everything, including murder," the letter says. It was sent to leaders of Senate and House judiciary, homeland security and oversight committees. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2021-10-28/border-patrol-shadow-police
Trump's Border Wall Torn Apart by Arizona Monsoon Rains. Record monsoon rains have blown floodgates off their hinges as Trump's border wall breaks down. https://gizmodo.com/trumps-border-wall-torn-apart-by-arizona-monsoon-rains-1847535174
Kamala snaps at reporter, blames Trump, faces down protesters and is slammed for landing 800 miles AWAY from the real crisis during her first trip to the border as VP - 93 days after she was named immigration 'czar' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9725007/Kamala-Harris-finally-jets-meet-migrants-Mexico-border.html
Internal investigation of domestic violent extremism reveals four sympathizers inside DHS. March 11, 2022 "I was troubled by the findings, because the findings disclosed significant gaps in this department's ability to detect and respond to domestic violent extremism," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CBS News in an exclusive interview Friday. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/domestic-violent-extremism-inside-department-of-homeland-security/
- Chad Wolf acting DHS secretary
- Kenneth Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
Senior Homeland Security leaders pushed unfounded antifa conspiracy at 2020 Portland protests, report states. "The report documents shocking, coordinated efforts by our government to abuse its power and to invade liberty in violation of the Constitution," said Lisa Hay, Oregon's federal public defender whose office represents protesters charged by the U.S. Justice Department. "In Portland, we were concerned that the government unconstitutionally collected information, including through the illegal search of protestors' cellphones last summer. This report confirms that was their intent." The report shows DHS senior leaders' attempts at the time to connect the racial justice protests to a centrally organized effort by antifa to commit violence against government institutions — a shocking admission of organizational overreach. "[REDACTED NAME] did make other attempts to controvert the collection-analysis process," the report states. It goes on to criticize how leadership pushed staffers to describe protests as "Violent Antifa Anarchist Inspired," or VAAI, actions. Despite those efforts and Trump administration claims, the report says DHS intelligence analysts were unable to prove an ideological conspiracy. "This may have made sense to [REDACTED NAME] based on his own beliefs but (the Office of Intelligence and Analysis) did not have collections evidence to show it," the report states. For more than a year, Wyden and other members of the Oregon Congressional Delegation have pressed DHS and the Justice Department for details about the Trump administration's response to Portland's protests. Wyden said under Trump, DHS officials sought to "politicize and inflame the conflict in Portland." Oregon's senior senator called for an overhaul of the agency's intelligence office. "Independent investigators confirmed that DHS intelligence officials lacked basic knowledge of their authority, what constituted real threats, and when it was appropriate to investigate Americans who were suspected of no crime at all," Wyden said in a statement Friday. "It documents how untrained analysts investigated journalists. And there is more information that I believe the public deserves to know, but has been redacted. I'll continue working to make those items public." https://www.opb.org/article/2021/10/01/senior-homeland-security-leaders-pushed-unfounded-antifa-conspiracy-at-2020-portland-protests-report-states/
DHS Whistleblower: Trump Team Wanted Us to Lie About Russia, the Border, and White Supremacy. "They did not want the public to know that the Russians were supporting Trump," the whistleblower says. Brian Murphy, the former principal deputy undersecretary in DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, filed a whistleblower complaint last year — as well as a handful of internal complaints and reports — that all painted a frightening picture of how things were running in the department tasked with keeping Americans safe. "From the outset, there were three things that I was told that we would look to manipulate intelligence on and bend the truth about," Murphy told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week. "And I told them upfront that I wasn't going to do it." On Russia, the border, and white supremacy, Murphy said he felt "intense pressure to try to take intelligence and fit a political narrative" — accusing administration officials of demanding information be manipulated to burnish Trump's image and help his messaging. In his whistleblower complaint, Murphy wrote that senior official Ken Cuccinelli demanded that he "modify the section on White Supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe." But Murphy says he refused, because doing so "would constitute censorship of analysis and the improper administration of an intelligence program." Murphy's reluctance to play along gave him a "target on his back," he recalled. Former DHS director Chad Wolf accused him of having a credibility problem, and removed him from his position last August, citing claims that he violated legal requirements regarding the collection of information about journalists during riots in Portland, Oregon. Murphy denied those claims. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/brian-murphy-whistleblower-trump-border-russia-racism-1232427/
A former acting chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's intelligence office has told Congress that DHS leaders pressed him to overstate illegal border crossings from Mexico and overplay the role of far left groups in violence during anti-government protests last summer, his lawyer said. In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, former intelligence chief Brian Murphy accused department leadership of urging him to "blame Far Left groups in an exaggerated fashion" for violence during summer protests in Portland, Oregon, according to lawyer Mark Zaid. In closed-door committee hearings last Friday and Monday, Murphy acknowledged that Far Left protesters were responsible for some of the violence, Zaid said. In a Sept. 8 whistleblower complaint, Murphy accused President Donald Trump's acting DHS chief, Chad Wolf, of having told him to hold back on circulating assessments of the threat of Russian interference in the approaching Nov. 3 election in part because it "made the President look bad." Wolf also asked Murphy to play down U.S. white supremacist activity, the complaint said. https://www.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN28R33L
DOD, NSA, US Military, Afghanistan, VA
Many' Spy Agency Staffers Think Capitol Riot Was 'Justified,' Ex-NSA Veteran Says. "Hate speech was running rampant on our applications," wrote Gilmore, whose identity and credentials have been vouched for by another Pentagon contractor. "I'm not being hyperbolic. Racist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamaphobic [sic], and misogynistic speech was being posted in many of our applications." Even more startling, Gilmore alleges, "there were many employees at CIA, DIA, NSA, and other IC agencies that openly stated that the January 6th terrorist attack on our Capitol was justified." https://www.thedailybeast.com/many-spy-agency-staffers-think-jan-6-capitol-riot-was-justified-ex-nsa-veteran-says
Marines investigate reservist for alleged link to White supremacist group. Cpl. Victor Krvaric, son of former county GOP chairman Tony Krvaric, was identified by activists after a leak of a hate-group membership interview. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2022-02-04/marine-reservist-neo-nazi-group
@TheActivatedPod ICYMI: Yesterday we identified a Patriot Front prospect as San Diego local Victor Krvaric. Victor is corporal in the Marine Corps Reserve, and he also works as a contracted security guard for the Department of Homeland Security. https://twitter.com/TheActivatedPod/status/1488882551393374211 ?s=20&t=xVNoh8z0wVNaCr8BYErxiQ
One year after a few dozen military veterans took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon has responded by tightening regulations to combat extremism in the ranks. But the war has only just begun, according to Defense Department officials, lawmakers and experts on extremist movements. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/04/pentagon-extremism-ranks-jan-6-526441
The Plot Against American Democracy That Isn't Taught in Schools. In an excerpt from Gangsters of Capitalism, Jonathan M. Katz details how the authors of the Depression-era "Business Plot" aimed to take power away from FDR and stop his "socialist" New Deal. As I looked through history to find the origins of the patterns of self-dealing and imperiousness that mark so much of American policy, I kept running into the Quaker Marine with the funny name. Smedley Butler's military career started in the place where the United States' overseas empire truly began, and the place that continues to symbolize the most egregious abuses of American power: Guantánamo Bay. His last overseas deployment, in China from 1927 to 1929, gave him a front-row seat to both the start of the civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists and the slowly materializing Japanese invasion that would ultimately open World War II. A few weeks after the siege, I talked to Butler's 85-year-old granddaughter, Philippa Wehle. I asked her over Skype what her grandfather would have thought of the events of Jan. 6. Her hazel eyes narrowed as she pondered: "I think he would have been in there. He would have been in the fray somehow." "Do you think he would have been with the people storming the Capitol?" I asked Philippa, tentatively. This time she answered immediately. "No! Heavens no. He would have been trying to do something about it." He might have been killed, she added, given that the police were so unprepared. "Which is so disturbing, because of course they should have known. They would have known. They only had to read the papers." https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/coup-jan6-fdr-new-deal-business-plot-1276709/
Decades of DOD efforts fail to stamp out bias, extremism. https://apnews.com/article/business-donald-trump-lloyd-austin-veterans-arrests-aa564fe473dd4c347189bb39ad8a9201
3 Trump associates, including a Marvel exec, tried to get the Department of Veterans Affairs to sell vets' medical records for profit, docs say. The team, which was based at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, included Ike Perlmutter, a major Trump donor, Mar-a-Lago member, and a Marvel executive; Marc Sherman, a Washington, DC, lawyer; and Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, a West Palm Beach, Florida, physician, according to ProPublica. The trio started advising the VA on budgeting and contracting issues, ProPublica reported, but they soon began to advance the idea of selling veterans' medical data. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-associates-wanted-sell-veterans-medical-records-profit-report-2021-9
Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians. This article is more than 11 years old. Footage of July 2007 attack made public as Pentagon identifies website as threat to national security. https://youtu.be/5rXPrfnU3G0 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack
Afghanistan: US admits Kabul drone strike killed civilians. The US has admitted that a drone strike in Kabul days before its military pullout killed 10 innocent people. A US Central Command investigation found that an aid worker and nine members of his family, including seven children, died in the 29 August strike. The youngest child, Sumaya, was just two years old. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58604655
Times Investigation: In U.S. Drone Strike, Evidence Suggests No ISIS Bomb. U.S. officials said a Reaper drone followed a car for hours and then fired based on evidence it was carrying explosives. But in-depth video analysis and interviews at the site cast doubt on that account. Times reporting has identified the driver as Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime worker for a U.S. aid group. The evidence suggests that his travels that day actually involved transporting colleagues to and from work. And an analysis of video feeds showed that what the military may have seen was Mr. Ahmadi and a colleague loading canisters of water into his trunk to bring home to his family. While the U.S. military said the drone strike might have killed three civilians, Times reporting shows that it killed 10, including seven children, in a dense residential block. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/world/asia/us-air-strike-drone-kabul-afghanistan-isis.html
The CIA Captured Him and Trump Let Him Out. Now He's Set to Lead Afghanistan. Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured by the CIA and spent years in prison before being freed by the Trump administration. He's likely to be the Taliban's new head of government. Once a close friend of the Taliban's first leader, Mohammed Omar, Baradar spent years leading Taliban forces and managing its shadow governments in multiple provinces before being captured in a 2010 CIA operation in Pakistan. He was imprisoned until 2018 when he was released at the request of the Trump administration. https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvz4n3/the-cia-captured-abdul-ghani-baradar-and-trump-let-him-out-now-hes-set-to-lead-afghanistan
The Old Cliché About Afghanistan That Won't Die. 'Graveyard of Empires' is an old epitaph that doesn't reflect historical reality — or the real victims of foreign invasions over the centuries. Eventually, all the empires that made their way to Afghanistan found good reason to move on, or to limit their costs and expectations — as President Joe Biden finally has done, a gutsy decision, however chaotic its execution has been. Unlike nearly all the great powers that have trampled Afghanistan for millennia, the U.S. actually had a good reason to be there. We just didn't have a good reason to stay. A terrorist attack on America's capital and its greatest city, one that killed thousands and was launched from Afghan soil with the approval and assistance of the Taliban — of course this necessitated a powerful response. But for all that President George W. Bush believed that America took on an obligation to "nation-build" in Afghanistan after going in to destroy al Qaeda, we did not. That was an impossible expansion of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, one that can be measured in the tragic loss of American lives, treasure and goodwill the United States has suffered there since 2001 — losses that have continued right to the bitter end of the U.S. withdrawal. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/08/28/afghanistan-graveyard-britain-us-russia-506990
Former Navy SEAL says US policy in Afghanistan has been 'like a Star Trek cosplay convention' since 2002. The Blackwater founder blamed 'half-baked politicians in Washington' for the potential collapse. Published August 13 https://www.foxnews.com/media/blackwater-founder-says-us-policy-in-afghanistan-has-been-like-a-star-trek-cosplay-convention-since-2002
I served in Afghanistan as a US Marine, twice. Here's the truth in two sentences. One: For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan. Two: What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you. https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article253641358.html
Trump's Pledge to Exit Afghanistan Was a Ruse, His Final SecDef Says. Chris Miller now says talk of a full withdrawal was a "play" to convince a Taliban-led government to keep U.S. counterterrorism forces. President Donald Trump's top national security officials never intended to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, according to new statements by Chris Miller, Trump's last acting defense secretary. Miller said the president's public promise to finish withdrawing U.S. forces by May 1, as negotiated with the Taliban, was actually a "play" that masked the Trump administration's true intentions: to convince Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to quit or accept a bitter power-sharing agreement with the Taliban, and to keep some U.S. troops in Afghanistan for counterrorism missions. https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/08/trumps-pledge-exit-afghanistan-was-ruse-his-final-secdef-says/184660/
"You're Gonna Have a Fucking War": Mark Milley's Fight to Stop Trump from Striking Iran. Inside the extraordinary final-days conflict between the former President and his chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The last time that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with President Donald Trump was on January 3, 2021. The subject of the Sunday-afternoon meeting, at the White House, was Iran's nuclear program. For the past several months, Milley had been engaged in an alarmed effort to insure that Trump did not embark on a military conflict with Iran as part of his quixotic campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election and remain in power. The chairman secretly feared that Trump would insist on launching a strike on Iranian interests that could set off a full-blown war. There were two "nightmare scenarios," Milley told associates, for the period after the November 3rd election, which resulted in Trump's defeat but not his concession: one was that Trump would try "to use the military on the streets of America to prevent the legitimate, peaceful transfer of power." The other was an external crisis involving Iran. It was not public at the time, but Milley believed that the nation had come close—"very close"—to conflict with the Islamic Republic. This dangerous post-election period, Milley said, was all because of Trump's "Hitler"-like embrace of the "Big Lie" that the election had been stolen from him; Milley feared it was Trump's "Reichstag moment," in which, like Adolf Hitler in 1933, he would manufacture a crisis in order to swoop in and rescue the nation from it. To prevent such an outcome, Milley had, since late in 2020, been having morning phone meetings, at 8 a.m. on most days, with the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the hopes of getting the country safely through to Joe Biden's Inauguration. The chairman, a burly four-star Army general who had been appointed to the post by Trump in 2019, referred to these meetings with his staff as the "land the plane" calls—as in, "both engines are out, the landing gear are stuck, we're in an emergency situation. Our job is to land this plane safely and to do a peaceful transfer of power the 20th of January." https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/youre-gonna-have-a-fucking-war-mark-milleys-fight-to-stop-trump-from-striking-iran
Bush Wars: George W. Bush: Afghanistan withdrawal consequences will be 'unbelievably bad'. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/562926-george-w-bush-consequences-of-afghanistan-withdrawal-will-be
Booze, a strip club and a major gone missing: How a 101st Airborne unit went off the rails in Poland. https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/booze-a-strip-club-and-a-major-gone-missing-how-a-101st-airborne-unit-went-off-the-rails-in-poland-1.671169
The Military Says It's Confronting Extremism. A Prominent White Nationalist Just Finished Boot Camp. As the secretary of defense issued an order to address extremism in the ranks, a well-known white nationalist was receiving combat training courtesy of Uncle Sam, according to an exclusive HuffPost investigation. Airman 1st Class Shawn McCaffrey, 28, is a well-known white nationalist who for years has hosted a racist and anti-Semitic podcast featuring friendly interviews with some of the most infamous fascists in America. He was also, at one time, a key member of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa. Evidence of his life as a white nationalist was only a Google search away, and he even got thrown off volunteering duties for Andrew Yang's presidential campaign in 2019 due to his affiliations. The FBI was also aware of McCaffrey's involvement in the far right, HuffPost has found. Yet a video from late January, posted to Facebook by the Air Force's Detroit recruitment center, appears to show McCaffrey solemnly swearing to "support and defend the Constitution" of the U.S. "against all enemies, foreign and domestic," before shipping off to basic military training. Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said the military branch was not "aware of the allegations" that McCaffrey was a white nationalist before HuffPost reached out for this story. "Air Force officials are looking into it," she said. The officials will likely now determine whether McCaffrey violated military rules regarding extremist activity and discrimination. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/extremists-military-shawn-mccaffrey-white-nationalist_n_60706a94c5b634fd437d8e09
Tarnished by Trump: National security officials struggle to find new jobs. They have been snubbed by potential employers, told they would be a "liability" and in one instance were even compared to the "Hitler Youth." This is the job market many experienced national security officials who work for President Donald Trump are facing just days before a new president takes office and they will be out of work. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/08/post-trump-jobs-national-security-456180
Trump team removes members of Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, including Kissinger, Albright. The purge was done quietly earlier this week, on the eve of Thanksgiving. Foreign Policy, which first reported the removals, said 11 high-profile advisers were ousted from the board, including Kissinger and Albright, as well as former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. The purge was done quietly earlier this week, on the eve of Thanksgiving. Also removed include former Treasury undersecretary David McCormick, who served during the George W. Bush administration, and Rudy De Leon, a former chief operating officer at the Pentagon. Foreign Policy reported that members of the Trump administration had tried to remake the board with figures more sympathetic to the president and outside of the D.C. establishment -- including former Air Force fighter pilot Scott O'Grady and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. However, the outlet reports that that move received pushback from then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and acting Undersecretary James Anderson. Esper was fired earlier this month and replaced with Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Anderson resigned a day later https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-pentagon-defense-policy-board
Putin's invasion grinds to a halt: Kyiv claims to have destroyed dozens of Russian helicopters overnight, retaken a city, and killed 11,000 troops while Russians have captured no significant territory sparking hopes Ukraine could win the war Ukraine claims to have destroyed dozens of Russian helicopters at an airfield near Kherson overnight Military also said it had recaptured Chuhuiv, near Kharkiv, and killed two commanders in the process Meanwhile units in Odessa claimed to have hit and destroyed a Russian patrol ship off the coast Experts say Russian losses becoming 'unsustainable' with no significant territory captured in recent days https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10585145/Ukraine-war-Zelensky-declares-god-not-forgive-Russians-target-civilians.html
International Terrorism
TIMELINE - Major attacks by al Qaeda. Last entry: April 28, 2011 - A bomb kills 15 people including 10 foreigners in Marrakesh, Morocco, in an attack that bore the hallmark of Islamist militants. The previous week, men claiming to be Moroccan members of AQIM appeared on the Internet threatening to attack Moroccan interests. https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-56711920110502
Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1:00 a.m.
Foreign Policy, Ukraine
Ukraine crisis: Vladimir Putin address fact-checked https://www.bbc.com/news/60477712
Biden and Putin hold high-stakes two-hour call over Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/07/politics/biden-putin-call-ukraine/index.html
Biden warns Putin the US and its allies will respond with 'strong economic sanctions' if he invades Ukraine: Joe started off two-hour call on the wrong foot by WAVING at his Russian counterpart after forgetting to turn on his mic. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10284391/Biden-faces-Putin-President-threatens-Russia-toughest-economic-sanctions-yet.html
Reimagining Safety. Today's guests on Black Diplomats are Pam Campos-Palma and Melissa Bryant, two women who have complicated relationships with America. Both women are military vets, one the daughter of immigrants, one a fourth-generation service member. Both were taught that the military is a pathway to prosperity. Both experienced the racism and misogyny that are defining parts of living in America, and both persevered. They know what it's like to love this country, even when it doesn't love you back. Host Terrell J. Starr asks Campos-Palma and Bryant what patriotism means to them, and talks about the way that word has been bound up with whiteness in the US. Is it possible for Americans be truly patriotic without also being white? https://www.blackdiplomats.net/episodes/reimagining-safety
Trump Russia collusion
Trump Lauds Putin's 'Genius' Invasion of Ukraine: He's 'Very Savvy'. Trump just can't stop praising the Russian authoritarian leader—this time expressing admiration for how he labeled his invasion a "peacekeeping" mission. The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-lauds-putins-genius-invasion-of-ukraine-says-hes-very-savvy
FBI warned Giuliani, key Trump ally in Senate of Russian disinformation campaign targeting Biden. The FBI warned Rudolph W. Giuliani in late 2019 that he was the target of a Russian influence operation aimed at circulating falsehoods intended to damage President Biden politically ahead of last year's election, according to people familiar with the matter. The warning was part of an extensive effort by the bureau to alert members of Congress and at least one conservative media outlet, One America News, that they faced a risk of being used to further Russia's attempt to influence the election's outcome, said several current and former U.S. officials. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter remains highly sensitive. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/rudy-giuliani-fbi-warning-russia/2021/04/29/5db90f96-a84e-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html
Veselnitskaya's Trump Tower Coverup Linked to Secret Russian Chemical Weapons Program. Documents obtained by The Daily Beast link the $230 million fraud discussed at the Trump Tower meeting in 2016 to Russia's black-market weapons of mass destruction program. A company newly sanctioned by the U.S. over Alexei Navalny's poisoning attack is tied to the money-laundering network that Natalia Veselnitskaya tried to cover up at the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting, according to financial records obtained by The Daily Beast. One of the entities singled out by the U.S. government as a cog in Russia's weapons of mass destruction program was Riol-Chemie. Investigative files compiled by the authorities in Lithuania—and reviewed by The Daily Beast—show that Riol-Chemie received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a British Virgin Islands-registered company accused of laundering some of the stolen money that was uncovered by Magnitsky. According to sources close to a separate investigation by French authorities, financial records show that two New Zealand-registered companies, which also received funds from the $230 million fraud, wired over $1 million to Riol-Chemie. https://www.thedailybeast.com/veselnitskya-trump-tower-coverup-linked-to-secret-russian-weapons-program
★ Trump Crime Family, Rape, Racism, Election Lies, Grifters gotta Grift
Melania Trump slams the 'inaccurate' New York Times for saying her up to $50,000-a-table high tea has been postponed over questions about the investigation into her charity that 'doesn't exist' Melania Trump slams New York Times report that fundraiser she was attending was canceled after charity didn't register with state of Florida Trump says April fundraiser rescheduled for December Trump: 'As a result of the New York Times' inaccurate reporting, we captured the attention of way more people than expected and required a larger venue' New York Times reported the 'Tulips & Topiaries' was canceled because the charity didn't exist - it hadn't registered with state Organizer said he was originally advised he didn't need to register but did so after a state investigation began into event https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10577679/Melania-Trump-slams-New-York-Times-charity-fundraiser-canceled.html
A law clerk repeatedly had to tell Trump's lawyer to stop interrupting the judge while she ranted about political bias and right-wing conspiracy theories. "When the judge speaks, you have to stop speaking," the clerk told Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba. https://www.businessinsider.com/alina-habba-kept-interrupting-judge-tish-james-trump-organization-hearing-2022-2
Melania Trump issues rare statement calling press 'dream killers' for reporting on Florida charity investigation. Former first lady claims media reports on a Florida probe into a charity event she promoted are part of an attempt to 'cancel' her. grifter https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/melania-trump-florida-charity-statement-b2018276.html
Florida Reportedly Probing Melania Trump Tea For Charity That Doesn't Seem To Exist. All the documents are "in the works," the former first lady said of an "exclusive high tea," which is already selling tickets for up to $50,000. According to information from Trump's office, the tea will raise money for the charity Fostering the Future, which is described as an initiative of Be Best, the anti-bullying mission launched by Trump when she was living in the White House. Money is supposed to fund computer science scholarships to young people who have been in foster care, according to the ticket sales site. Tickets for a VIP table sponsor cost $50,000. Patron tickets are going for $3,000. But no such charity is registered in Florida, the Times reported. Nor does it appear to exist anywhere else. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/melania-trump-high-tea-charity_n_62088c42e4b0e224afc848b6
Read NPR's full interview with former President Donald Trump. Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR on Tuesday after he was repeatedly called out on his baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. A video of the interview, published Wednesday morning, shows Trump becoming increasingly irritated as NPR's Steve Inskeep asks him why he's still pushing debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat. https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072176709/transcript-full-npr-interview-former-president-donald-trump https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-rage-quits-npr-interview-after-hes-grilled-on-election-fraud-lies
Dallas crowd HECKLES Trump when he reveals he's had a COVID booster: Tells audience 'you're playing right into their hands' when you doubt the vaccine. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10329757/Dallas-crowd-HECKLES-Trump-Bill-OReilly-confirm-got-booster-shots.html
Trump accused of 'vile anti-Semitism' for saying American Jews 'no longer love or care about Israel' because of Biden, Obama and the 'Jewish people' who run the New York Times. Trump has claimed that Jews in America 'no longer love Israel,' and that evangelical Christians love it more. 'It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress and today I think it's the exact opposite,' Trump said. 'I think Obama and Biden did that,' the former president continued. 'Yet in the election they still get a lot of votes from the Jewish people' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10321707/Trump-says-American-Jews-no-longer-love-Israel.html
Trump kicked of a four-event 'History Tour' with conservative media personality Bill O'Reilly in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday evening . According to the Sentinel, the event location at FLA Live Arena had many empty seats – so much so that the top level of the venue was closed and ticket buyers were 'upgraded' to the lower levels. The Huffington Post noted that tickets remained for the event in Sunrise on Saturday. And there are still available tickets for the remaining three days of the tour in Orlando, Florida on Sunday; Houston, Texas next Saturday; and Dallas, Texas next Sunday. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10301913/Trump-praises-smart-sharp-Obama-event-said-love-air-Jan-6.html
Trump starts speaking tour in Florida as shows fail to sell out. The tickets that have sold cost $100 each, and VIP and premium tickets were available for several thousand dollars. Former President Donald Trump will kick off his four-date speaking tour with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Saturday, though tickets have far from sold out. With only days before the tour is slated to start, Newsweek discovered that none of the events have sold out, and that tickets were still widely available. However, just because shows have not sold out does not mean they haven't made the former president and the sex scandal plagued former Fox News pundit money; more than 1,000 tickets have been sold between the two Florida speaking venues. The tickets that have sold cost $100 each, and VIP and premium tickets were available for several thousand dollars. The tour, dubbed the "History Tour," will start on Saturday at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise Florida, with a second speaking engagement scheduled the next day at the Amway Centre in Orlando. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-bill-reilly-tour-b1974040.html
Trump accuses former ally Netanyahu of disloyalty: 'F--- him'. Former President Trump blasted Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing the former Israeli prime minister of disloyalty while using profanity to criticize the former ally for his congratulatory message to President Biden following the 2020 election, according to an Axios report. Trump touted that he helped Netanyahu, now the opposition leader in Israel, in his own election efforts, reversed decades of U.S. policy in Israel's favor and supported Israel's claim to land that was seized in war, while continuing to incorrectly claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, reports The Associated Press. "The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with. ... Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake," Trump said, according to Axios. "[Netanyahu] was very early — like, earlier than most. I haven't spoken to him since. F--- him," Trump said according to Axios. https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/585257-trump-accuses-former-ally-netanyahu-of
Stephen Miller (born August 23, 1985) is an American political advisor who served as a senior advisor for policy and White House director of speechwriting to President Donald Trump. His politics have been described as far-right and anti-immigration. He was previously the communications director for then-Senator Jeff Sessions. He was also a press secretary for U.S. representatives Michele Bachmann and John Shadegg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Miller_(political_advisor)
Key revelations from the new book by Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows. https://news.yahoo.com/mark-meadows-trump-book-revelations-covid-bunker-204548531.html
Trump draws attention with admission he 'fired Comey'. Former President Trump is drawing attention after giving an interview in which he admitted to firing ex-FBI Director James Comey and suggested that doing so allowed him to remain in office for four years. "A lot of people say to me, how you survived is one of the most incredible things," Trump told Fox News host Mark Levin in an interview that aired Sunday night. "Don't forget, I fired Comey. Had I not fired Comey, you might not be talking to me right now about a beautiful book of four years at the White House, and we'll see about the future. The future is going to be very interesting," Trump continued. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/584470-trump-draws-attention-with-admission-he-fired-comey
'Joe Biden Stole Christmas': Trump puts out ad attacking President over supply chain crisis and warns he could 'take America to a point where it can't come back'. Trump has been on Fox News promoting his new book Our Journey Together. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10277685/Trump-warns-Biden-bring-point-no-return-puts-ad-saying-Joe-Stole-Christmas.html
OXFORD, Michigan—school shooting. Detailed descriptions of a wish to massacre classmates on his cellphone and in a journal. At least one social media post pointing to elation at access to a handgun bought by his dad. A mom who thanked Trump for "my right to bear arms." And a meeting between his parents and school administrators about his conduct just hours before the attack. The boy's father, James Crumbley, 45, has worked as a tech salesman and recently ran into legal trouble in Florida over child-support payments. A spokesperson for his last employer, a San Francisco-based company called Monarch that provides GPS tracking to the transportation industry, said Crumbley "briefly worked... as an independent contractor from February to July 2021" and "was terminated for reasons unrelated to this incident." Ethan Crumbley's mother, Jennifer Crumbley, 43, worked as a real estate broker in the Oxford area, but her staff bio has now been taken down. Although James' online presence demonstrates a preference for the Seattle Seahawks, his posts were not overtly political. Jennifer, however, penned an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump, which she posted on her blog, in November 2016. "Mr. Trump, I actually love that you are a bad public speaker because that showed sincerity, and humility," she wrote. "You changed your mind, and you said 'so what.' You made the famous 'grab them in the pussy' comment, did it offend me? No. I say things all the time that people take the wrong way, do I mean them, not always. Do I agree that you should of [sic] shown your tax returns? No. I don't care what you do or maybe don't pay in taxes, I think those are personal and if the Gov't can lock someone up over $10,000 of unpaid taxes and you slipped on by, then that shows the corruption." Crumbley went on to tell Trump that she hoped he would "really uncover the politicians for what I believe they really are," and that he might "shut down Big Pharma, make health care affordable for me and my MIDDLE CLASS family again." She was in favor of Trump's long-promised border wall, and noted that she was "not racist" because her grandfather "came straight off the boat in Italy." "As a female and a Realtor, thank you for allowing my right to bear arms," the letter continued. "Allowing me to be protected if I show a home to someone with bad intentions. Thank you for respecting that Amendment." She complained about parents at other schools where the "kids come from illegal immigrant parents" and "don't care about learning." It was signed, "A hard working Middle Class Law Abiding Citizen who is sick of getting fucked in the ass and would rather be grabbed by the pussy." https://www.thedailybeast.com/ethan-crumbley-identified-as-oxford-high-school-michigan-mass-shooter
Michael Cohen Says Prosecutors 'Are Going After Donald, Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka' "I truly believe that [prosecutors] can indict Donald Trump tomorrow if they really wanted, and be successful," Trump's former personal attorney said of New York law enforcement's investigation of the Trump Organization. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/michael-cohen-prosecutors-trump-family-1263758/
New Trouble for Trump: His Company Is Accused of a Major Insurance Scam. Two former insiders tell 'Rolling Stone' that Trump's team attempted to turn a storm into a massive payday — part of a pattern of shady insurance practices that have caught law enforcement's attention. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-organization-insurance-investigation-golf-course-1249755/
Trump criticizes media for treating Powell 'beautifully' in death. "Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!" https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/19/trump-slams-colin-powell-media-one-day-after-gener/
Steve Bannon, the chairman of the Trump campaign and a White House strategist, was a frequent visitor to Epstein's New York mansion. A former Epstein associate, who spoke to Rolling Stone anonymously for fear of professional reprisal, recalled being introduced to Bannon at Epstein's Manhattan home. "He was the main person that [Epstein] would brag about to literally everyone. It wasn't a secret," this person said. Epstein "loved having this 'one famous person' around that he would talk about and introduce to everyone. Almost like [he was] using Bannon to get more people to accept him. That's my sense." Bannon did not respond to several messages left seeking comment. His spokesperson declined to comment on the record. Billionaires with scandal and nasty allegations swirling around them seem to be the company Bannon likes to keep. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/steve-bannon-jeffrey-epstein-spy-trump-1242599/
Former Trump attorneys are now steering clear of him, partly because he fails to pay, report claims. List includes William Burk, who represented Trump figures in the Russia investigation. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-former-attorneys-staying-away-b1938254.html
Melania Trump's Real Reason for Swatting Donald Trump's Hand Still Suggests Their Marriage Was Rocky. Mrs. Trump 'slapped' her husband's hand away that day because she thought it was against protocol to hold hands at such a formal ceremony," she explained. The former Trump aide calls Melania "a rule follower" and Donald would sometimes try to antagonize her because he knew it would upset her. "He often tried to hold her hand or messed with her hands on purpose in front of the camera to irritate her," she wrote. https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/2493316/melania-trump-swatting-donald-trump-hand-stephanie-grisham-book/
Donald Trump Falls Off The Forbes 400 For First Time In 25 Years. onald Trump is worth an estimated $2.5 billion, leaving him $400 million short of the cutoff to make this year's Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. The real estate mogul is just as wealthy as he was a year ago, when he stood at No. 339 on the ranking, but he is down $600 million since the start of the pandemic. Technology stocks, cryptocurrencies and other assets have thrived in the COVID era. But big-city properties—which make up the bulk of Trump's fortune—have languished, knocking the former president out of the nation's most-exclusive club. If Trump is looking for someone to blame, he can start with himself. Five years ago, he had a golden opportunity to diversify his fortune. Fresh off the 2016 election, federal ethics officials were pushing Trump to divest his real estate assets. That would have allowed him to reinvest the proceeds into broad-based index funds and assume office free of conflicts of interest. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2021/10/05/donald-trump-falls-off-the-forbes-400-for-first-time-in-25-years/
Former Trump aide Omarosa, newly freed from her NDA, suggests Trump won't 'be healthy enough' for a 2024 run. https://www.businessinsider.com/former-aide-omarosa-trump-wont-be-healthy-enough-2024-run-2021-10
Trump asks U.S. judge to force Twitter to restart his account. Trump filed a request for preliminary injunction against Twitter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing the social media company was "coerced" by members of the U.S. Congress to suspend his account. Twitter "exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate," Trump's lawyers said in the filing. The filing was reported earlier by Bloomberg. https://www.reuters.com/technology/trump-asks-florida-judge-force-twitter-restart-his-account-bloomberg-news-2021-10-02/
Trump donor: Corey Lewandowski made unwanted sexual advances. The longtime Trump aide harassed her at a charity event, a major Republican Party contributor alleges. A Donald Trump donor is accusing Corey Lewandowski, one of the former president's longtime top aides, of making unwanted sexual advances toward her at a Las Vegas charity event over the weekend. Trashelle Odom, the wife of Idaho construction executive John Odom, alleges that Lewandowski repeatedly touched her, including on her leg and buttocks, and spoke to her in sexually graphic terms. Odom said that Lewandowski "stalked" her throughout the evening. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/29/corey-lewandowski-sexual-advances-allegations-514650
'Stephanie was angry and bitter after her break-up and had big problems': Trump says Melania's ex-press secretary memoir shouldn't be taken seriously because she was 'seldom relied upon' and is being paid by 'radical left publisher' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10041355/Stephanie-angry-bitter-break-Trump-rips-ex-press-secretary-Grishams-memoir.html
Twitterless Trump trashes Lindsey Graham in late-night email rampage whining that his coup attempt failed. It started after 8 p.m. eastern when Trump trashed the 43rd president of the United States as a "Republican in Name Only" (RINO). Trump's rage against his own party then turned to his complaints that the media has seen "evidence" of election fraud, even though he went on to say such evidence was not yet public. "Why is the Fake News Media continuing on their path of saying, 'baseless and disproven lies,' concerning the Presidential Election of 2020, no matter how much evidence they see?" Trump wondered, even though his lies of election fraud have been thoroughly debunked. It was then time for GOP Senators to share the hot seat. "I spent virtually no time with Senators Mike Lee of Utah, or Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, talking about the 2020 Presidential Election Scam or, as it is viewed by many, the 'Crime of the Century.' Lindsey and Mike should be ashamed of themselves for not putting up the fight necessary to win," Trump said of his failed coup attempt. Trump was apparently referring to reports in the new book Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa that Lee and Graham had investigated claims of election fraud and found they "added up to nothing." https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-coup-lindsey-graham/
Decertify the 'Illegitimate' Election, Says Man Under Investigation for Election Interference. Donald Trump, who lies a lot, tells Georgia officials that "the truth must be allowed to come out" https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-georgia-raffensperger-letter-election-decertify-1228439/
Trump predicts America will cease to exist in three years in rambling Newsmax interview. The former US president also claimed Joe Biden is 'worse than Obama'. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-sean-spicer-newsmax-america-b1920400.html
'Drunk' Giuliani imitates the Queen, denies hanging out with Prince Andrew and 'young girls', and calls top US general an 'ass***e' in unhinged rant during 9/11 commemoration dinner Giuliani spoke at Cipriani restaurant in New York City on Saturday night Annual dinner is held to commemorate the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Former New York City mayor went on rant and appeared to be intoxicated https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9982931/Rudy-Giuliani-mocks-Queen-Elizabeths-British-accent-calls-military-officer-idiot.html
EXCLUSIVE: 'She knows where all the bodies are buried because she buried them herself!' Melania's former chief of staff Stephanie Grisham is publishing a tell-all book and she's already been warned that the Trumps are going to 'strike back hard' Melania Trump's former chief of staff Stephanie Grisham will publish a memoir next month that will reportedly detail 'where the bodies are buried' The book: 'I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House', will reveal 'surprising new scandals' from Trump's turbulent four years in office 'She is going for it, telling her truth, and letting the chips fall where they may,' a source close to the publication told DailyMail.com The source says that Grisham has been 'warned that the Trumps are going to strike back hard' Grisham was seen as Melania's enforcer and protector and was one of the few people who saw the former First Lady and Trump in their private residence A source close to the publishers said: 'Grisham knows where all the bodies are buried because she buried a lot of them herself' Grisham has kept a low profile since resigning on January 6th as Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol Her 'top secret' memoir was kept under wraps until its news broke with just a month to go until the release https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9974037/Melania-Trumps-former-chief-staff-Stephanie-Grisham-publishing-tell-book.html
Stephanie Grisham has quietly written a top-secret memoir of her four years in Donald Trump's White House, and a publishing source says she'll reveal "surprising new scandals." A former West Wing colleague of Grisham's tells Axios: "When I heard this, all I could think about was Stephanie surrounded by a lake of gasoline, striking a match with a grin on her face." A source close to the publication told Axios: "Grisham knows where all the bodies are buried because she buried a lot of them herself." https://news.yahoo.com/lake-gasoline-top-aide-both-102639428.html
Trump's Weird New Rant About Robert E. Lee Contains A Baffling 3-Word Claim. I don't know where to start with this one. "Except for Gettysburg" he would have won the war? Like, except for D-Day, Hitler would have won WWII? And as for reconciliation after the Civil War, it was Grant who interceded to saved Lee from indictment for treason. And so on…. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-weird-rant-robert-e-081318204.html
Trump Crime Family, Rape, Racism, Election Lies. archived September 09, 2021
Melania Trump is telling friends she has no interest in being first lady again despite her husband's 2024 teases, report says. "Not unlike 2016, Melania Trump has no intention really of joining the campaign," CNN's Kate Bennett said on Sunday. "I've spoken to people who said that she's not even really interested in being in the White House again, going through being first lady again." Several of Melania Trump's friends told the outlet she has no interest in returning the White House, let alone helping if her husband decides to run. https://news.yahoo.com/melania-trump-telling-friends-she-014348530.html
Trump helped bankroll Senate audit, texts suggest. In an April text exchange with audit spokesman Randy Pullen, Trump campaign official and former Arizona state treasurer Jeff DeWit offered to send $175,000 to the Guardian Defense Fund, a dark-money fund run by Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, where Pullen serves as treasurer. A dark-money fund is not required to disclose its funders. Finchem is also running for secretary of state. DeWit later asked about a second nonprofit that contributed money to the audit, Fund the Audit by The America Project. "So they are ok to donate to? Trump asking," he texted Pullen on April 28. https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2021/08/31/trump-helped-bankroll-senate-audit-texts-suggest/
Bone spur quarterbacking https://www.hindustantimes.com/videos/world-news/watch-donald-trump-reacts-to-kabul-suicide-bombing-slams-joe-biden-says-if-i-were-president-101630120671721.html
Trump suggests Osama bin Laden wasn't 'a monster' and had 'only one hit' in new interview. Trump boasts in an interview Laden wasn't the 'nastier' terrorists his administration had taken out. Mr Trump, in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, boasted about operations in which the US took out "nastier" terrorists during his time at the Oval Office. "Isis is tougher than the Taliban, and nastier than the Taliban. And Isis was watching, and then they were, they didn't exist anymore," Mr Trump said in the interview. "And we took out the founder of Isis, al-Baghdadi, and then of course Soleimani. Now just so you understand, Soleimani is bigger by many, many times than Osama bin Laden. The founder of Isis is bigger by many, many times, al-Baghdadi than Osama bin Laden," he added. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi militant who rose to become the leader of Islamic State, died in a raid by US special forces in northwest Syria in 2019. In January 2020 a US drone strike in Iraq killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani who led the elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-osama-bin-laden-9-11-b1909649.html
Maybe You Don't Want to Be In Business With Jared Kushner. He's "re-entering the private sector" with his own financial firm — so as a public service, my own tale of doing a deal with him. https://gen.medium.com/maybe-you-dont-want-to-be-in-business-with-jared-kushner-2679c9b645e8 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/jared-kushner-leave-politics-launch-investment-firm-sources-2021-07-28/
Former President Trump on Saturday slammed the Senate's $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package just hours before the upper chamber is scheduled to vote on winding down debate, calling the bill a "disgrace" and pushing GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to negotiate a better deal. The ex-commander in chief issued the message from his Save America PAC, accusing Republican leaders of satisfying the policy agenda of Democrats and telling GOP senators to think "twice before you approve this terrible deal." "Joe Biden's infrastructure bill is a disgrace," Trump wrote. "If Mitch McConnell was smart, which we've seen no evidence of, he would use the debt ceiling card to negotiate a good infrastructure package." Trump went on to express doubt that lawmakers have actually read through the entirety of the 2,700-page infrastructure proposal, arguing, "they would have needed to take speed reading courses." "It is a gift to the Democrat Party, compliments of Mitch McConnell and some RINOs, who have no idea what they are doing," he added. Trump, who has used his platform in recent months to throw his support behind allied congressional candidates running in 2022, warned Saturday that the "infrastructure bill will be used against the Republican Party in the upcoming elections in 2022 and 2024." "It will be very hard for me to endorse anyone foolish enough to vote in favor of this deal," he cautioned, a potential threat for anyone aiming to bank off of the support from Trump, who remains one of the most powerful members of the Republican Party months after leaving the Oval Office. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/566838-trump-slams-mcconnell-infrastructure-package-a-disgrace
Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, released handwritten notes taken by then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard P. Donoghue of a December 27, 2020, phone call with former President Donald J. Trump and former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. These notes reveal attempts by former President Trump to directly pressure the two most senior officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to overturn the certified results of the 2020 election or risk losing their jobs. "These handwritten notes show that President Trump directly instructed our nation's top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency," Chairwoman Maloney said. "The Committee has begun scheduling interviews with key witnesses to investigate the full extent of the former President's corruption, and I will exercise every tool at my disposal to ensure all witness testimony is secured without delay." https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-obtains-key-evidence-of-president-trump-s-attempts-to-overturn-the
Top U.S. General Said Trump Preached 'Gospel of the Führer'. Although the book chronicles Milley's concern with Trump dating back to that moment, the general's worries grew rapidly as the president plunged the nation into chaos following Election Day. Seven days later, Milley got a call from "an old friend" with an explicit warning that Trump and his allies were trying to "overturn the government." Milley was confident that any attempts by Trump to hold on to power would be thwarted, because the military wouldn't go along. "They may try, but they're not going to fucking succeed," he told aides. "You can't do this without the military. You can't do this without the CIA and the FBI. We're the guys with guns." On January 6, Milley watched with disgust as Trump addressed his supporters. Soon after Trump finished speaking, a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the presidential election by a joint session of Congress — and many promised to return for Biden's inauguration. "These guys are Nazis, they're boogaloo boys, they're Proud Boys. These are the same people we fought in World War II," Milley said a week after the attack on the Capitol. After Biden took the oath of office on January 20, and Trump was finally an ex-president, former First Lady Michelle Obama encountered Milley at the Capitol and asked how he was feeling. "No one has a bigger smile today than I do," he said. "You can't see it under my mask but I do." https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/i-alone-can-fix-it-mark-milley-likened-trump-to-hitler.html
Fact check: Untethered to reality, Trump lies over and over about the 2020 election at CPAC. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/12/politics/fact-check-trump-cpac-election-lies/index.html
Trump says being impeached twice didn't change him: 'I became worse' "He became a different man when the Democrats viciously stated that they wanted to impeach him. They went wild. We want to impeach him. We're gonna impeach Bill Barr. We're gonna impeach him. He became different. I understand that. I didn't become different. I got impeached twice. I became worse," Trump said, garnering applause from the crowd. "I became worse," he emphasized. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/562480-trump-i-got-impeached-twice-i-became-worse
'He's always buzzed': Trump's aides believed Rudy Giuliani was often DRUNK and feared former president's personal lawyer, 77, was growing senile, explosive new Michael Wolff book claims https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9775711/Donald-Trumps-lawyers-believed-Rudy-Giuliani-DRUNK.html
A reporter asked Trump, "Because so much of your banning (on social media platforms) has to do with comments you made around Jan. 6, just to clarify further, what did you do to stop the insurrection as some people call it, and why were you not able to stop it?" In his answer, Trump called the storming of the Capitol an "unfortunate event" and pivoted to the death of Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old San Diego woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Capitol Police officer when a crowd of rioters was trying to force its way into the House chamber. "The person that shot Ashli Babbitt — boom — right through the head — just boom — there was no reason for that," Trump said. "And why isn't that person being opened up, and why isn't that being studied? They've already written it off. They said that case is closed. If that were the opposite, that case would be going on for years and years, and it would not be pretty." First, we should note that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Washington, D.C., determined that Babbitt was struck in the front left shoulder, not the head. Beyond that, Trump's assertion that "there was no reason" for the shooting goes beyond saying that, in his opinion, the shooting was unjustified. Rather, he's saying there's no possible argument to support it. However, even if one disagrees with the Justice Department's determination not to prosecute the officer for the shooting, video evidence demonstrates that the officer was facing an angry mob near the House chamber. Experts told PolitiFact that the situation involved a risk of serious bodily harm to either law enforcement or lawmakers, which is a longstanding defense made and upheld by the courts in police shootings. https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/w6ViawZYNTR5jzlADYEwDeOHPCjZyQfC67xhTklWUq3JHWX4itR8dgkzpkwvWk1JXkTzR8JTM9vYrsJs3iXWnFNpl4M?loadFrom=PastedDeeplink&ts=2297.52
Trump got distracted by the word 'nuclear' during a bizarre press conference about his latest lawsuit. "My team is demanding an end to the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing, a stop to the blacklisting, vanishing, and canceling," he said in an email soliciting funds for the lawsuit. "We will not rest until we've achieved a MAJOR VICTORY for the American People." https://www.businessinsider.com/video-donald-trump-nuclear-at-press-conference-2021-7 https://youtu.be/j0r2UvJs2iY
Pay Arrangement Named In Trump Org Indictment Linked To Ivanka Trump. Allen Weisselberg is in trouble for collecting "non-employee compensation" while company CFO — similar to a reported arrangement involving Ivanka Trump. The probe involved Trump Organization tax write-offs on "millions of dollars in consulting fees, some of which appear to have gone to Ivanka Trump," sources told the Times — though there was no indication at the time that the former president's daughter was a target of the investigation, the newspaper noted. The Associated Press also reported last year that the attorney general sent a subpoena to the Trump Organization for records related to consulting fees paid to Ivanka Trump while she was also a senior executive at the Trump Organization. The Times reported Friday that both New York City and state investigators had issued subpoenas last year for information on tax write-offs for "millions of dollars of consulting fees" paid to TTT consulting, a limited liability company set up for Trump's eldest three children. Only fees paid to Ivanka Trump in the last few years are publicly known, however, because she was required to reveal fees as a White House adviser. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ivanka-trump-weisselberg-indictments-employee-consultant_n_60dfd5d2e4b068186f4f8f9c
Look at all the bored Trump fans walking out right during his speech. https://boingboing.net/2021/06/29/look-at-all-the-bored-trump-fans-walking-out-right-during-his-speech.html
Former President Trump on Monday lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), incensed by a forthcoming book that reports McConnell urged former Attorney General William Barr to push back on Trump's falsehoods after November's election. Trump implied that had McConnell intervened to block the certification of President Biden's electoral votes, the Senate GOP leader would not be in a position where he is navigating bipartisan infrastructure talks. "Had Mitch McConnell fought for the Presidency like he should have, there would right now be Presidential Vetoes on all of the phased Legislation that he has proven to be incapable of stopping," Trump said in a Monday statement, reiterating his belief that Republicans lost both Senate runoff races in Georgia in January because of McConnell. "He never fought for the White House and blew it for the Country," Trump said. "Too bad I backed him in Kentucky, he would have been primaried and lost!" https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/560576-trump-blasts-mcconnell-over-claims-in-book-about-election
Excerpts from three upcoming books revealed previously unknown efforts by then-President Donald Trump to abuse the powers of his office to overturn the 2020 election, deploy the military against racial justice protests and prosecute his political opponents. The excerpts also shed new light on Trump's increasingly unstable mindset in his final year. They portrayed a president who was obsessed with self-serving conspiracy theories and surrounded by aides who knew he was delusional but were too afraid to tell him the truth. https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/28/politics/trump-book-bombshells-delusions/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_term=link&utm_content=2021-06-28T23%3A46%3A06&utm_medium=social
'Crack their skulls': The latest book on Trump shows America had a narrow escape. Trump reportedly called for the military to go in and 'beat the f**k out of' Black Lives Matter protesters – and several times, he told officials to 'just shoot them'. "That's how you're supposed to handle these people," Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, according to Bender. "Crack their skulls!" Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and "beat the f--k out" of the civil rights protesters, Bender writes. "Just shoot them," Trump said on multiple occasions inside the Oval Office, according to the excerpts. https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/politics/bender-book-trump-milley-protests/index.html
'I Made Juneteenth Very Famous': The Inside Story of Trump's Post-George Floyd Month. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/18/mike-bender-book-excerpt-trump-495071 https://www.businessinsider.com/black-secret-service-agent-offended-by-trumps-tulsa-juneteenth-rally-2021-6
'He's screwed over so many publishers': Trump confronts a skeptical book industry. The former president insists he has offers from two of the "most prestigious publishing houses." None of the major five said they extended one. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/15/trump-book-publishers-494559
Donald Trump interview 1980 (Rona Barrett) hard to stomach https://youtu.be/nAgJAxkALyc
Roger Stone claims Steve Bannon blackmailed Trump to receive his pardon. 'Come on, sloppy Steve. We can find you a suit and tie that is clean, I think, and you should come on Infowars and answer what I just said,' Roger Stone says. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-roger-stone-claims-blackmail-b1859910.html
Trump is telling people he thinks he'll be 'reinstated' as president in August, according to a report. Former President Donald Trump is reportedly floating another idea about unlawfully taking power. Trump is said to have echoed a far-right conspiracy theory that he'll be "reinstated." Pro-Trump personalities such as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell have pushed the baseless claim for months. In Lindell's telling, August would be when he would go to the Supreme Court to present evidence the pillow tycoon says he acquired on January 9. Lindell claims the evidence will be so convincing that the justices will be forced to reject the 2020 election results. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast has amplified the conspiracy theory, with Lindell and others going on the show to promote it with minimal pushback. The Bannon podcast remains influential among GOP lawmakers hoping to avoid a primary challenge while seeking reelection. Dozens of lawsuits related to the election have been filed by Trump lawyers and other Republicans, and all of them have failed. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-expects-to-be-reinstated-as-president-august-2021-6
"Rudy Giuliani is a great patriot. He just loves this country, and they raid his apartment," Trump complained to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday morning. "It's, like, so unfair and it's such a double standard like I don't think anybody's ever seen before... It's very, very unfair. Rudy is a patriot who loves this country, and I don't know what they're looking for or what they're doing." Trump rips raid on 'great patriot' Rudy Giuliani's apartment as 'very unfair' https://thehill.com/homenews/news/550877-trump-rips-raid-on-patriot-giulianis-apartment-as-very-unfair
Many Trump employees got away with power abuses. Mike Pompeo shouldn't be one of them. Pompeo's worst abuses — rooted in extreme politicization of the State Department — were devastating to U.S. interests around the globe. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/many-trump-employees-got-away-power-abuses-mike-pompeo-shouldn-n1265203
Father-of-five Trump brags about his success as a dad and takes a veiled swipe at Biden by saying the key to raising amazing kids is no drugs or alcohol https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9429239/Father-five-Trump-brags-success-dad-takes-veiled-swipe-Biden.html
Trump tells crowd daughter-in-law Lara IS running for Senate during surprise appearance at Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for charity rescuing dogs from China. Fat pics of Trump. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9357535/Trump-makes-surprise-appearance-Mar-Lago-fundraiser-helping-rescue-dogs-China.html
Lara Trump-linked dog rescue charity spent $2m on Trump properties. Florida-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue has spent as much as $1,883,160 on fundraising costs for events at Mar-a-Lago. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/13/lara-trump-linked-dog-rescue-charity-spent-2m-properties
Former president, private citizen and, perhaps, criminal defendant: Donald Trump's new reality. By George T. Conway III JANUARY 22, 2021. Here's my 5022-word essay on why three or four Justice Department special prosecutor's offices should be established to investigate—and if the evidence and their judgment supports it, to criminally charge—our newest ex-president. Russia, Ukraine, Campaign finance laws, Bank, insurance and tax fraud. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/22/trump-charges-george-conway/?arc404=true
Melania Trump disengaged from her husband's second impeachment trial and bitter over Jill Biden's publicity. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/politics/melania-trump-mar-a-lago-impeachment/index.html
'The perfect target': Russia cultivated Trump as asset for 40 years – ex-KGB spy. The KGB 'played the game as if they were immensely impressed by his personality', Yuri Shvets, a key source for a new book, tells the Guardian. Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian. Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to "the Cambridge five", the British spy ring that passed secrets to Moscow during the second world war and early cold war. Now 67, Shvets is a key source for American Kompromat, a new book by journalist Craig Unger, whose previous works include House of Trump, House of Putin. The book also explores the former president's relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/29/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book
A term of untruths. The longer Trump was president, the more frequently he made false or misleading claims. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/timeline-trump-claims-as-president/
The First Lady is complicit in the destruction of America. Melania held one of the most honorary positions in the world, one that so many brave Americans have fought and died for. Michelle Obama, and so many first ladies before her, accomplished so many things. Michelle was beautiful, brilliant and wise on the inside and out, and in spite of being criticized constantly, actually enacted programs to help children and military families instead of just talking about it. Since Melania wasn't going to be "given credit by the media" and had little support, she resigned herself to just go through the motions. She left behind no legacy or profile to be proud of as First Lady of the United States. I made a life-changing mistake and continued working for Melania, even though I knew the environment was toxic after the planning of the inauguration, because I believed I could make a difference. What a fool I was, thinking I could make a difference in the middle of this den of thieves. The fleecing of America will be the legacy the Trump family name will be synonymous with, their time in the White House will always be aligned and maligned with scandal, and they will always be remembered as the most careless president, first lady and first family our country has ever known. As people are dying in America from COVID because of his ineptness, if Melania had an ounce of Eleanor Roosevelt in her, she would be out there getting the vaccine to people, supporting our nurses and doctors, and helping at food banks. They will depart the White House, with no regrets, leaving dead bodies behind, and driving off to Mar-a-Lago without looking back. https://www.thedailybeast.com/melanias-ex-bff-stephanie-winston-wolkoff-says-theres-blood-on-her-hands
Iran issues Interpol arrest warrant for Trump over Soleimani killing as tensions rise. Interpol rejected previous warrant issued for Mr Trump and other officials in June. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-iran-arrest-warrant-interpol-b1782723.html
Trump thinks "elitist snobs" kept Melania off fashion magazine covers the past four years. https://news.avclub.com/trump-thinks-elitist-snobs-kept-melania-off-fashion-mag-1845950739
Roger Stone thanked Trump for pardon during exchange at West Palm Beach club. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/531876-roger-stone-thanked-trump-for-pardon-at-his-west-palm-beach-club
Psychopaths favor right-wing authoritarianism, finds study. 7 Signs You're Dealing With a Psychopath. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/24/psychopaths-favor-right-wing-authoritarianism-finds-study.html https://youtu.be/Lq9SJIGmqyQ
Trump's latest batch of pardons favors the well-connected. Those receiving pardons include several indicted former members of Congress, players in the Russia scandal, and military contractors convicted for illicit killing in Iraq. Some of Trump's actions seemed intended to send clear messages, such as grants of clemency for the former campaign operative whose 2016 activities triggered the FBI probe that led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and to four security contractors convicted for massacring Iraqi civilians in 2008, including one serving a life-sentence for first-degree murder. The signal of Trump's disapproval of Mueller's investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia was unmistakable. His pardons for the contractors and for two Border Patrol agents also fit a pattern of Trump using his constitutional clemency power to rein in efforts to police the conduct of front-line military and security personnel. That has prompted pushback from military leaders who fear a loss of discipline among those who routinely use deadly force. Trump's holiday pardon list also fulfilled a longstanding tradition followed by many presidents of favoring their political allies. Recipients of Trump's newest pardons included his first two congressional endorsers, former Rep. Chris Collins (N.Y.) — convicted on charges related to insider trading — and former Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), who pleaded guilty to flagrant campaign finance abuses, including some to support extramarital affairs. Collins was already serving a 26-month sentence. Hunter had yet to begin his 11-month term. Trump also commuted the sentence of former Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), who was convicted in 2018 on a variety of fraud and money laundering charges. Stockman had served two years of a 10-year sentence. One set of Trump pardons released Tuesday could result in significant fallout overseas. Trump effectively wiped out the convictions of four contractors for the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm in connection with a shooting spree in Baghdad's Nisour Square that left 17 Iraqis dead and 20 wounded. One of the former Blackwater contractors granted a full pardon Tuesday by Trump, Nicholas Slatten, was serving a sentence of life in prison for first-degree murder. The three others, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty and Paul Slough, were serving terms of between 12 and 15 years in prison for manslaughter. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/trump-issues-batch-of-11th-hour-pardons-450196
Nearly one year after the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, the federal government has released the criminal referral alleging Trump committed crimes related to his phone call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, a conversation that sparked the historic proceedings. The document, obtained by BuzzFeed News from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, is a letter dated September 4, 2019, and signed by Michael Atkinson, inspector general for the intelligence community. It was sent to Stacey Moy, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division. Moy's involvement in the Ukraine matter has not been previously disclosed. The inspector general "is formally referring allegations received from an individual regarding, among other things, alleged violations of law related to a telephone call on July 25, 2019, between President Donald J. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky," Atkinson wrote. "This referral is a follow-up to my secure telephone call on August 27, 2019, with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray's Chief of Staff, Paul B. Murphy, during which I provided to Mr. Murphy a summary of the Complainant's allegations." https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/jasonleopold/criminal-referral-on-trump-ukraine
Was the Trump Christmas card photoshopped? Social media users accused US first lady of manipulating portrait. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-christmas-card-photoshop-melania-b1776744.html
Trump appoints flurry of allies as presidency winds down https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-kellyanne-conway-6290150ac1a179d2ac3e9e8d7a9092ff
Ryan Zinke's Official Portrait Is a Final Slap in the Face for Native American Tribes. It's just "another desperate attempt to rewrite history." https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/12/ryan-zinkes-official-portrait-is-a-final-slap-in-the-face-to-native-american-tribes/
Trump seeks to halt rape accuser's lawsuit amid DOJ appeal. E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist, published her account last year of Trump sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store in the 1990s. After Trump p
Trump will pay you Tuesday for a cheeseburger today
Mike Lindell Announces Telethon To Prepare Nation For Election Reversal. My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell has announced a 3-day "marathon" broadcast to prepare the country for the 2020 presidential election to be overturned. "This is absolutely the biggest cover-up for the biggest crime in history," Lindell told right-wing host Steve Bannon on Friday. "I cannot wait to drop this Supreme Court case the Tuesday at 9 a.m. before Thanksgiving and the whole world is going to be watching all this unfold over Thanksgiving." Lindell predicted that up to 30 state attorneys general would join his lawsuit claiming that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. "I really believe it will be 9-0 that they will at least look at it," he said of the court, "that they're going to take it down." Lindell said that the "marathon" broadcast would begin the Wednesday before Thanksgiving on his FrankSpeech.com website. https://crooksandliars.com/2021/10/mike-lindell-announces-telethon-prepare
Trump warns on 'scary' inflation, says surging prices will 'ravage our country' https://news.yahoo.com/trump-on-inflation-its-very-scary-130054856.html
Brace yourself: Donald Trump plans to run for president again. At least that's what the former president is telling his dinner buddies. Trump has told at least three people he's dined with in recent months that he plans to run in 2024, a former senior official at the Republican National Committee tells Rolling Stone. "I have three friends who've had dinner with him in the last couple of months. All three reported that his current plans are to run for president in 2024," the former R.N.C. official says. "Now, whether he does or not is a different issue. We've still got three years to go. But he's telling people that." The ex-R.N.C. official says the first two dinners took place in late spring. But the third dinner happened in the last two weeks, the official said. The first two dinner companions came away from their conversations convinced Trump was serious and he's running, the official adds. The third said he left the dinner "not 100% sure Trump wants to run but he likes being in the conversation, he wants to freeze the field, and he wants his name out there," according to the ex-R.N.C. official. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-run-president-2024-twitter-campaign-1198912/
Ticket sales are moving slowly for the coming Trump-O'Reilly stadium tour. Time remains to sell out the stadiums. But those familiar with the current sales pace say it lags behind other acts. Early last month, Trump and O'Reilly, the one-time top Fox News host, announced a joint "History Tour" "Grab 'em by the pussy" featuring four stops in December. O'Reilly said his conversations with Trump "will not be boring," while the former president promised "fun, fun, fun for everyone who attends." https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/16/trump-oreilly-tickets-499795
Former President Trump is launching a speaking tour with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that will aim to "provide a never before heard inside view of his administration." The series, dubbed "The History Tour," will feature four live conversations across the country between Trump and O'Reilly in December. The tour "will discuss exactly how things were accomplished, as well as challenges, both good and bad," according to a press release announcing the series. Trump in a statement said the conversations will be "wonderful but hard-hitting sessions" that will discuss the "real problems" occurring in the U.S. "I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we don't make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country! I look forward to working with Bill, who right now has the #1 bestselling book, to openly discuss the real problems of our Country, and how to solve them," Trump said. "Additionally, it will be fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends!" he added. https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/557171-trump-to-launch-speaking-tour-with-bill-oreilly
Trump Claims ICE and Border Patrol Are Asking Him to Visit the Border. 'A LOT OF PEOPLE WANT ME TO' Former President Trump says he might visit the southern border in the next few weeks, claiming he was invited by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. "Well a lot of people want me to [go], the Border Patrol and the people of ICE want me there and have asked me to go. I feel I sort of owe it to them," Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Jeanine Pirro on Saturday night. Asked when he plans to make the trip, he sounded non-committal, "Over the next couple of weeks. The Border Patrol wants me to go. Probably over the next couple of weeks. I don't think there's a rush for me to go." https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-claims-ice-and-border-patrol-are-asking-him-to-visit-the-border
Donald Trump will return to social media in the next few months with a platform of his own, longtime advisor Jason Miller revealed Sunday. 'I do think that we're going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here with his own platform – and this is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media,' Miller said during an interview with Fox News 'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz on Sunday morning. He added that the new platform will 'completely redefine the game' of social media. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9386221/Trump-advisor-says-return-social-media-happen-months-platform.html
Trump Boat Parades Left Untold Destruction in Their Wake. Trump's boat parades were a major source of pride for the former president. They were also a major source of accidents for the boaters. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-boat-parades-left-untold-destruction-in-their-wake
Trump Nazifacation of US
- Flags
- Storm troopers
- Concentration camps
- Surveillance
- Political police Protection Squadron SS/Proud Boys
- Internal conflict
- Secret State Police ICE/Gestapo
- Symbols red MAGA
- Clothing MAGA hats/arm bands
- homosexuality Ernst Röhm/Roy Cohn/Roger Stone
- Under age sex Ivanka/Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal/Eva Braun
- Establish an enemy
- Tell simple stories with no regard for the truth
- Attack democratic institutions
- Create a cult of personality where you live above the law
- Free press is the enemy of the people
Florida Officials Reportedly Steeling For A Trump Extradition Block By Gov. Ron DeSantis. Florida law would let the governor intervene if Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance Jr. seeks to extradite Trump after his investigation into possible banking and tax fraud. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-tax-fraud-extradition-desantis-florida_n_609da26ae4b099ba7534c341
Has the Republican party actually "completed its transformation into a fascist, authoritarian death cult," as anti-Trump group MeidasTouch puts it? The four steps they set forth to achieving demagoguery are: 1) Establish an enemy; 2) Tell simple stories with no regard for the truth; 3) Attack democratic institutions; 4) Create a cult of personality where you live above the law. "With these four things accomplished, the gullible will blindly follow the Big Lie and lose all humanity," the narrator says in this video. "We've seen it happen before. We can't let it happen again." https://boingboing.net/2021/05/12/what-are-the-rules-of-the-demagogue-looks-like-the-republicans-have-checked-all-four-boxes.html
Trump Spawned a New Group of Mega-Donors Who Now Hold Sway Over the GOP's Future. These powerful donors, who each contributed more than $1 million, shied away from party politics before Trump. What brought them off the sidelines? ProPublica identified 29 people and couples who increased their political contributions at least tenfold since 2015, based on an analysis of Federal Election Commission records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. The donors in the table below gave at least $1 million to Trump and the GOP after previously having spent less than $1 million total. Most of the donations went to super PACs supporting Trump or to the Trump Victory joint fundraising vehicle that spread the money among his campaign and party committees. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-spawned-a-new-group-of-mega-donors-who-now-hold-sway-over-gops-future
Op-Ed: The media's whitewashing of Stephen Miller's white nationalism. By JEAN GUERRERO APRIL 11, 2021 Stephen Miller, the former Trump White House senior advisor and speechwriter from Santa Monica, has gone back to the California conservative playbook for his next act: launching a legal group that co-opts social justice strategies to fight social justice. Miller is characterizing his group, America First Legal, as a conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union, in the same way he spins himself, with a smirk, as a "conservative social-justice warrior." His goals have nothing to do with social justice, civil liberties or putting America first. Miller aims to wage rabid political warfare against President Biden's efforts to make America more equitable and livable for marginalized people. If the media organizations that cover Miller's activities pretend otherwise, as Fox News, Politico and others are doing, they are complicit in his well-documented plan to make America white. For Miller, the nation's biggest problems aren't white supremacy, which he deliberately fueled and which homeland security experts recognize as the top terror threat, or the brutal police killings of brown and Black men, and certainly not pandemics or economic inequality. The biggest problems in his view are "cancel culture," i.e. holding white men accountable for anything, and multiculturalism. We can dismantle white supremacy only by confronting how pervasive and basic it is. As a child, Miller wore a black cowboy hat in beachfront California. Later, as a grown man, he often dressed up as Robert De Niro's mobster character in the movie "Casino." He relished the role of villain. Miller's legal group is the latest manifestation of his taste for trolling and traumatizing people — and bending, not enforcing, the rules. He knows the "bad hombres" aren't at the border, but right here, in bespoke suits. And the others — at the Heritage Foundation, the Conservative Partnership Institute, Mar-a-Lago and so on — have his back. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-04-11/stephen-miller-media-white-nationalism
Strongmen review: a chilling history for one nation no longer under Trump. Ruth Ben-Ghiat delivers a superb examination of how close the US came to fascism – and how it has propped it up before. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/26/strongmen-review-ruth-ben-ghiat-donald-trump-fascism-hitler-mussolini-franco
See how Adolf Hitler and the Nazis rise to power. In 1930, Germany is a liberal democracy. Just four years later, democracy is dead, Germany's leader is a dictator and the government is in the hands of the Nazis. https://www.pbs.org/show/rise-nazis/
Voter Suppression
How the Christian Right Embraced Voter Suppression. The Christian right's ability to mobilize its own voters has long made it one of the most potent forces in American politics. But this year, evangelical leaders have embraced a new strategy, one with direct roots in the outcome of the 2020 election: Religious activists have taken up the cause of "election integrity," pushing bills to crack down on voter fraud, even though no evidence of widespread fraud in U.S. elections exists. In the process, they've helped restrict ballot access for millions of Americans – the most regressive wave of voting measures since the Jim Crow era – and drawn a direct connection between their new cause and their core religious beliefs. https://revealnews.org/article/how-the-christian-right-embraced-voter-suppression/
'Devastating': Florida Republicans worried about 2022 as they crafted election law. Emails and text messages undercut the GOP's claim Florida's election overhaul wasn't political. But a raft of internal emails and text messages obtained by POLITICO show the law was drafted with the help of the Republican Party of Florida's top lawyer — and that a crackdown on mail-in ballot requests was seen as a way for the GOP to erase the edge that Democrats had in mail-in voting during the 2020 election. The messages undercut the consistent argument made by Republicans that the new law was about preventing future electoral fraud. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/09/20/devastating-florida-republicans-worried-about-2022-as-they-crafted-election-law-1391121
What Georgia's Voting Law Really Does. The New York Times analyzed the state's new 98-page voting law and identified 16 key provisions that will limit ballot access, potentially confuse voters and give more power to Republican lawmakers. Go page by page through Georgia's new voting law, and one takeaway stands above all others: The Republican legislature and governor have made a breathtaking assertion of partisan power in elections, making absentee voting harder and creating restrictions and complications in the wake of narrow losses to Democrats. The New York Times has examined and annotated the law, identifying 16 provisions that hamper the right to vote for some Georgians or strip power from state and local elections officials and give it to legislators. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/politics/georgia-voting-law-annotated.html
Trump weirdly defensive of Russia in his first comments on Russian hack of U.S. government. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/19/trump-weirdly-defensive-of-russia-in-his-first-comments-on-russian-hack-of-u-s-government.html
Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians. A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China's main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015, Axios found in a yearlong investigation. The woman at the center of the operation, a Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country who had the potential to make it big on the national stage. Among the most significant targets of Fang's efforts was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). The case demonstrates China's strategy of cultivating relationships that may take years or even decades to bear fruit. The Chinese Communist Party knows that today's mayors and city council members are tomorrow's governors and members of Congress. https://www.axios.com/china-spy-california-politicians-9d2dfb99-f839-4e00-8bd8-59dec0daf589.html
Media, Propaganda, Ratfucking
Right-wing group targets New York Times reporters who have aggressively reported on its spy tactics. Earlier this week, the right-wing organization Project Veritas released two undercover videos capturing Matthew Rosenberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times, making a number of disparaging comments about his colleagues and the news media writ large. The right-wing group, headed by conservative activist James O'Keefe, has over the past year targeted three reporters in particular: Adam Goldman, Mark Mazzetti, and Michael Schmidt. Those three reporters, all Pulitzer Prize winners themselves, stand out because they are the journalists at The Times who have authored a series of exposés revealing how Project Veritas employs spy tactics and relies on ethically dubious reporting strategies to target perceived liberals. Project Veritas uses its stings against news organizations to fundraise. For instance, the blog post on the Project Veritas website featuring the Rosenberg video asked supporters to submit a donation "to support our mission." The stings against news organizations also generate a lot of publicity and attention for Project Veritas. They have often been featured prominently on Fox and receive significant attention in the right-wing media universe. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/media/project-veritas-new-york-times/index.html
Trump tears in to Biden for 'playing into Putin's hands', admits he 'got along' with the Kremlin strongman but calls Ukraine invasion 'a crime against humanity' in Hannity interview Trump insists Ukraine invasion wouldn't have happened under his administration Ex-President of the United States spoke to Sean Hannity on FOX News talk show He went on to say the problem with Russian President Putin is his 'very big ego' The exchange saw Trump asked about comments made about Putin, describing the Russian's recognition of two Ukrainian 'republics' as independent as 'genius' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10601975/Trump-tears-Biden-playing-Putins-hands.html
@atrupar LOL -- Hannity is trying so hard to get Trump to denounce authoritarians like Putin and he just refuses to do it https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1502112936726347780
@atrupar Trump tells Hannity he had a "very strong" conversation with Putin in which he received some sort of assurance that Putin wouldn't invade Ukraine while he was in office https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1502110641351532546
A Taxonomy of Right-Wing Dog Whistles. Listen closely and you'll hear these phrases everywhere. The first time I witnessed the birth of a right-wing talking point, I was sitting in a crowded ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, in National Harbor, Maryland. This was the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and I was listening to Sebastian Gorka deliver remarks that fell somewhere on the spectrum from venting to fomenting. There he was in his three-piece suit, voice booming: "They want to take your pickup truck. They want to rebuild your home. They want to take away your hamburgers." As I jotted down the line about the hamburgers, a sudden sense of unreality came over me. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/taxonomy-right-wing-dog-whistles/622930/
How G. Gordon Liddy Bungled Watergate With an Office-Supply Request. The story of Operation Gemstone, his totally bonkers, Nazi-themed dirty tricks wish list. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/11/watergate-secret-history-garrett-graff-gordon-liddy-operation-gemstone-00007927
Sarah Palin's lawyers: New York Times libeled her amidst pattern of sliming conservatives. Manhattan jury begins deliberations in suit over 2017 editorial that linked Palin group's targeting map to 2011 Arizona shooting. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/11/sarah-palin-lawyers-new-york-times-libel-conservatives-00008248
Fox News host tells Trump to 'stop wasting our time' with 2020 election lies. 'Nobody cares about your topics. Right now nobody cares about 2020, nobody,' Fox News host Brian Kilmeade told Donald Trump. "They did a recount in Arizona, and the recount showed no difference, almost, and he came out and said it showed that they won Arizona. That's an outright lie, and please stop wasting our time with that because he's capable of doing so much more," he said. https://americanindependent.com/fox-news-host-brian-kilmeade-donald-trump-big-lie-2022-elections/
'Be thankful you don't have our poison': US pollster Frank Luntz's warning to UK. Luntz spent years sampling opinion for Republicans before a stroke changed his outlook: 'I'm not afraid any more, so you will hear me criticise people I never would have two years ago' https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/27/frank-luntz-interview-pollster-us-uk-politics Luntz is traitor
Check out the "top 10 craziest things" new Fox primetime toady Jesse Watters has said on TV. https://youtu.be/tSOTytQP8SI https://boingboing.net/2022/01/12/check-out-the-top-10-craziest-things-new-fox-primetime-toady-jesse-watters-has-said-on-tv.html
Oregon father who said 'Let's Go Brandon' to Biden tells Steve Bannon it was a 'chance to voice his disapproval' of the 'terrible things' happening in the White House and insists the election was '100% stolen' from Trump. Jared Schmeck, 35, backtracked Monday on saying he is 'not a Trumper'. The Oregon-based father of four, donning a red Make America Great Again hat, went on to say that Trump is 'my president' and repeated the former president's claims that the 2020 presidential election was 'stolen'. 'Some of the media has run with that and said I don't support Donald Trump,' the former police officer said. 'That's absolutely false.' 'Donald Trump is my president and he should still be president right now. The election was 100 per cent stolen. So, I just want to make that clear,' he added. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10348139/Oregon-father-said-Lets-Brandon-Biden-said-voicing-disapproval-president.html
Oregon father of four who told President Biden 'Let's Go Brandon' on Christmas Eve call said he meant it in jest. "At the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job," said Jared Schmeck, 35, who works for an electric company and was previously a Medford police officer for six years until he resigned in July 2018. "I mean no disrespect to him." https://www.oregonlive.com/nation/2021/12/oregon-father-of-four-who-told-president-biden-lets-go-brandon-on-christmas-eve-call-said-he-meant-it-in-jest.html
@W7VOA "I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech" for expressing "my frustrations in a joking manner," complains Jared Schmeck, the #Oregon father of four who told @POTUS: 'Let's go Brandon.' https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/1474854212555218949
Tucker Carlson Was Blind to His Own Privilege in TPUSA Speech. The Crowd Loved It. The Fox News host extolled the virtues of daily sauna trips in front of a crowd fed up with elitism Carlson alluding to the future in his closing remarks. "And then you can wait for the dawn, which is coming," he said. The crowd began to file out, enthused for the evening's country concert. But just like the corny gun rights sweater with questionable math, Carlson's speech on Saturday didn't quite add up. It didn't need to in front of a crowd, and a future generation of conservative Americans, for which facts were an afterthought. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tucker-carlson-tpusa-speech-phoenix-arizona-1273897/
Roger Stone and 'Ratf—ing': A Short History. The flamboyant political aide is often tagged with the term. But its origins—and Stone's relationship with the word—are complicated. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/01/25/roger-stone-and-rating-a-short-history-224218/
Ex-Fox News Pundit Says 'Screw It' And Pens Scathing Essay About Network. "A huge share of the people" praising former President Donald Trump on TV were being dishonest because "they would say one thing to my face or in my presence and another thing when the cameras and microphones were flipped on," claimed Goldberg. Over time, he added, he felt "like I was becoming complicit in a series of lies of omission." https://news.yahoo.com/ex-fox-news-pundit-says-105215532.html
Watch: Matt Gaetz and Steve Bannon plan a GOP takeover with "4,000 shock troops" https://boingboing.net/2021/12/10/watch-matt-gaetz-and-steve-bannon-plan-a-gop-takeover-with-4000-shock-troops.html
Two Fox News Contributors Quit in Protest of Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 Special. Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, stars of a brand of conservatism that has fallen out of fashion, decide they've had enough. Mr. Carlson called Mr. Hayes's and Mr. Goldberg's resignations "great news" in a telephone interview on Sunday. "Our viewers will be grateful.""There are lots of people there that I respect and like and consider friends, and they're making a decision based upon how to provide for their families and deal with their careers and all of that. And I'm not going to second-guess them," Mr. Goldberg said. "And there are also lots of people over there who think the Fox opinion side today is awesome." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/business/jonah-goldberg-steve-hayes-quit-fox-tucker-carlson.html
Project Veritas and the Line Between Journalism and Political Spying. Documents show how the conservative group worked with lawyers to gauge how far its deceptive reporting practices could go before running afoul of federal laws. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/us/politics/project-veritas-journalism-political-spying.html
Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 'Documentary' Is His Most Nakedly Fascist Piece Of Propaganda Yet. His recent series for Fox Nation, "Patriot Purge," is setting the stage for something even worse than the attack on the Capitol. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-patriot-purge-is-fascist-january-6-revisionism_n_6192b4a9e4b05e93cbb3c1d7
Media, Propaganda, Ratfucking archived November 16, 2021
Cops 'Laughed' When Biden Staffers Called 911 for Trump Train Ambush: Lawsuit. But the City of San Marcos "refused to help," instead privately mocking the Democratic staffers stuck on the bus and calling them "tards," according to text messages and 911 audio recordings detailed in an amended federal lawsuit. The Oct. 30 "Trump Train" incident sent shockwaves across the country after videos showed cars with MAGA flags seemingly trying to force the bus off the road as it headed to Austin for a rally. Trump himself commented on the run-in, retweeting a video of it along with the caption, "I LOVE TEXAS!" Videos showed a white SUV and a black truck colliding during the episode. https://news.yahoo.com/cops-laughed-biden-staffers-called-210445458.html
Facebook Papers Reveal How It Had Been 'Fueling This Fire' Ahead Of The Insurrection. New internal documents provide a rare glimpse into how the tech giant appears to have stumbled into the Jan. 6 riot. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facebook-papers-capitol-insurrection_n_61736795e4b03072d6f6e090
John McCain's daughter was the reason 'The View' was toxic. JASON WEISBERGER 7:44 AM THU OCT 21, 2021 https://boingboing.net/2021/10/21/john-mccains-daughter-was-the-reason-the-view-was-toxic.html
Sinclair Broadcast Group hit by ransomware attack, upending local TV newscasts. The disturbance impeded the production of local newscasts throughout the day on Sunday and again on Monday, according to staffers at some TV stations. "Still no email, phones, file video or graphics," a reporter said Monday. "They expect us to keep broadcasting as if we aren't down," a reporter at a different station said. https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/18/media/sinclair-ransomware/index.html
AT&T is responsible for 90% of far-right propaganda network One America News' revenue. A lawyer for OAN, Patrick Nellies, testified in court that if OAN "was to lose or not be renewed on [AT&T's] DirecTV, the company would go out of business tomorrow." In February, Popular Information asked AT&T if it would continue to carry OAN on its platforms. AT&T provided the following response: When it comes to the channels we carry for customers, we do not exercise control over their editorial content. We review our contract terms continually and, in the meantime, if customers have questions about a provider's content, they should contact the individual channel provider. AT&T did not respond to a request for comment for this article. https://boingboing.net/2021/10/07/att-is-responsible-for-90-of-far-right-propaganda-network-one-america-news-revenue.html https://popular.info/p/how-at-and-t-fuels-right-wing-extremists
How AT&T helped build far-right One America News. OAN founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr has testified that the inspiration to launch OAN in 2013 came from AT&T executives. "They told us they wanted a conservative network," Herring said during a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters. "They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other [leftwing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one." Since then, AT&T has been a crucial source of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue, court records show. Ninety percent of OAN's revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, including satellite broadcaster DirecTV, according to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant. Herring has testified he was offered $250 million for OAN in 2019. Without the DirecTV deal, the accountant said under oath, the network's value "would be zero." https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-oneamerica-att/
Facebook Knew It Was Fueling QAnon. A damning whistleblower report reveals how Facebook mishandled the rise of QAnon—and other militarized social movements. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5v4y/facebooks-algorithm-spread-qanon-content-to-new-users
"Mother of all lawsuits" quietly filed against Facebook, Zuck, Sandberg, Thiel, and more. On Twitter, Jason Kint shares that a massive and damning lawsuit was filed in Deleware last month against Facebook, and many of its executives, and board members relating to what they knew, hid, and lied to congress about relating the Cambridge Analytica "hack." If you recall, Cambridge Analytica used data that it simply acquired through Facebook's APIs to target US voters vulnerable to misinformation attacks. Facebook tried to call this 'a hack' and has apparently been lying about it ever since. https://boingboing.net/2021/09/21/mother-of-all-lawsuits-quietly-filed-against-facebook-zuck-sandberg-thiel-and-more.html @jason_kint !!! news. mother of all lawsuits quietly filed last month vs Facebook in Delaware. I'll explain why it avoided notice until now in a bit but Zuckerberg, Sandberg, CFO, board inc Peter Thiel and Palantir are defendants - it's a result of sealed docs between FB execs and board. /1 https://twitter.com/jason_kint/status/1440304941428473857
In 2019, according to a new book, media executive and erstwhile Trump confidant Steve Bannon took time out of his busy schedule to sit down with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and coach him through an imaginary 60 Minutes interview Epstein believed he would soon be doing. Bannon's advice: Look into the camera occasionally, don't be racist, deny you're a pedophile. "You're engaging, you're not threatening," Bannon reportedly told the sex offender at the end of the coaching session, "you're natural, you're friendly, you don't look at all creepy, you're a sympathetic figure." That's the incendiary, previously unreported anecdote included at the end of a new book by writer Michael Wolff, author of the bestseller Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Though Bannon was an indispensable source for Wolff in Fire and Fury, Wolff wouldn't tell The New York Times' Ben Smith where he got these new Epstein transcripts. Bannon, in a statement, confirmed to the Times that he recorded more than 15 hours of interviews with Epstein, though he denied that he had ever "media-trained anyone." Instead, Bannon claimed, the interviews with Epstein were not for 60 Minutes but an unreleased documentary Bannon was making on the billionaire's "perversions and depravity." https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-bannon-was-media-trainer-to-jeffrey-epstein-prior-to-arrest-according-to-michael-wolff-report-says
Lawyer for Afghan girls' robotics team tells Oklahoma woman to stop taking credit for rescue. A lawyer for the famed all-girls Afghan robotics team has sent a cease-and-desist letter to an Oklahoma woman, telling her to stop taking credit for the girls' escape from Kabul and warning that her numerous media appearances endanger their organization's remaining members in Afghanistan. The woman, Allyson Reneau, spoke last week to Today.com and then to several other media outlets, telling a story of her supposed involvement in the evacuation of several members of the robotics team, known internationally as the "Afghan Dreamers." These outlets reported that she had "saved" the girls from probable oppression under the Taliban. But a lawyer for the team's parent organization, the Digital Citizen Fund, said that Reneau has overstated her role and has, in fact, put the girls and their families at risk because her repeated claims are undermining ongoing rescue efforts in the country. "Continuingly recycling old pictures with the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, many of whom are minors, as validation that you had anything to do with their immensely stressful and dangerous escape not only impacts the safety of the girls but it also significantly affects the safety of the members of the team who still remain in Afghanistan," wrote Kim Motley, a lawyer for the group and a Digital Citizen Fund board member, in a letter sent to Reneau just after midnight Wednesday. "It is highly unfortunate that you would use such a tragically horrible situation … for what appears to be your own personal gain." https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/afghan-girls-robotics-rescue-allyson-reneau/2021/08/26/7de4ba0c-05a7-11ec-a654-900a78538242_story.html
Afghan all-girl robotics team members, journalists land in Mexico. Tuesday's safe arrival in Mexico was made possible by an "extensive international effort and coordination from a group of volunteers" who helped the girls, according to a volunteer who requested anonymity for fear of the safety of the families that remain under Taliban control. Other members of the robotics team landed in Qatar in recent days. August 25, 2021 10:41 AM PDT https://www.reuters.com/world/afghan-all-girl-robotics-team-members-land-mexico-2021-08-25/
FCC proposes $5m fine for Jacob Wohl and crony over robocall lies. https://boingboing.net/2021/08/24/fcc-proposes-5m-fine-for-jacob-wohl-and-crony-over-robocall-lies.html https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-proposes-largest-robocalling-fine-under-tcpa
US mom helps rescue Afghan girls robotics team by: Scott Fagerstrom, Nexstar Media Wire Posted: Aug 24, 2021 / 05:38 AM PDT. Allyson Reneau told NewsNation Prime's Marni Hughes on Monday that she met the young women when they were in the United States. Reneau said that while she is reluctant to discuss details about the girls' escape, she is hearing from universities with "scholarship offers for them in the United States. … They're a little anxious about their future, but I just let them know everything's gonna be OK." Because of her success in helping the robotics team girls to escape, Reneau said she is now hearing from other Afghan women seeking help in finding refuge from the Taliban regime. "I began to receive dire messages from women who were in hiding in Afghanistan … They're all from a particular profession, and they were fired. The minute Kabul was taken over, letters were sent to them by the Taliban. They were being hunted. Two of them were shot, One of them was beat so badly that she nearly died." Reneau said she can't share many details of the latest rescue effort, but added that people from NASA, Yale Law School and the American Bar Association are all helping. She intends to set up a Facebook donation page to help with the new group's relocation expenses. https://fox5sandiego.com/news/world-news/us-mom-helps-rescue-afghan-girls-robotics-team/
Afghan robotics team arrives safely in Doha: 'The girls rescued themselves'. At least a dozen of the girls from the team have fled the nation, the majority arriving in the capital city of Doha on Tuesday, according to Elizabeth Schaeffer Brown, an adviser with the New York-based Digital Citizen Fund, the team's parent organization. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed their arrival in a statement. Due to security reasons, advocates for the girls could not immediately confirm specific details about the evacuation, including how many girls fled, their ages and if they were accompanied by family.Plans to evacuate the robotics team accelerated Aug. 12 when Roya Mahboob, an Afghan technology entrepreneur who founded the DCF and serves as the team's mentor, requested the help of the Qatari government, Brown said. Members of Qatar's government kept in touch with the team after a visit to Doha in 2019. Brown rejected the narrative that the girls were "rescued" by American outsiders (the State Department did not immediately respond to requests confirming any involvement of U.S. officials), saying it was Mahboob and the Qatari government who navigated the difficult logistics, which included expediting the visa process and sending a plane to evacuate the girls after most outbound flights from the Kabul airport were canceled. Brown rejected the narrative that the girls were "rescued" by American outsiders (the State Department did not immediately respond to requests confirming any involvement of U.S. officials), saying it was Mahboob and the Qatari government who navigated the difficult logistics, which included expediting the visa process and sending a plane to evacuate the girls after most outbound flights from the Kabul airport were canceled. By Kim Bellware August 20, 2021 at 5:24 p.m. EDT https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/20/afghan-girls-robotics-team/
Laura Ingraham mocks Joe Biden's stutter https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1418040755269033984
Veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz advised President Biden's COVID-19 team, sharing research with the White House to help develop strategies for encouraging individuals skeptical about the vaccine to get inoculated. Luntz confirmed that the White House approached him amid the country's COVID-19 response, telling Politico, "The Biden team didn't ask me for anything. They simply said, 'Whatever you find, we want to know." Luntz compared those efforts to that of former President Trump, contending that Biden's predecessor "did not care about the research we started to do." "This is more than Trump did. Trump did not care about the research we started to do. The [Trump] White House wasn't interested in it, he didn't promote it," Luntz told the news outlet. When asked if his work with the Biden White House would further hurt his relationship with conservatives like Fox News's Tucker Carlson, who criticized him last year for renting a room to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Luntz told Politico, "I don't care." https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/563148-luntz-advised-bidens-covid-19-team
Frank Luntz reveals struggle to maintain weight loss: 'I can't be this miserable'. "I'd rather be embarrassed about my weight than hungry and exhausted," the pollster said. https://www.today.com/health/frank-luntz-his-weight-loss-journey-today-t215071
Texas Democrat hijacks Fox News interview over voting rights, blaming network for pushing Trump's big lie. Host told to 'Tell your viewers right now that Donald Trump lost the election'. A Texas Democrat has clashed with Fox News' Pete Hegseth in an explosive exchange, which resulted in the TV host being asked repeatedly to admit that Trump lost the 2020 election – something he did not do. Texas state representative James Talarico was being asked about his role in blocking Republican-supported voting bills, in an interview that was fiery from the off. 'Pete... Pete..." he went on. "You have made a lot of money personally, and you've enriched a lot of corporations with advertising by getting on here and spewing lies and conspiracy theories to folks who trust you." He continued, "What I'm asking you to do is tell your viewers right now that Donald Trump lost the election in 2020." When Mr Hegseth didn't respond, he persisted: "Did Donald Trump lose the election in 2020? Can you answer the question? Did Donald Trump lose the election in 2020?" "I don't really feel any obligation to answer anything of you," Mr Hegseth said. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/texas-democrat-hijacks-fox-interview-over-voting-rights-blaming-network-for-pushing-trump-s-big-lie-b1884296.html
Fox News Runs Disclaimer After Trump Election Lies During CPAC Speech. Fox News was sued by Dominion and Smartmatic voting systems companies for amplifying false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-cpac-trump-disclaimer_n_60ebb9d1e4b07afbc3492083
Political Discrimination as Civil-Rights Struggle. Viewpoint neutrality should be legally mandated. When a sample of nearly 1,500 female Ivy League students was asked whether they would date a Trump supporter, only 6 percent said yes (after excluding the small minority of the sample who support him). So finds a survey of 20,000 university students that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conducted in 2020. While people are free to discriminate however they wish in dating, this attitude bleeds into problematic spheres such as hiring and social toleration. This reveals the predilection among many young elite Americans for progressive authoritarianism, a belief system that justifies infringing rights to equal treatment or free speech in the name of the emotional "safety" of historically marginalized race, gender, and sexuality groups. In this left-modernist worldview, conservatives' resistance to racial, gender, and sexual progressivism mark them as moral deviants. As Millennials take power, this generational earthquake is set to shake the foundations of the cultural elite to its core, leading to pervasive discrimination against, and censorship of, conservative views. https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2021/07/12/political-discrimination-as-civil-rights-struggle/
Top 10 Meghan McCain 'View' moments that won't quit https://pagesix.com/video/top-10-meghan-mccain-view-moments-that-wont-quit/
'The View' ladies were 'at their wits' end' before Meghan McCain's exit. It's the worst kept secret that Meghan McCain was not a favorite among the ladies at "The View." But sources tell Page Six that she became so insufferable that even "chill" Whoopi Goldberg could no longer take her. "Everyone was at their wits' end — even Whoopi, and she's the chillest of them all. Whoopi is never going to advocate for anyone to get fired. She's not about that, but she was very clear that she no longer wanted to work with Meghan," a source told Page Six. https://pagesix.com/2021/07/05/the-view-co-hosts-are-relieved-that-meghan-mccain-is-out/
Meghan McCain was 'miserable' at 'vicious' 'The View'. A different source further said of the outgoing conservative co-host: "People have loved hurting her and being cruel to her the entire time she's been there." McCain joined the show in 2017 and caused waves throughout her tenure. ABC previously said in a statement: "For the past four years, Meghan McCain has brought her fierce determination and vast political knowledge and experience to 'The View.' She recently came to us with her decision to depart the show at the end of this season, a difficult choice that she made for her and her family that we respect and understand. We wish the best for Meghan as she plans her next chapter, and thank her for the passion and unique voice that she shared with us and our viewers each day." https://pagesix.com/2021/07/02/meghan-mccain-was-miserable-at-the-view-before-leaving/
The newest MAGA app is tied to a Bannon-allied Chinese billionaire. GETTR has existed as a Chinese language social media network linked to Guo Wengui. It was unveiled as a new platform by Jason Miller on Thursday. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/01/maga-app-bannon-chinese-billionaire-497767
'Everybody knows he's out of his mind': Joe Rogan claims President Biden is mentally unfit for office and 'barely hanging in there'. Podcast host Joe Rogan renewed his criticism of President Joe Biden. 'He is not a real leader. Everybody knows he's out of his mind,' Rogan said. Rogan described the 2020s of the United States as 'one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of the country'. The podcast also discussed cancel culture with Rogan's guest, comedian Iliza Shlesinger, saying the American public loved a celebrity 'public hanging'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9728057/Everybody-knows-hes-mind-Joe-Rogan-claims-President-Biden-mentally-unfit-office.html
Tucker Carlson Calls Journalists 'Animals.' He's Also Their Best Source. His platform on Fox News made him a big player in Donald Trump's circle. Off camera, he shapes the coverage of Trump's world and Fox's own internal politics. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/20/business/media/tucker-carlson.html
Wait, This Is Why a Local Fox Reporter Sabotaged Her Career? Fox 26 Houston general assignment reporter Ivory Hecker said Tuesday that she has been fired after interrupting a live on-air report to accuse her employers of "muzzling" her. In an interview with The Daily Beast on Tuesday afternoon, the 32-year-old reporter claimed she'd been terminated via text message and declared that she would never work in corporate media again—not even for Fox News, where she claimed "they wanted to bring me up." In one piece of surreptitiously recorded footage, Fox 26 assistant news director Lee Meier was seen explaining why the station does not do more stories on Bitcoin. In the clip, Meier said it's "an editorial choice" to not cover the cryptocurrency because it likely would not appeal to the station's early-evening broadcast viewership. Hecker also contended that Fox 26 attempted to censor her over her coverage of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug hyped by former President Donald Trump as a miracle COVID-19 cure but found to be largely ineffective against the virus. In a recorded call with Meier and Fox 26 vice president and news director Susan Schiller, Hecker was told she "failed as a reporter" for not looking at the "latest research" on the drug before boosting a post from a local doctor hyping it as a COVID-19 treatment. "You need to cease and desist posting about hydroxychloroquine," Schiller told Hecker. https://www.thedailybeast.com/local-fox-reporter-ivory-hecker-suspended-for-live-on-air-project-veritas-stunt
Liberal media, Big Tech increase calls to 'deprogram,' deplatform Trump supporters. Lincoln Project threatens Expedia group: 'You will feel immense pain if we fight'. Forbes published an op-ed last week warning companies against hiring anyone who worked in communications for the Trump White House. "Let it be known to the business world: Hire any of Trump's fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie," Randall Lane wrote. https://www.foxnews.com/media/liberal-media-members-deprogramming-deplatforming-trump-supporters
Amazon Court Filing Includes Chilling Death Threats Published on Parler. But whatever you think of Amazon's actions, the filing makes one thing absolutely clear: Parler was a cesspool of racist hate, insurrectionist appeals against the United States, and chillingly specific death threats. "We are going to fight in a civil War on Jan.20th, Form MILITIAS now and acquire targets." "On January 20th we need to start systematicly [sic] assassinating [sic] #liberal leaders, liberal activists, #blm leaders and supporters, members of the #nba #nfl #mlb #nhl #mainstreammedia anchors and correspondents and #antifa. I already have a news worthy event planned." https://gizmodo.com/amazon-court-filing-includes-chilling-death-threats-pub-1846048394
Newt Gingrich: My predictions for next 10 years — I expect these big changes. We in America control our own destiny. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/future-predictions-for-2020s-newt-gingrich
Interviewed by Brian Stelter, CNN reporter and host Jake Tapper says that he won't book White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany because she "lies the way that most people breathe." @jaketapper tells @brianstelter he won't have @kayleighmcenany on his show because she "lies the way that, you know, most people breathe. There was no value in that...She can't acknowledge reality. So I am just not going to put somebody like that on air." https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1343250634238287875 If you watch the whole show, note Stetler's eagerness at the idea Trump might found his own TV/News/Internet media network and keep the Trump wagon rolling there. Tapper was, in essense, countering that eagerness, explaining why he doesn't want to continue providing coverage to Trump and his cronies. There is deep anxiety among media folks about what happens when Trump isn't around creating daily blockbusters. If Trump traffic goes away, there'll be a badger cull in political media. Something to bear in mind when you see us, collectively, doing things that seem oddly to promote the continued presence of Trump in as close to the current form as possible. https://boingboing.net/2020/12/28/white-house-press-secretary-kayleigh-mcenany-lies-the-way-that-most-people-breathe.html
Jacksonville artist's Trump Messiah painting misunderstood by the masses https://politicians.in-the.news/russia/jacksonville-artists-trump-messiah-painting-misunderstood-by-the-masses-146262-18-09-2020/
Conservatives flocked to Parler to "speak freely" after the election. A month later, the platform has stalled as fewer people are actively using it. Parler, a social media company that declares itself "the world's premier free speech platform," has attracted millions of users (including some prominent conservatives) supposedly seeking a more hands-off approach to content moderation. Although many conservatives and other like-minded users claim they are switching to Parler to escape supposed social media censorship on Facebook and Twitter, their enthusiasm appears as insincere and opportunistic as their inaccurate claims of widespread ideological bias. In fact, some of the largest Parler accounts use the platform to repeat narratives they still post on other social media sites, and Parler's growth and user activity have recently slowed down. Media Matters identified 236 Parler accounts associated with prominent right-wing and far-right figures with substantial followings on other social media platforms. We also included those who have been publicly banned from other platforms. We found that in that list some of Parler's biggest right-wing accounts have earned more followers on Parler than on Facebook or Twitter, and they use Parler as another platform to spread narratives being posted elsewhere. At its peak in mid- to late November, Parler had roughly 2.9 million daily active users and its app was downloaded nearly 340,000 times on a single day. However, Parler's growth and activity has since slowed. CNN Business reported that daily downloads of the app dropped to nearly 20,000 on December 7 and daily active users dropped to 2.3 million. https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/conservatives-flocked-parler-speak-freely-after-election-month-later-platform-has-stalled
Nothing that's happening now surprises me. I realized what was happening in 2016 with a shock. Glenn Greenwald. Julian Assange. Edward Snowden. I worked closely enough to or with them to realize in horror they are working far more closely with our enemy. To destroy America. https://twitter.com/xeni/status/1339905852480753671 I'll never forget Jake Appelbaum salivating at the idea of destroying Hillary Clinton with those cable leaks. I didn't know what he was referring to, I would months later. They had a hard-on for destroying America. And a weird soft spot for Putin. Now I know. I was so blind then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Appelbaum That time Julian Assange called me worse than a Jew. "She's worse than a Jew." That other time he threatened me when I noted on Twitter in 2016 how weird it was Trump was singing his praises, in the same breath as teasing WikiLeaks and Putin and some kind of surprise. I have always said that anyone who canonizes Snowden clearly has no fucking clue about what really happened there. He and Greenwald played Poitras like a matroschka doll. So weird how they're all sexual degenerates with some weird stories there. At least one of them accused of rape. Actually no, two of them. And then Jake, so, three. Assange is gunning for a pardon. Time is almost out. I would like my experience to be on the record, with enough truly awful personally embarrassing oversharing that everyone knows it's the real thing.
@AaronBlake Trump celebrates Fox's ratings slide. Left unsaid: The slide is happening with his favored, prime-time programs too. Hannity and Ingraham just finished behind CNN/MSNBC in the demo. https://adweek.com/tvnewser/monday-dec-14-scoreboard-cnn-finishes-no-1-in-total-day-boosted-by-special-coverage-of-electoral-college-vote/465710/ https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1339201269903273985 @realDonaldTrump Can't believe how badly @FoxNews is doing in the ratings. They played right into the hands of the Radical Left Democrats, & now are floating in limboland. Hiring fired @donnabraziIe, and far worse, allowing endless negative and unedited commercials. @FoxNews is dead. Really Sad! 5:21 AM · Dec 16, 2020
John Fund: Trump's legacy -- will president be remembered as a transformer or a tornado? Let's look at five main areas where Donald Trump has had a real impact. Economy, Foreign Policy, Federal Courts, Politics, Being Presidential. As he noted in his 1987 book "The Art of the Deal": "I play to people's fantasies. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration, a very effective form of promotion." Whatever it is, it helped redefine what it means to be "presidential." David Shribman, a presidential scholar at Carnegie Mellon University, writes: "They will argue over whether he was a plutocrat, populist – or poseur." But Shribman acknowledges that Trump will likely be "remembered in history as the most consequential president in three-quarters of a century and the most significant one-term president in nearly 175 years." https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-legacy-president-transformer-tornado-john-fund
Kayleigh McEnany scolds reporters at briefing for ignoring Eric Swalwell, Hunter Biden stories. Press briefing also featured latest outburst from CNN's Jim Acosta. https://www.foxnews.com/media/kayleigh-mcenany-scolds-media-ignoring-eric-swalwell-hunter-biden
After election, Zuckerberg flipped "secret switch" to favor credible news outlets there. If it seems comically selfish that Zuckerberg would profit from the far right until election day, then immediately about-face in obeisance to the changing wind, remember that he renounced his own atheism days before Trump took office in 2017. There's nothing particularly cunning or covert about Zuckerberg. He reacts to pressure like a chemical, and media cynics just can't quite accept that the jejeune creature he seems to be is for real. He will do whatever mercenary thing is in his and Facebook's immediate interest and doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks about it. https://boingboing.net/2020/11/25/after-election-zuckerberg-flipped-secret-switch-to-favor-credible-news-outlets-there.html
Media Bias Fact Checking Point-of-View
How Reliable is Your News Source? Understanding Media Bias 2021 https://my.lwv.org/california/torrance-area/article/how-reliable-your-news-source-understanding-media-bias-2021
Interactive Media Bias Chart https://adfontesmedia.com/interactive-media-bias-chart/