Links - Politics - 4 -Biden

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Contents

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

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27

2020 Elections

Results

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
Vote Results Wednesday, December 9, 2020 04:46:17 PM
candidate electoral
votes
share popular
vote
Biden 306 51.30% 81,282,896
+7,060,412
Trump 232 46.85% 74,222,484


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-elections/president-results

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

  1. Obama 2008 52.9
  2. Biden 2020 51.3
  3. Obama 2012 51.1
  4. Bush 2004 50.7
  5. Gore 2000 48.4
  6. Kerry 2004 48.3
  7. Clinton 2016 48.2
  8. Bush 2000 47.9
  9. Romney 2012 47.2
  10. Trump 2020 46.9
  11. Trump 2016 46.1
  12. McCain 2008 45.7

Transition and Inauguration

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

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/

Past elections, fraud

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

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

117th Congress, 2021-2022

117th Congress, 2021-2022

Leadership

Democrats
Republicans

none

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

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members

Senate Judiciary Committee, January 2021
REPUBLICAN MEMBERS DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS
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

“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

  1. Adam Kinzinger
  2. Nicole Malliotakis
  3. John Katko
  4. Fred Upton
  5. Brian Fitzpatrick
  6. Carlos Gimenez
  7. Chris Jacobs
  8. Young Kim
  9. Maria Salazar
  10. Chris Smith
  11. 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

News

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

Impeachment

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

Climate Change

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

behavior

  1. obsession with words, what they mean, and how they are said
  2. secrecy
  3. dissociation from reality, fantastical thinking
  4. use of code words

California

‘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

Corruption, former Rep. Duncan Hunter

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/

ejctECU.png

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

Reparations

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

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

https://myturn.ca.gov

https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/community_epidemiology/dc/2019-nCoV/vaccines/COVID-19-VaxEvents.html#grossmont

Coronavirus crisis, HealthCare, political, economy, masks

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

Economy

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

Trump incited Insurrection January 06, 2021, Qanon

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

Protests

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

Militiamen, Vigilantes, Terrorists

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

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

Religion

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

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

DOJ, FBI

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

DHS

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

US Military

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

Foreign Policy

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

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

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

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 Nazifacation of US

  1. Flags
  2. Storm troopers
  3. Concentration camps
  4. Surveillance
  5. Political police Protection Squadron SS/Proud Boys
  6. Internal conflict
  7. Secret State Police ICE/Gestapo
  8. Symbols red MAGA
  9. Clothing MAGA hats/arm bands
  10. homosexuality Ernst Röhm/Roy Cohn/Roger Stone
  11. Under age sex Ivanka/Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal/Eva Braun

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

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

Spying

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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

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

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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


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