hello

Jan. 6

December 30, 2022

Congressman Claims Trump Could Spend Rest of Life “Behind Bars”

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1924: Astronomer Edwin Hubble formally announces existence of other galactic systems at meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that former President Donald Trump will likely be indicted and spend the rest of his life “behind bars.”

Raskin served on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Last week, the panel concluded their probe, releasing a report on their findings and referring Trump on four criminal charges to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The charges included: inciting an insurrection, obstruction of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to make a false statement.

The Maryland Democrat reflected on the report during an episode of Yahoo! News’s “Skullduggery” podcast. Raskin said he “really would be surprised” if Trump wasn’t indicted.

“There’s just deep culpability from the very beginning in everything that Donald Trump did. I’m very serious about him facing the consequences and paying for the cost of his action,” Raskin said. “He could spend the remaining days of his misanthropic life behind bars, presumably with Secret Service agents.”

Trump has maintained his innocence on all accounts, accusing the Jan. 6 committee of a politically-motivated investigation.

The former president said the panel “did not present a single shred of evidence that I intended or wanted violence at our Capitol” in their final report.

“The real story is what the unselect committee did not mention in their fake trial,” he said. “Days before the protest I urged the deployment of 10,000 to 20,000 National Guard troops to keep the event safe for all involved … there was no insurrection … it was made up by these sick people.”

Source: Newsweek

By T. Thompson
December 27, 2022

Loophole Could Shield Trump From Jan. 6 Charges

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1979: After invading Afghanistan two days earlier, Soviet forces pull off a coup in Kabul, killing President Hafizullah Amin.

The Jan. 6 House Select Committee has issued four criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump, but a decades-old legal precedent could shield him if charges are ultimately filed.

The committee’s referrals were for obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make a false statement and to “incite,” “assist,” or “aid or comfort” an insurrection.

If charges are brought, Trump’s legal team could use the First Amendment’s free speech protection as a defense.

Free speech, which the U.S. Supreme Court has protected for decades, has limitations on when it can be criminalized. Under the precedent set by the 1969 case Brandenburg v. Ohio, the Supreme Court considers two factors when dealing with speech:
1. The speech must be intended to incite or produce lawless action
2. The speech must also be likely to incite or produce lawless action

A recent article published by The Atlantic said that Trump’s defense team could continue to argue that what he said on Jan. 6, 2021, was protected by the First Amendment.

During Trump’s speech at a Save America rally, he repeatedly called for his supporters to “fight” — but the argument could be made that the word was metaphorical, as Trump didn’t demand specifically for his supporters to initiate or partake in violence.

Also, Trump urged his supporters to avoid violence and march “peacefully and patriotically.” It would be difficult for prosecutors to argue that he explicitly urged lawless action.

Source: Newsweek

By T. Thompson
December 13, 2022

WATCH: Marjorie Taylor Greene Ruffles Feathers with Comments About Jan. 6

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said the Jan. 6 Capitol riot would have been successful if she’d planned it, ruffling the feathers of those within the Biden administration.

Greene apparently addressed claims that she was somehow involved in planning the Capitol riot.

“Then Jan. 6 happened. And next thing you know, I organized the whole thing, along with Steve Bannon here. And I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed,” Greene told the audience at the New York Young Republican Club Gala on Saturday.

“See that’s the whole joke, isn’t it. They say that whole thing was planned and I’m like, are you kidding me? A bunch of conservatives, second amendment supporters, went in the Capitol without guns, and they think that we organized that?” Greene added.

The White House lashed out at Greene over the remarks, condemning her rhetoric as violent.

“It goes against our fundamental values as a country for a Member of Congress to wish that the carnage of January 6th had been even worse, and to boast that she would have succeeded in an armed insurrection against the United States government,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.

“This violent rhetoric is a slap in the face to the Capitol Police, the DC Metropolitan Police, the National Guard, and the families who lost loved ones as a result of the attack on the Capitol,” Bates added.

Greene hit back at the Biden administration, saying the “White House needs to learn how sarcasm works.”

“My comments were making fun of Joe Biden and the Democrats, who have continuously made me a political target since January 6,” she said.

Source: The Hill

By T. Thompson
October 18, 2022

DOJ Recommends 6-Month Sentence for Steve Bannon

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1867: Alaska Purchase – The U.S. takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million.

The Department of Justice says that Steve Bannon serve a six-month prison sentence and pay a $200,000 fine for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021.

Federal prosecutors say that Bannon, who served as the White House’s chief strategist under former President Donald Trump, “pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt” and undermined the committee’s investigation.

“By flouting the Select Committee’s subpoena and its authority, the Defendant exacerbated that assault,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.

The federal attorneys allege that Bannon’s “contempt was not aimed at protecting executive privilege or the Constitution, rather it was aimed at undermining the Committee’s efforts to investigate an historic attack on government.”

“To this day, he continues to unlawfully withhold documents and testimony that stand to help the Committee’s authorized investigation to get to the bottom of what led to January 6 and ascertain what steps must be taken to ensure that it never happens again. That cannot be tolerated,” they wrote.

In July, Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to sit for a deposition or provide documents. His sentencing is set for Friday.

Source: AP

By T. Thompson
October 16, 2022

WATCH: New Footage Shows Nancy Pelosi Vowed to “Punch” Trump on Jan. 6

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis begins as JFK is shown photos confirming the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

A newly-released video recorded on Jan. 6, 2021, shows an enraged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) vow to “punch” out then-President Donald Trump if he marched on the U.S. Capitol.

The footage was recorded by documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, the House Speaker’s daughter.

“Tell him, if he comes here, we’re going to the White House,” Pelosi says with a laugh.

Pelosi’s chief of staff Terry McCullough then tells her that the Secret Service “dissuaded [Trump] from coming to Capitol Hill.”

“If he comes, I’m going to punch him out. I’ve been waiting for this,” Pelosi tells aides. “For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I’m going to punch him out. And I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”

Ultimately, Trump did not march on the Capitol that day.

The footage, exclusively obtained by CNN, was aired after the House Jan. 6 committee’s hearing on Thursday.

Source: CNN

By T. Thompson
Nancy Pelosi
September 19, 2022

Woman Accused of Stealing Pelosi’s Laptop Granted Release to Attend Renaissance Faire — Again

The Pennsylvania woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) laptop during the January 6 Capitol riot has been granted temporary release from her house arrest to attend a Renaissance Faire — for the second time.

When Riley Williams was released from jail last year, the judge ordered that she would only be able to leave home for work, court appearances, and a few other approved outings. Apparently, that includes the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.

The judge granted the 25-year-old’s request to attend the faire last week, marking the second time Williams has gone to the event while serving home confinement. She was also allowed to go late last month.

“She is confined to her home 24/7 with exceptions. Every once in a while, if there is an activity that interests her, we ask if she can attend,” Lori Ulrich, Williams’ lawyer, told the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.

Prosecutors say Williams bragged about stealing Pelosi’s laptop on the social media site Discord.

“I took Nancy Polesis [sic] hard drives. I don’t care. Kill me,” she allegedly wrote.

Sources: CBS News | NPR | Pittsburgh-Post Gazette

By T. Thompson
September 13, 2022

Elected Official Removed from Office Over Jan. 6

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1847: American-Mexican war – U.S. General Winfield Scott captures Mexico City.

A politician in New Mexico became the first elected official to be removed from office over their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

State Judge Francis Mathew ruled that Couy Griffin be removed from his elected position as one of Otero County’s three county commissioners, citing a violation of a clause in the 14th Amendment by participating in an “insurrection” against the federal government. Mathew is the first judge to formally rule that Jan. 6, 2021, was an “insurrection.”

“Mr. Griffin’s crossing of barricades to approach the Capitol were overt acts in support of the insurrection, as Griffin’s presence closer to the Capitol building increased the insurrectionists’ intimidation by number,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

“Mr. Griffin aided the insurrection even though he did not personally engage in violence. By joining the mob and trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds, Mr. Griffin contributed to delaying Congress’s election certification proceedings.”

The ruling immediately removed Griffin from his position and barred him from holding elected office ever again.

The first-of-its-kind ruling comes after Griffin was convicted of misdemeanor trespassing during the Capitol riot. In June, he was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.

Griffin, founder of Cowboys for Trump, told CNN that the judge was being “tyrannical.”

“I’m shocked. Just shocked,” Griffin said. “I really did not feel like the state was going to move on me in such a way. I don’t know where I go from here.”

In his ruling, Mathew said Griffin’s attempts “to sanitize his actions are without merit” and “amounted to nothing more than attempting to put lipstick on a pig.”

According to the group Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), the ruling marks the first time since 1869 that a judge removed an elected official from office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

“This decision makes clear that any current or former public officials who took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and then participated in the January 6th insurrection can and will be removed and barred from government service for their actions,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said in a statement.

Sources: The Guardian | CNN

By T. Thompson
July 24, 2022

Steve Bannon Convicted on Contempt Charges

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1911: American explorer Hiram Bingham discovers Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.

Steve Bannon has been convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.

Bannon, who previously served as former President Donald Trump’s campaign CEO and White House adviser, faces up to one year in jail for each count.

According to a report, the federal jury reached a verdict after deliberating for less than three hours.

Prosecutors had argued that the case was “not complicated, but it is important.”

“When it came down to it, he did not want to recognize Congress’s authority or play by the government’s rules,” said assistant U.S. attorney Molly Gaston during her closing argument.

The committee’s subpoena, issued September 23, 2021, ordered Bannon to supply documents by October 7, 2021, and appear for a deposition on October 14, 2021.

Robert Costello, Bannon’s lawyer, had informed the committee that his client wouldn’t be complying because Trump had asserted executive privilege. Costello had also cited an ongoing civil case between Trump and the Jan. 6 committee.

Bannon’s sentencing is scheduled for October 21.

By T. Thompson
July 23, 2022

Trump Rails Against “Disloyal Sleaze Bag” Mitch McConnell

Former President Donald Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), calling him a “disloyal sleaze bag.”

“Is this the same Mitch McConnell who was losing big in Kentucky, and came to the White House to BEG me for an Endorsement and help? Without me he would have lost in a landslide. A disloyal sleaze bag!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The post came after the House Jan. 6 committee played a video clip of McConnell’s speech during Trump’s second impeachment trial, in which he blamed the former president for inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump railed against several others connected to the Jan. 6 trial on Thursday night, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who he called a “sanctimonious loser.”

“Liz Cheney is a sanctimonious loser. The Great State of Wyoming is wise to her. Why not show the tapes, or interview, those that, with evidence, challenge the election?” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump addressed CNN’s Jake Tapper, decrying him as “biased and pathetic.”

“Fake Tapper of CNN is so biased and pathetic,” Trump said. “No wonder CNN’s ratings are at an all time low! P.S. Almost all Trump Endorsed candidates have won, or are winning!”

The former president lamented the situation and the state of the country.

“I had an election Rigged and Stolen from me, and our Country. The USA is going to Hell. Am I supposed to be happy?” Trump wrote.

@realDonaldTrump on Truth Social
By T. Thompson
July 18, 2022

AOC Says Capitol Officers Were “Opening the Doors” for Jan. 6 Rioters

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
2013: Detroit, Michigan, files for bankruptcy, becoming the largest US municipal bankruptcy ever at $18.5 billion.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) railed against the U.S. Capitol Police for failing to impede the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, alleging that some officers were “sympathetic” to the participants.

Ocasio-Cortez told a reporter that authorities never “got to the bottom” on officers who were “opening the doors” for the rioters.

“…And that there were actual officers working with this? And we never got to the bottom of that, and we never got any answers about that? And to this day, we’re just supposed to pretend that that never happened?” Ocasio-Cortez is heard saying in the video.

“I have no idea what happened to the people on the inside, who were very clearly sympathetic with what was going on and opening doors wide open for that, and I’m supposed to sit here and pretend like none of that ever happened?”

The congresswoman continued, saying: “And then right afterward, you have a massive, you know, you just have this idea that throwing money at that problem is going to make it go away without any accountability.”

“And so this is, this is where these things are breaking down. We’re not safe. And it’s not just about members of Congress not being safe. The food staff workers aren’t safe. the janitors aren’t safe — like, we need to get to the bottom of this.”

Ocasio-Cortez later reiterated her opinion on Twitter.

“Remember how there was tons of footage and evidence of officers & others inside on 1/6 supporting insurrectionists, but then everyone decided it was too politically risky to investigate thoroughly so they brushed under the rug and now we still have no idea who or what is safe?” she tweeted.

Steve Cortes, former advisor to the Trump campaign, called for the release of Capitol security footage in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.

“Wait, so AOC says Capitol Police did, in fact, invite protestors into the building? One way to get to resolve all such issues? Release the tapes. All of them,” he tweeted.

By T. Thompson
Scroll to top