Month: March 2022

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Capitol Insurrection Ivanka Trump January 6 Jared Kushner

Jared Kushner Testified Before The 1/6 Committee Today – That Could Be Big Trouble For Ivanka

Earlier today, former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner testified under oath to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Politico notes that Kushner “did not play a visible role in the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, though he was a top adviser during much of Trump’s presidency. According to a recent book by ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Kushner was involved in multiple conversations about how to delicately explain to Trump that he had lost the election and interacted with other senior administration officials who were exasperated by Trump’s refusal to concede. Kushner had reportedly steered clear of Trump in the chaotic final weeks of his presidency and was out of town until the afternoon on Jan. 6.”

Despite that, committee member Elaine Luria (D-VA) told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace:

“He was able to voluntarily provide information to us to verify, substantiate, provide his own take on this different reporting, so it was really valuable.”

 

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman also weighed in on Kushner’s testimony, noting that Jared was mentioned in the text messages between Ginni Thomas and former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

But perhaps most troubling, Litman explained, is that Kushner’s testimony makes it almost certain that Ivanka will have no choice but to sit and testify under oath to the committee, which could put her in serious legal jeopardy:

“But the most important, I think, is Ivanka. They can ask him things about her and we know that she figures centrally, she’s the person that people tried to prevail on repeatedly to have Trump call off the dogs. Just his testifying, I think, makes it more likely — or puts more pressure on her to testify. She’s in voluntary negotiations now.”

Ivanka is neck deep in what transpired on Jan. 6, and even if she isn’t charged with a crime, what she has to say about how the failed, one-term former president acted as the Capitol was under siege could provide all the evidence the Justice Department needs to indict Donald Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy, and fraud.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Uncategorized

Grand Jury Investigating Jan. 6 Expands Probe To Include More Coup Plotters: Report

A grand jury seated in Washington, D.C. has expanded its probe into the Capitol insurrection and is now looking into the fundraising and organizing that took place prior to what transpired on January 6, according to CNN and the New York Times:

Subpoenas have been issued by a grand jury in Washington in recent weeks, seeking information on the rally and on the alternate slates of fake electors for former President Donald Trump in swing states he lost, sources said, marking a significant development in the probe.

Until recently, prosecutors were almost exclusively bringing cases against alleged rioters and some members of extremist groups accused of conspiring to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. An expanded inquiry into the rally and fake electors represents a new stage of the investigation that looks into a more well-connected political circle.

It also seems that the Justice Department is looking high and low in an attempt to get everyone who may have played a role in the riots which five people dead, including a member of the Capitol Police Force, with the Times noting:

One of the subpoenas, which was reviewed by The New York Times, sought information about people “classified as VIP attendees” at Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6 rally.

It also sought information about members of the executive and legislative branches who had been involved in the “planning or execution of any rally or any attempt to obstruct, influence, impede or delay” the certification of the 2020 election.

There has been increasing public pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland from the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, with panel member Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) remarking:

“The Department of Justice must act swiftly.

“I will echo what my colleagues have already said, but more bluntly, Attorney General Garland, do your job so that we can do ours.”

As of now, it appears the DOJ is indeed doing its job and leaving no stone unturned.

Categories
Congress Crime Fox News GOP WTF?!

Gaetz Tells Tucker Carlson He Feels ‘Vindicated’ Because DOJ Hasn’t Yet Charged Him

According to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the fact that he hasn’t yet been charged with any crimes in connection to the investigation of him for allegedly being involved in the sexual trafficking of an underage girl is proof that he’s been “vindicated.”

Gaetz appeared on Fox News Wednesday evening, and he told host Tucker Carlson:

“This was an operation to destroy me, to harm my family, to hinder my ability to serve my district and the movement I represent in Congress. The most important thing that has happened since our last on-air discussion [is that] someone has been indicted and has pleaded guilty to trying to shake down my family based on this pile of lies.”

Carlson asked Gaetz if he expected to be indicted and put on trial. He replied:

“No, that would be a travesty. I’m innocent. I have maintained my innocence. I have been entirely consistent on this fact. Each and every day, the lies about me unravel and are debunked… I feel vindicated each and every day that the facts are revealed.”

He feels vindicated simply because the case is ongoing and he hasn’t been charged. Wow! That’s some serious spin when you consider that the congressman is facing life in prison if he’s convicted.

Categories
Donald Trump

Security Experts: Trump’s Saturday Rally In Michigan Could Turn Into A Fatal Fire Trap

Later this evening, failed one-term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump will hold one of his Nuremberg-style rallies at the Michigan Stars Sports Center in Washington Township, and public safety officials are already warning that the venue could turn into a fatal fire trap.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

Fire department officials in Washington Township — where former President Donald Trump will speak to supporters Saturday night — are scrambling to ensure the safety of the event that could potentially draw thousands. 

“I do not want to allow it,” said Rob Schmelzer, the township’s assistant fire chief and fire marshal. “I have nothing against the past president. This has to do with the venue.” 

Schmelzer and Washington Township Fire Chief Brian Tyrell said the rally falls outside the approved use of the Michigan Stars Sports Center space where the event will be held. 

Tyrell added that he’s working closely with event organizers, the Secret Service, and the Macomb County Sheriff’s office to make sure there are off-duty officers at the rally to provide emergency medical services and fire protection.

“We’re still early in the planning, believe it or not, even though we’re only a few days out. This came upon us very quickly, and we’re just going to do our best to plan for the worst case scenario.”

Will rallygoers be safe if a larger than expected crowd shows up? Fire Marshal Schmelzer says there’s really no way to know, and that alone makes it dangerous.

Township Treasurer Mike Nicley says the Secret Service has told him as many as 10,000 could show up to hear the loser ex-president spin conspiracy theories and belch out endless lies:

“This is just not the right venue.”

It’d be nice to think that the MAGA faithful would heed the warnings and not take the risk of going to a possibly dangerous venue. But these are the same people who are refusing to take the COVID vaccine because they think there’s a tracking device in the shot.

Caveat emptor, MAGAts. Of course, you probably have no damn idea what that means, either.

 

Categories
Donald Trump Social Media

Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ App Is On Life Support – Sees 93% Decline From Its February Launch

When it launched last month on President’s Day, failed, one-term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump’s new social media app — which was ironically dubbed “Truth Social” — was being downloaded and installed on average some 872,000 times.

Now, however, Truth Social installs have dropped precipitously, down 93% from the February launch and are now at a pathetic 60,000 a week.

According to The Wrap, Truth Social appears to be like so many other Trump ideas (i.e. Trump wine, Trump steaks, Trump University) a massive failure:

“On its desktop site, Truth Social has also seen a significant decline in traffic following the launch period. Truthsocial.com spiked to 6 million visits during the week of Feb. 20 but has dropped to around 1.9 million weekly visits in recent weeks, according to Similarweb. The app store download page visits also declined from 361,000 visits during launch week to some 90,000 weekly visits last week.”

David Carr, senior insights manager at Similarweb, notes that while Trump still has a large following, he isn’t able to translate that into success on the world wide web:

“Creating your own social network is not an easy thing to do. You have to be significantly better and more interesting.”

Instead, Truth Social is sort of a poor man’s Twitter, minus the buzz and users. While Trump had millions of followers before he was booted from Twitter, those people haven’t been willing to join him on his new venture, which seems doomed.

None of this should surprise anyone who has been paying attention. Just consider a few of the Donald’s more spectacular business ventures that also died on the vine, courtesy of Time magazine:

  • Trump Airlines: “Never turned a profit and the high debt forced him to default on his loans.”
  • Trump Casinos: “Trump Entertainment Resorts, which is composed of three Trump-owned casinos, all in Atlantic City, filed for bankruptcy for the fourth time in 2014.”
  • Trump Mortgage: “Trump Mortgage shut down within a year and a half, in part because Trump selected E.J. Ridings, a man who claimed to be a top executive at a prestigious investment bank but had actually only worked on Wall Street as a registered broker for six days, to run the company.”

As former GOP strategist Rick Wilson has said many times, Everything Trump touches dies.