Category: January 6

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Congress January 6 Justice Department

Jordan And McCarthy Are ‘Quite Likely’ Under Investigation By DOJ For Their Role In Jan. 6: Report

As they prepare to take control of powerful committees and leadership positions in the House, two members of the new Republican majority are also facing serious legal jeopardy, according to former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

McQuade said that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) are facing serious scrutiny for their roles in the January 6, 2022 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to Newsweek.

The biggest threat to both men, according to McQuade, is what the Justice Department may have planned for them.

“I think they’re quite likely under investigation. Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy, I mean we know that they were having direct communications with Donald Trump on January 6. At this point, I suppose they [the January 6 committee] consider them to be witnesses, but I think they’d want to know what they have to say.”

Additionally, McQuade said that Jordan and McCarthy may be invited for a interview by DOJ officials. If they refuse, a subpoena for their testimony before a grand jury will likely be used to “compel” their cooperation.

The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection released an 845-page report on Thursday which mentiones Jordan as a”significant player” in Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election:

“He participated in numerous post-election meetings in which senior White House officials, Rudolph Giuliani, and others, discussed strategies for challenging the election, chief among them claims that the election had been tainted by fraud.”

The Jan. 6 panel subpoenaed Jordan earlier this year, but he failed to comply and appear for a scheduled deposition on May 27.

McQuade noted that while it’s controversial for the DOJ to go after members of Congress, it’s not unprecedented.

“It’s highly sensitive to go after information from a sitting member of Congress, but they’re not being targeted because they’re members of Congress, they’re being targeted because of their conduct and conversations with Donald Trump on January 6.”

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Donald Trump January 6

‘Tantalizing Comment’ In Jan. 6 Report Suggests Two Key Witnesses Have Flipped On Trump

Now that legal experts have had a few weeks to comb over the executive summary of a report from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, they’re finding new information that suggests at least two “huge” witnesses from the Trump administration are cooperating with investigators.

MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann has read through the executive summary and found something that immediately caught his attention, as he explained.

“There is a very tantalizing comment in the executive summary. It’s hard to call it that because it’s 160 pages, but in that executive summary there’s a reference to why the Department of Justice may not have sought to charge (former White House Chief of Staff) Mark Meadows and (Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications) Dan Scavino with contempt.”

Weissmann continued:

“If you recall, they were both referred by the committee to the Department of Justice for contempt failing to comply with a subpoena, and one of the things the report says, is it sort of speculates, but odd that it says it may be that they’re already cooperating, and with Mark Meadows, that would be huge. I mean, he is in the place to know everything so, obviously, if not cooperating already, there is a ton of pressure that is going to be put on him.”

The former federal prosecutor, who worked on the staff of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, concluded:

“I think department prosecutors will look at this release of documents, not so much for the Trump information, but for underlings who may be able to be charged and flipped. So, you know, [Secret Service agent] Tony Ornato would be one of them, but they’re going to look very, very closely for any information that could help them charge people with either making a false statement or perjury or obstruction of justice to see if they can get them to be cooperating witnesses.”

If indeed Meadows and Scavino are cooperating in order to avoid being criminally charged, Donald Trump is absolutely screwed.

Here’s the video from MSNBC:

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Donald Trump January 6

Former Prosecutor: This Criminal Charge Is The Most Likely To Lead To A Conviction Of Trump

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol will meet Monday and is expected to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice on three felony accounts against one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump, according to reports.

  • 18 U.S.C. 2383, insurrection
  • 18 U.S.C. 1512(c), obstruction of an official proceeding
  • 18 U.S.C. 371, conspiracy to defraud the United States government.

Which of those charges is most likely to lead to a successful conviction of Trump? That was the question posed to former U.S. Attorneys Joyce Vance and Barbara McQuade Sunday morning on MSNBC.

Vance noted that while getting a conviction against an ex-president will be a challenge, one of the three charges is easiest to prove.

“Prosecutors have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and it is not a situation where the tie goes to the runner.”

Having made that point clear, Vance added:

“This sort of charge that you’re talking about, which is the midpoint here interference with an official proceeding, seems like the sort of charge that prosecutors might be far more likely to believe they could convict beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Vance also explained her reasoning:

“Because so much of Trump’s conduct was public, so much of it is on videotape. There are so many conversations leading up to January sixth, including the entirety of his perpetuation of the big lie. There is an entire trajectory of evidence here that could be used.”

Prosecutors can expect a relatively predictable defense from Trump, Vance concluded:

“That doesn’t mean it is important to say that Trump would be without defenses, and again we’ve all talked exhaustively about the fact that Trump would point to his sincere and legitimate belief that he had won the election and that there was fraud and prosecutors would still have to overcome that. But it seems to be less heavy of a lift on the insurrection charge on the evidence here.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrNhFO2VBPc

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime January 6

Capitol Rioter Manages To Make His Sentence Much Worse With ‘Self-Inflicted Damage’

On Friday, Doug Jensen appeared in federal court to be sentenced for his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection and rioting that took place at the U.S. Capitol which left five people — including a member of the Capitol Police Force — dead.

But while Jensen and his attorneys were hoping for a sentence of no longer than 27 months, he wound up receiving five years in prison.

Scott MacFarlane of CBS News explained how Jensen went from 27 months to five years.

“Today was sentencing day, and he was recommending a shorter sentence, just 27 months. Prosecutors were seeking more than five years. Today was Doug Jensen’s day to make his argument, to seek leniency, to do himself some good in his case. It ends up, he did just the opposite.”

Things began to turn bad for Jensen when the person he was supposed to confront, police officer Eugene Goodman, was replaced by Goodman’s supervisor.

“First of all, let me tell you about the testimony we heard today. It was actually Capitol Police Inspector Tom Lloyd, not Eugene Goodman but Goodman’s supervisor … who spoke in court. What Tom Lloyd said really seemed to land with the judge as well. Saying that, if not for Eugene Goodman luring that mob away from the evacuating U.S. senators, there would have been bloodshed, perhaps quite a bit of it. Doug Jensen might not have walked out of the Capitol after the riot. Then Lloyd spoke about all the injuries, all the trauma suffered by police that day. To balance that, or try to counter that, Doug Jensen spoke on his own behalf to seek leniency. And rather than accepting responsibility, rather than expressing remorse to the judge, Jensen said he simply wants to go home, to go back to his normal life before he became involved with politics. Jensen, who has been held in a Virginia jail pending his sentencing, got a sentence of five years.”

What led the judge to give Jensen a longer prison sentence? His lack of remorse.

“One of the things the judge said stuck with me. He said he just didn’t hear an acceptance of responsibility from Jensen, and that if he had heard that, there may have been room for a downward departure. Jensen missed the opportunity, perhaps deliberately, and after causing so much damage here on January 6, he damaged his own case.”

Doug Jensen fu**ed around and found out. He has no one to blame for his predicament but himself.

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Donald Trump January 6

Former FBI Official: Oath Keepers Guilty Verdict Is Very Bad News For Donald Trump

Recently, a federal jury in Washington, D.C. found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, who is also a member of the extreme right-wing group, guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The two men could be sentenced to as much as 20 years in prison.

According to a former top FBI official, the guilty verdict should be especially concerning to failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was asked by CNN host Kasie Hunt about what message is being sent to those who have not yet been indicted for the Capitol insurrection:

“Let me ask you about what we saw in the trial. Do you think the events of the last 24 hours have changed the calculation for the Justice Department in terms of whether or not to prosecute the former president, since they were able to secure this conviction?”

McCabe agreed the conviction does indeed turn up the heat on Trump and others:

“No question, in a couple of ways. The comments about the Oath Keeper verdict by the AG (Merrick Garland) is a little more than just a chest-pounding session. He is sending a message to the attorneys representing the other Oath Keepers, whose trial is coming up, and the Proud Boys and whoever might be in the wings later that we can do this. We can put on these complicated, high-stakes political cases and get verdicts. Rethink whether you want to cooperate, provide evidence and seek an easier path.”

He added:

“I think that’s a — it’s a very loud message to those folks who were in leadership positions, who may be being looked at for their role in organizing and instigating the attack. And first and foremost among those is, of course, the former president.”