Category: January 6

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Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Elections January 6 The Trump Adminstration

Ripped-Up Note May Wind Up Being The Evidence That Proves Trump’s Role In January 6

A note that former president Donald Trump angrily ripped up in the days before the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection is likely to be the key piece of evidence that will prove Trump’s guilt in the plot to illegally overturn the 2020 election, according to former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.

The torn-up note features prominently in a new book from ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl, Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party, and it confirms previous testimony presented to the House Select Committee that investigated Jan. 6.

Karl’s book was discussed on “Deadline: White House” Monday, and the issue of the note, in which top Army leaders said the military could not get involved in election issues, led Weissmann to note, “That note gets ripped up into pieces so no one could find it.”

Weissmann also explained why the note is so important in proving Trump’s role in the Capitol insurrection.

“As much of you think of it as a military organization with a hierarchy, they are also trained they do not violate the Constitution. And when there’s an invalid order, they cannot follow it because the Constitution comes first.

“So, to me, this is right to the heart of Donald Trump brushing up against one guardrail.”

Additionally, Weissmann said other evidence also points to how Trump and his top aides were planning to subvert the will of the voters in 2020.

“I have always been fascinated by the fact you had had the Defense Department and [Gen. Mark] Milley, with a lot going on behind the scenes, pushing back because you can’t engage in a coup without military backing. And the fact that Kash Patel was there, a figure with no military expertise whatsoever, and was installed there, to me, is always this unwritten story about what was happening.”

Should a man who wanted to turn the United States into a dictatorship be allowed near the White House again? No. And that’s why his prosecution and eventual conviction for that crime is so important if this country and our representative democracy are to survive.

 

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Capitol Insurrection January 6 WTF?!

Jan. 6 Rioter Tells Judge He Only Showed Up At Capitol To Increase His Social Media Engagement

Ryan Zink is a resident of Arizona who showed up at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and allegedly played a role in the events of that horrific day.

How do we know Zink was at the Capitol on Jan. 6? Because he was stupid enough to film himself charging towards the building and then post the videos on social media for others to see.

Including, of course, the FBI and other federal investigators.

During his testimony, Kyle Cheney of Politico reports, Zink attempted to defend his actions by claiming he was merely trying to boost is social media engagement.

However, such a defense is seriously undercut by statements Zink made that day, including:

  • “We’re storming the Capitol!”
  • “They can’t stop us!”

Here’s what else Cheney shared about Zink’s testimony.

Ryan Zink, a Jan. 6 defendant charged with obstruction, is on the stand in his ongoing trial. His dad ran against Ruben Gallego in the 2022 election and is running for the open seat in 2024.

The younger Zink testified that he was apolitical, disgusted by the violence he witnessed and tried to help cops that day. Videos of him charging toward the Capitol (and up the steps) while yelling “we’re storming the Capitol,” among other things, were just for clicks, he says.

In 5 videos Zink — who was with his father that day — yells “they can’t stop us” while surging with the crowd. “We’re in the doors,” he yells while the crowd breached (though he didn’t go in) His explanation today: “I’m embellishing my activity here to try to retain viewership”

NOTABLY Zink tried to subpoena Speaker McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Last week, House lawyers sharply (and successfully) rejected the effort, saying the subpoena was improper and sought irrelevant info.

Since he was merely trying to get more views on Facebook, maybe Zink can get Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to pay his legal bills or send him some money for his prison commissary account if and when he’s found guilty and incarcerated.

He might not want to hold his breath waiting for that to happen.

 

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Crime Donald Trump Elections GOP January 6

‘Second Wave’ Of Indictments Coming From Jack Smith In Washington, DC: Report

More criminal indictments are on the way from Special Counsel Jack Smith, according to a former federal prosecutor, and they’ll likely be filed in Washington, D.C., where former president Donald Trump and others are already facing charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election.

Glenn Kirschner, who worked as a federal prosecutor for several years, told MSNBC host Katie Phang Sunday that he believes many of the unindicted co-conspirators named in a grand jury report from Georgia released on Friday are likely to find themselves under indictment by the special counsel.

“Here’s the outlier, Katie. These people, who were named for indictment, but we haven’t seen them show up in an indictment yet, they could be indicted in the future”

Kirschner added:

“Think about the Jack Smith’s indictment that was handed down in Washington, D.C. There are six pretty important, unnamed, but pretty well-identified co-conspirators in that case. And I have every expectation that we will see a second wave of indictments in Washington, D.C. of those, thus far, unindicted co-conspirators.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38IU9oeDHus

Among those named in the Georgia grand jury report were former Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and current Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, all of whom may wind up in federal court very soon if indeed Jack Smith decides they deserve to pay the price for their role in the 2020 election conspiracy.

 

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Donald Trump Jr. Elections January 6

Text Message From Don Jr. Appears To Implicate Him In Plot To Overturn 2020 Election

A trove of text messages obtained by Talking Points Memo shows that former president Donald Trump’s son, Don Jr., was actively involved in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and the could also lead to enormous legal jeopardy for him.

In one of the texts, which was sent to then-White House Chief of staff Mark Meadows, Don Jr. proposes an approach to making sure his father remain in office even though the election results showed he had lost to Joe Biden.

“It’s very simple. If through our lawsuits and recounts the Secretary of States on each state cannot certify that states vote the State Assemblies can step in and vote to put forward the electoral slate Republicans control Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina etc we get Trump electors There is a Safe Harbor on 8 December if for whatever reason you miss that the Electors then cannot meet in the individual state Capitols on 14 December So we either have a vote WE control and WE win OR it gets kicked to Congress 6 January 2021 the House meets to vote- by state party delegation 1 vote per state California 1 ; Montana 1 Republicans control 28 states Democrats 22 states Once again Trump wins Senate votes for VP Pence wins Summary We have multiple paths We control them all We have operational control Total leverage.”

Another text from Don Jr. calls for the firing of anyone designated as an enemy of the administration.

“POTUS must start 2nd Term now Fire Wray ; Fire Faucci (sic) Make Grennel interim head of FBI Have Barr select Special Prosecutor on HardDrivefromHell Biden crime family,”

With Special Counsel Jack Smith now leading the Justice Department’s investigation of possible crimes committed by the ex-president while he was still in office, Don Jr. could soon find himself having to testify before a grand jury on the 2020 election plot. If he testifies truthfully, that would incriminate his father. If he lies, he’s facing a charge of perjury.

In other words, it seems that Don Jr. is screwed no matter what he does.

 

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Crime Donald Trump January 6

Former Prosecutor Mocks Trump After Judge In Jan. 6 Trial Treats Donnie Like A ‘Truant Child’

Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman said Friday on MSNBC that Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge overseeing the January 6 criminal trial of failed former president Donald Trump like a “truant child” and also making it clear with her remarks in court today that she doesn’t trust the disgraced ex-president as far as she can throw him.

After a hearing this morning, Chutkan issued a protective order that limits what Trump and federal prosecutors are allowed to disclose, including any personally identifying information, sealed orders, witness testimony, or recordings and transcripts from witness interviews.

MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez asked, “I want to underline a part of this. If they would be reasonably interpreted to intimidate witnesses. Does Trump’s post about, ‘If you come after me, I’ll come after you’ — does that fly?”

Litman replied:

“I think it falls totally flat. One more point. She treated Trump like a truant child. The most sort of galling thing of all. Obviously, he started at a level of mistrust. So he started with a record, as it were. Now, there will be exactly this debate. The reason there is something for him is not just what he got, but there will be a next level where they argue about terms and then she imposes something more strict.”

If Trump does defy the judge’s orders, Litman continued, Chutkan still has other ways of dealing with him.

“The big hammer she has, of course, but she doesn’t want to deploy it early or at all if they could help it, it is putting him in jail.”

“But they know that at the end of the day, it is her courtroom and her witnesses to worry about and it is her process to take account of,” Litman concluded. And she will, I think, she showed today, be unafraid — if he pushed her to the wall of responding with the most severe sanction.”