Tag: January 6 Select Committee

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Congress Elections GOP

House Republicans Planning ‘Payback’ On Cheney And Kinzinger If GOP Wins Midterms

If Republicans win control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, they have plans to punish two GOP members of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, Reps. Liz Cheney (WY) and Adam Kinzinger (IL).

According to a report from CNN, Republicans would likely use the House Judiciary Committee to target those they feel didn’t agree to lie and obfuscate for failed, one-term former president Donald Trump:

The GOP’s growing desire to craft a counternarrative on January 6 — and shift the blame away from Trump — comes as the former President is gearing up to soon announce another White House bid. Pursuing that effort could also be politically advantageous for McCarthy, whose expected bid for speaker would be made easier with support from Trump. The former President has sometimes criticized the California Republican over how he has handled the GOP’s defense of Trump during the select committee’s investigation.

Republicans might even try to create their own Jan. 6 committee in a pathetic attempt to spread the “big lie” Trump has suggested proves that the 2020 election was stolen from him, even though he has yet to provide a shred of evidence other than conspiracy theories and right-wing talking points while also punishing Cheney and Kinzinger for daring to serve on the current bipartisan panel:

Republicans have already asked the January 6 panel to preserve a broad range of documents in its possession — a signal they’re preparing to force those records to be turned over should they wield powerful committee gavels next year. And privately, Republican sources say there have been discussions about subpoenaing members of the select committee, particularly Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is fighting an uphill battle for reelection, and retiring Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, if both Republicans are private citizens next year.

In other words, rather than doing anything worthwhile if they happen to win control of the House, the GOP will engage in behavior better suited for children. It’s proof-positive that every last Republican needs to be voted out of office in order to save our democracy.

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Capitol Insurrection Congress Donald Trump GOP January 6

These Are The 10 Republicans Implicated In Trump’s Crimes At Today’s January 6 Hearing

10 Republican members of Congress were called out by name for their role in former president Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and stage a coup by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

During a presentation being made by committee member Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), the congresswoman said:

“Another part of the president’s strategy involves certain members of Congress who amplified his unsupported assertions that the election had been stolen. In the weeks after the election, the White House coordinated closely with President Trump’s allies in Congress to disseminate his false claims and to encourage members of the public to fight the outcome on Jan 6. We know that the president met with various members to discuss Jan. 6 well before the joint session.

“The president’s private schedule for Dec. 21, 2020 shows a private meeting with Republican members of Congress. We know Vice President Pence, chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani also attended the meeting.”

And then Murphy named names, and the 10 people she mentioned had better hope they have some damn good attorneys on retainer:

“At this point, you may recall testimony given in our earlier hearing by Richard Donoghue who said that the president asked the Department of Justice to say ‘that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.’ According to White House visitor logs obtained by the committee, members of Congress present at the White House on Dec. 21 included Congressmen Brian Babin (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Andy Harris (R-MD), Jody Hice (R-GA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Scott Perry (R-PA).

“And Congresswoman-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was also there.”

These are the known insurrectionists and traitors who remain in Congress to this day. They need to be brought before the House Ethics Committee, placed in front of a federal grand jury, indicted, and booted from office. If they aren’t, what took place on Jan. 6 is likely to happen again.

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Capitol Insurrection Congress Donald Trump January 6

Partial Focus Of Tuesday’s J6 Hearing: Members Of Congress Who Conspired With Trump – Report

When the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol convenes again tomorrow at 1 p.m. for a public hearing, part of their focus will be to identify the Republican members of Congress who conspired with former president Donald Trump to try and overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Aides to the Jan. 6 committee told reporters during a phone call Monday afternoon that of specific interest to the committee is to lay out how some in the GOP actively assisted Trump in his harebrained scheme to subvert the will of the voters by pressuring then-vice president Mike Pence to refuse certification of the Electoral College votes.

Hugo Lowell of The Guardian notes that there will also be extensive testimony on the nexus between Trump and domestic terrorist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers:

The House January 6 select committee is expected to make the case at its seventh hearing Tuesday that Donald Trump gave the signal to the extremist groups that stormed the Capitol to target and obstruct the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college win.

The panel will zero in on a pivotal tweet sent by the former president in the early hours of the morning on 19 December 2020, according to sources close to the inquiry who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the forthcoming hearing.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump said in the tweet. “Be there, will be wild!”

That tweet, the committee contends, led domestic terror groups to begin actively planning for Jan. 6. The panel plans to show a detailed chronology of what happened after Trump’s marching orders had been issued on social media:

On 20 December 2020, prosecutors have said, the former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio created an encrypted group chat called “MOSD Leaders Group” – described by Tarrio as a “national rally planning” committee that included his top lieutenants.

Top members of the Oath Keepers militia group led by Stewart Rhodes, who have also been indicted for seditious conspiracy, made similar plans as they prepared to obstruct the congressional certification of Biden’s election win, the panel intends to show.

The select committee will then focus on how the Oath Keepers stockpiled weapons and created an armed quick reaction force ready to deploy to the Capitol, and how the group ended up as the security detail for far-right activist Roger Stone and other Trump allies.

What members of Congress will likely hear their names called by the committee on Tuesday? Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Josh Hawley (R-MO), along with Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), although others may also be mentioned as co-conspirators who could be facing criminal referral the Justice Department and punishment from the Senate and House Ethics committees.

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Capitol Insurrection Congress January 6 WTF?!

Cassidy Hutchinson Forced To Go Into Hiding After Testifying To January 6 Committee

The New York Times reports that since she testified before the January 6 House Select Committee on on June 28, former Trump administration aide Cassidy Hutchinson has been forced to go into hiding for her own safety.

Now unemployed and sequestered with family and a security detail, Ms. Hutchinson, 26, has developed an unlikely bond with Ms. Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and onetime aide to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell during the George W. Bush administration — a crisis environment of another era when she learned to work among competing male egos. More recently, as someone ostracized by her party and stripped of her leadership post for her denunciations of Mr. Trump, Ms. Cheney admires the younger woman’s willingness to risk her alliances and professional standing by recounting what she saw in the final days of the Trump White House, friends say.

That revelation is part of a deeper look at Hutchinson’s life, including her fast rise through the ranks of Trump administration where she eventually became one of former White House Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows’ most trusted staffers.

After receiving a subpoena from the Jan. 6 panel, Hutchinson secured the services of attorney Stefan Passantino, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer who was paid by Trump’s Save America PAC.

However, it soon became clear to Hutchinson that Passantino was trying to protect Trump, not her, so she dumped him and found a better counselor:

Jody Hunt, the former head of the Justice Department’s civil division under Jeff Sessions — Mr. Trump’s former attorney general and another pariah in Mr. Trump’s world — offered to represent her pro bono. Mr. Hunt accompanied Ms. Hutchinson to her fourth deposition in late June, when she felt more comfortable talking about Mr. Trump’s actions on Jan. 6. Everyone agreed it was time to speed up her public testimony.

Though it remains unclear if Hutchinson will provide further testimony, what she has told the Jan. 6 committee so far is considered essential to the overall case the panel is building against Trump and others who took part in the Capitol insurrection that left five people dead.

Cassidy Hutchinson is a true American hero. She deserves the praise she has already received for her testimony.

 

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Capitol Insurrection Congress Donald Trump January 6

January 6 Committee Now Has ‘Smoking Gun’ Evidence Against Donald Trump: Report

Now that the January 6 House Select Committee has been able to determine that failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump did indeed play a major part in the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and remain in power via a coup, that has opened up new avenues of investigation and potential charges, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Glenn Kirschner was a guest on MSNBC Sunday, and host Cori Coffin noted as she introduced him:

“As we learn more about potential witness tampering during the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation, this week’s testimony of former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson could explain why those in Trumpworld were so worried about what she might have to say.

“According to Hutchison, Trump knew that some of his supporters would be armed that day, sent them to the Capitol anyway, even hoping to join them. So, does this open up the former president to be criminally liable?”

Kirschner responded in the affirmative:

“Yeah, this is what I would call smoking gun evidence.”

He then added:

“And interestingly, at the last J6 public hearing, we got both smoking gun evidence, and we got loaded gun evidence. And what I mean by that is, as you just played in your lead-in, Cori, the president knew. He was briefed that his crowd was armed with assault rifles and pistols and knives and brass knuckles and bear spray, etc.”

But it was what Kirschner said next that should be of special concern to the ex-president and his cultish followers:

“And you would think a reasonable response from a president would be, oh my goodness, let’s make sure the metal detectors are operating properly. He said just the opposite, take them down, let the armed members of the group in, and they can march to the Capitol from there. To do what? To stop the certification of his political opponent’s election win. So in a very real sense, that smoking gun evidence that Donald Trump wanted to lead what we now know is an armed attack on the Capitol. The loaded gun evidence is, the witness tampering information, and you know, witness tampering just strikes at the very heart of the integrity of investigations, whether congressional or criminal.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYgDJRDTuGc&feature=emb_logo

Donald Trump deserves to be indicted and tried for his crimes. Let’s just hope it happens soon.