Tag: January 6

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Capitol Insurrection GOP U.S. Senate

Ted Cruz Gets Hit With Blowback For Fundraising Email Claiming The FBI Orchestrated January 6

You probably recall that back during the 2016 race for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump routinely insulted Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz and members of his family, insinuating that Cruz’s wife, Heidi, was ugly compared to Melania Trump and that his Cuban-born father had played a role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Cruz was outraged by those attacks on his family, but later paid homage to Trump at the Republican National Convention and has been a subservient lapdog for the Donald ever since.

As a matter of fact, Cruz has now adopted Trump’s tactics and is trying to raise money from a conspiracy theory that has been circulating all over right-wing media suggesting that the FBI planned and carried out the January 6 attack on the U.S.Capitol.

David Corn of Mother Jones reports:

A few days ago, Cruz sent out a fundraising email embracing the right-wing crackpot notion that the insurrectionist January 6 attack on the US Capitol was orchestrated by the FBI or another government agency. Hardcore Trumpists, most notably Fox host Tucker Carlson, have pushed the fact-free idea that the Deep State engineered the assault on Congress to discredit Trump and his political movement. And Cruz has rushed to the front of the loony train. 

The email reads:

“Did ANY FBI agents or confidential informants actively participate in the events that day? We know the FBI has been misused in the past to target President Trump and our conservative movement and run interference for the Democrats.”

We know that? Actually, we don’t, because there’s not a sliver of actual evidence to support such an absurd notion. But hey, who needs facts when you’re shearing cash from the gullible right-wing sheep that populate today’s Republican Party? Facts would only get in the way of the overall grift.

Later in that same email, Cruz adds more layers to the complex conspiracy theory he’s spinning in order to get as many greenbacks as possible:

“What are they trying to hide now about the events of January 6, 2021? I’m working hard to expose the full truth and shine a light on whether there was any FBI involvement on that day… and the liberal media can’t stand it!”

Got that? Cruz now has the FBI and the “liberal media” in the same wild fantasy he’s concocted for the sole purpose of getting people to shill out tens and twenties for his crusade against the evil enemy, even though that enemy consists of other Americans, some of whom work night and day to keep this country safe.

But Cruz didn’t get away with his ruse unscathed. He received plenty of blowback for his complex web of lies. Take a look:

https://twitter.com/NorrinR06303580/status/1484930643884589061?s=20&t=taTVvWi6d-chCZCOmA9coA
https://twitter.com/JMarieT03/status/1484927097458118657?s=20&t=taTVvWi6d-chCZCOmA9coA

Ted Cruz needs to be subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6. If he refuses to comply, that will prove he’s one of the insurrectionists and needs to be charged with multiple federal crimes.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Donald Trump

Former Federal Prosecutor: Convicting Trump For Jan. 6 Crimes Is As Easy As ‘Shooting Fish In A Barrel’

A former federal prosecutor who once worked for Robert Mueller says if the Justice Department does decide to charge former President Donald Trump for crimes committed in connection with the January 6 Capitol insurrection, securing a conviction would be as easy as “shooting fish in a barrel.”

Glenn Kirschner, who now works as a legal analyst for MSNBC, was a guest on radio host Dean Obeidallah’s Sirius XM show and was asked by Obeidallah:

 “In your view, does the January 6 attack happen if Donald Trump does not start lying about the election from election night on–even pre-election night—but from election night on. Calling them [his supporters] to come to the Capitol for a ‘wild’ time- as he put in writing [in a December tweet]–and then gave that speech, saying, ‘I’m going down there with you’ and about Joe Biden saying, ‘we can’t let this happen,’ repeating it over and over while they were chanting, ‘Fight for Trump'”?!

Kirschner responded:

“Yeah, do you do you think Trump supporters would have spontaneously assembled on January 6th in Washington DC and then marched on the Capitol to try to get Mike Pence to stop the electoral vote count?! I think not.

“It is such folly just that January 6th was anything but a Donald Trump production from start to finish. And everything he did, he did from a platform of fraud and deception which is what makes proving his corrupt intent in the future prosecution like shooting fish in a barrel. Give me 3 hours–I’ve said this before and I’ve taken a beating for it so I’m gonna say it again–give me three hours in front of a DC jury, let me try to persuade them that when Donald Trump said ‘stop the steal,’ go down there and fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore, the fact that Donald Trump’s own officials and administration said there was ‘no steal,’ Bill Barr said there was no fraud undermining Joe Biden’s win, [Trump’s former DHS cybersecurity head] Christopher Krebs said safest election in U.S. history as did the DHS. That proves Donald Trump’s fraud and corrupt intent because his own administration makes him out to be a liar.”

Those facts, Kirschner concluded, would make a prosecution of Donald Trump among the easiest imaginable for a good DOJ attorney:

“Dean, I prosecuted for 30 years, I took lots of tough cases to trial. I won some I lost some, this case on the evidence is so much stronger than the majority of criminal cases I tried. So we’ve just gotta get indictments and we’ve just gotta get this man in court.”

Sounds good. Now let’s get it done.

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Capitol Insurrection GOP Social Media

Adam Kinzinger Burns Rubio Down For Minimizing The Gravity Of Jan. 6: ‘What Happened To You, Man?’

For the past two days, many Republicans have been trying to pretend the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was just a minor event which should be forgotten. Of course, they feel that way largely because they aren’t willing to blame failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and some of their fellow GOP members of Congress for their role in the attack which left five people dead.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was one of those Republicans who tried to minimize the gravity of what took place a year ago at the Capitol, posting this on Twitter:

Upscale liberals? What in the hell does that even mean? Is that code for something more noxious that Rubio is trying to get across to the extreme right-wing of his party, which has now taken complete control of the GOP?

January 6 was in many ways even worse than Pearl Harbor or 9/11 because it was committed by our fellow Americans. And it proves that the biggest threat we now face in this country is the enemy within. They have sworn allegiance to one man and are willing to destroy the United States out of blind, fanatical loyalty to Donald Trump.

Fortunately, there are a few rational Republicans left in the United States, and one of them, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a member of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, took Rubio to task for his tweet:

Problem is, Rubio isn’t better than this. He may have pretended to be at one time, but those days are long gone. Now he’s just another delusional lemming trying to curry favor with the MAGA faithful. Oh, and Marco is also running for reelection in November, so he has to make sure his right flank is protected.

People like Adam Kinzinger should be cheered for their moral clarity and willingness to speak out against the lies they see taking control of their party.

Marco Rubio, on the other hand, needs to be run out of town on a rail and relegated to the ash heap of history.

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Donald Trump The Trump Adminstration

Capitol Rioter Plans To Subpoena Bannon, Giuliani, And Trump For Testimony At His Trial

Dustin Thompson was one of the thousands of pro-Trump supporters who showed up in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 and stormed the U.S. Capitol at the urging, he says, of failed, one-term President Donald Trump.

And now, as part of his defense, Thompson and his attorney are planning to subpoena Trump, former White House adviser Steve Bannon, and Rudy Giuliani, who was working as a personal attorney to Trump at the time of the Capitol insurrection.

Kyle Cheney, the Senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, noted on Twitter that Thompson even plans to use the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the subpoenas:

In the filing, Thompson’s attorney argues:

“Considering the significant roles these witnesses play in the legal and political communities, and the evasiveness that some have historically shown in the face of court orders, Defendant submits that appointment of the U.S. Marshals Service is necessary in order to effectuate his right to compulsory process and ensure that the same is accomplished expeditiously.”

That’s certainly a valid point. And it’s almost impossible for Bannon, Giuliani, or Trump to say they played no role in what transpired at the Capitol. We already have evidence from the House Select Committee that suggests the three were instrumental in urging supporters to show up on the 6th and protest the results of the 2020 election, which Trump overwhelmingly lost in both the popular and electoral vote.

Plenty of people on Twitter agreed that Thompson should be allowed to subpoena the three co-conspirators. After all, none of them is doing anything worthwhile or valuable at the moment:

https://twitter.com/MadHominem/status/1479575461961383936?s=20

https://twitter.com/tortuga_ricardo/status/1479583440861155329?s=20

Can you imagine the look on Donald Trump’s face when a U.S. Marshal hands him a subpoena and tells him, “You’ve been served”? Personally, I would gladly pay money to see that.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Mike Pence

Former Pence Staffers Are Being ‘Particularly Cooperative’ With House Jan. 6 Committee

In what can only be seen as the ultimate irony, it now appears that the evidence most likely to result in criminal charges being filed against failed, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump may be provided by staffers who once worked for former Vice President Mike Pence.

According to Axios, members of Pence’s staff have been “particularly cooperative” with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection:

People in and around former Vice President Mike Pence’s office have been particularly cooperative as the Jan. 6 select committee focuses on what former President Trump was doing during the more than three hours the Capitol was under attack, sources familiar with the testimony tell Axios.

The cooperation of those who had a front-row seat to what transpired on that horrible January day is key to the committee, which is on the verge of holding public hearings that could further expose Trump and members of his inner circle to criminal referrals the Justice Department would be hard-pressed to ignore.

Some of the former Pence staff members have even agreed to talk to the Jan. 6 panel without having to be subpoenaed:

  • Both Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short, and former press secretary Alyssa Farah, who later served as White House communications director, are among those cooperating with the committee.
  • Keith Kellogg also has given a deposition.
  • One source familiar with their involvement said Short, who was subpoenaed by the committee, would not have cooperated without the approval of Pence.

The committee has received the most helpful information from “second- and third-tier administration staff who were not directly involved but were at the White House on Jan. 6 and had access to top administration officials.”

After speaking with the committee, Farah noted:

“You could see how much information they already had.

“Those who are refusing to cooperate likely are doing so out of complete fealty to Donald Trump and not wanting to piss him off.

“But, secondarily, because they’re realizing the committee has quite a bit more information than they realized. And their involvement is known to a much greater degree than they realized.”

The upcoming public hearings could prove to be a tipping point that will convince the majority of Americans Trump and members of his staff need to be held accountable and prosecuted for their crimes. And they should also make for the most fascinating television since the Watergate hearings back in 1974.