Tag: January 6

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Crime Donald Trump January 6

Jack Smith Has Obtained ‘Powerful’ New Evidence That Proves Trump’s Intent On Jan. 6

New recordings obtained by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding efforts by the Trump administration to block certification of the 2020 election provide powerful new evidence that prove failed former president Donald Trump’s intent to commit criminal acts, according to legal experts.

The recordings, which were first made public by CNN this week, suggest that Trump and those allied with him flew fake elector ballots to Washington D.C. so they could replace the real ballots with ones that would be favorable to the disgraced ex-president.

Two days before the January 6 insurrection, the Trump campaign’s plan to use fake electors to block President-elect Joe Biden from taking office faced a potentially crippling hiccup: The fake elector certificates from two critical battleground states were stuck in the mail.

So, Trump campaign operatives scrambled to fly copies of the phony certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin to the nation’s capital, relying on a haphazard chain of couriers, as well as help from two Republicans in Congress, to try to get the documents to then-Vice President Mike Pence while he presided over the Electoral College certification.

The operatives even considered chartering a jet to ensure the files reached Washington, DC, in time for the January 6, 2021, proceeding, according to emails and recordings obtained by CNN.

The recordings are of Trump-aligned lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who devised the fake elector scheme and is now cooperating with prosecutors.

Former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams had this to say about the recordings:

“It’s one thing for a jury to read a transcript or even hear someone talk about things they heard somebody else say, it is another thing to hear voices to have sort of an evocative effect, that is more valuable and powerful.”

The tapes, Williams continued, “could be introduced as evidence showing the state mind of not just of the former president, or people around him who knew what they were doing and attempting to take all efforts to get these fake or alternate — their argument is — ballots to Washington, D.C.., it can speak to intent.”

CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen concurred with Williams.

“And the reason those details about the elaborate plan to get all the materials to Washington for Jan. 6 matters so much is they go directly to the intent here.”

He added, “This wasn’t just, as it started out, a preventive measure in case Trump won court cases,” Eisen said. “This was an active alleged conspiracy to have Mike Pence and Congress block the rightful winner of the election from taking office, and Jack Smith has said that that is a criminal conspiracy. And it’s hard to understand how lawyers and other professionals couldn’t see why that was wrong.”

With each day, new and damning evidence comes to light that will help the special counsel make the case against Trump, who is reportedly terrified that he will indeed be found guilty and spend the rest of his life in prison.

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GOP January 6

Liz Cheney: Jim Jordan Was One Of The ‘Masterminds’ Of Jan. 6 And Has ‘Something To Hide’

Though we’ve known for nearly three years that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was in phone contact with former president Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 as the U.S. Capitol was being attacked by Trump supporters, it remains unclear exactly what role Jordan may have played in organizing the protests that took place that fateful day.

Now, however, a former colleague of Jordan’s, Liz Cheney, is suggesting that she believes the Ohio Republican was one of the “masterminds” behind Jan. 6.

Appearing on “Deadline: White House” to discuss her new book, Cheney was asked about Jordan.

“I think that there’s no question he has — that Jim Jordan has something to hide, probably a lot to hide,” Cheney remarked. “If you go back and you look at the phone records as well as what he’s said himself about his discussions and his conversations with Donald Trump on the 6. There’s a very significant role he played in the lead-up to that. He was clearly one of the masterminds in terms of helping to facilitate Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.”

Cheney added that Jordan’s steadfast refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the 2020 election and Jan. 6 is also highly suspicious.

“So, you have to imagine that he’s doing everything he can to help Donald Trump, to do Donald Trump’s bidding. And I think that he has so many questions of his own to answer that people just need to go back and look at the record. Look at how confused he’s been when people have pushed him on what did you say to Donald Trump. When did you talk to him on the 6th? What was your role in all of this? Did you make a request for pardons? But he’s very clearly at the heart of what was an attempt to seize power and overturn an election.”

Does that mean Jordan has “criminal exposure?” host Nicolle Wallace asked. Cheney replied, “He has a lot of questions to answer.”

In time, perhaps Special Counsel Jack Smith will take a long hard look at Jordan and others in Congress who may have played a role in Jan. 6 and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Until then, we can always hope that Smith succeeds in obtaining guilty verdicts against Donald Trump.

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Crime Donald Trump Elections January 6

Jack Smith Will Reveal ‘Important Evidence’ Today That Lays Out Trump’s Motives For January 6

Later today, Special Counsel Jack Smith is expected to file notice to attorneys for former president Donald Trump of  “any crimes, wrongs, or other bad acts” the Justice Department believes Trump committed in his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost in an electoral landslide to President Joe Biden.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance notes on Substack that the filing — known formally as a 404(b) notice — is meant to show “evidence of a prior crime, for instance, can be offered to prove ‘motive, opportunity [to commit the crime], intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.'”

Given what we already know about Smith’s case against Trump, Vance continues, it’s safe to believe that the special counsel is about to reveal “some important evidence” that significantly boosts has case against the ex-president.

Expect him to focus on proving Trump’s state of mind when it comes to election fraud and the absence of a good faith belief that the path he was setting the nation on would not result in the type of obstructive violence we saw on January 6—in other words, it was no mistake. Smith will also have to advise Trump about the permitted purpose he believes he can offer any 404(b) evidence for and the reasoning in support of his view. This, coincidentally, forces Smith (or perhaps gives him the opportunity depending on your point of view), to educate the public a fair bit more about his case.

Trump is also facing federal criminal prosecution for allegedly stealing classified documents from the White House and transporting them to his Mar-a-Lago resort. That case will be heard in a Florida courtroom while the Jan. 6 case it proceeding in Washington, D.C. with U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan presiding. Chutkan has signaled that she intends to start the trial before the 2024 election is held, which could prove politically disastrous for Trump.

Additionally, the former president is being prosecuted for racketeering in Georgia as a result of his attempts to subvert the will of voters in the Peach State. Several co-defendants have already agreed to cooperate with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

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Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Eric Trump January 6

Eric Trump May Have Incriminated His Dad With Videotaped Remarks On The Jan. 6 Attack

Alex Holder is a British documentary filmmaker who spoke with members of failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump’s family during the 2020 campaign — including in the days leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol — and portions of his upcoming film, “Unprecedented,” were subpoenaed by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

According to The Independent, which spoke with Holder, ex-president Trump’s son, Eric, seemed to indicate that the family believed violence was a viable response to what they thought had been a stolen election:

“When I asked Eric about the potential danger of sort of rhetoric and the sort of the belligerence, he felt that it was … fair game in that it … was sort of the equivalent on the other side of the political discourse, or he felt that it was the right thing to do … because the election was stolen.”

Holder also revealed that he wasn’t surprised when the rioting began at the Capitol because of all the anger and vitriol that had been spewed by the former president from the moment it became clear he had lost the election in a landslide to President Joe Biden:

“The idea of violence, to me, seemed likely because of the fact that when you tell 75 million people that their vote didn’t count, and the person that’s telling you that is not just the guy you voted for, but also the incumbent President of the United States, the chance of violence was always there.”

Eric’s remarks are especially troublesome for his father, who has repeatedly insisted that he never thought anyone would storm the Capitol and that he was merely calling for a peaceful protest on the day thousands of his supporters broke into the seat of government with chants of “Hang Mike Pence” and open calls to find and kill key Democrats, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Eric Trump has made his father’s already perilous legal situation much worse.

 

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Capitol Insurrection Crime January 6 Justice Department

J6 Rioter Facing Quadrupled Prison Sentence After Calling Prosecutors A ‘Clown Show’

A New York man convicted for taking part in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol could soon be facing a long time in prison as the result of an angry tirade he directed at federal prosecutors after he was convicted.

Frank Giustino was originally sentenced to three weeks incarceration for actions, but is now likely to get four months because he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut.

Scott MacFarlane of CBS News reports that Giustino showed “no remorse for his conduct on January 6” and instead presented “himself as the victim,” all the while referring to “the prosecution as a ‘clown show’ and a ‘nuisance.'”

“Giustino’s behavior in Court further evinces his belief that the attack on the Capitol was righteous… necessitating a sentence that will deter him from similar conduct,” prosecutors argue.

While it’s rare for prosecutors to call for an increase in a sentence, Giustino appears to have given then exactly the proof they need that an enhancement is justified.

Giustino previously proved his complete lack of respect for the law by firing his attorney and demanding that he be allowed to represent himself even though the judge in the case informed him that a lawyer could help him negotiate a lower sentence.