Tag: January 6

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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.

 

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Donald Trump GOP January 6 Mike Pence The Trump Adminstration

Mike Pence Is About To Send Trump To Federal Prison For A Very Long Time

In a move that almost no one saw coming, former vice president Mike Pence announced today that he won’t appeal an order that he testify before a grand jury empaneled by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is looking into whether or not failed ex-president Donald Trump tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election.

NBC News reports:

The decision not to fight the order could provide special counsel Jack Smith with remarkable access to one of the key people with critical insight into Trump’s thinking and efforts to cling to power. 

Robert Costa of CBS News noted that the move by Pence is not only historic, but it’s the worst possible development for Trump, who is facing indictment on federal charges related to the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“This Pence development today is significant and potentially historic. A former vice president is now willing, within certain specified constitutional grounds his lawyers fought to arrange, to testify about potential illegal acts by a president.”

“Trump’s lawyers might try to appeal Pence’s decision, but they keep losing efforts to assert exec. priv. with this grand jury. That means Pence could appear before Jan. 6 grand jury in the coming weeks to testify under oath about what exactly Trump did and said in private.”

“Think about what this means,” Costa said.

“The special counsel could now get a first-hand account of what Trump specifically said to Pence in Oval Office meetings ahead of Jan. 6, as long as Pence and his lawyers do not consider those conversations related to his specific constitutional role.”

Mike Pence, to borrow a phrase, knows where the bodies are buried. He had access to the innermost workings of the Trump administration, including efforts to overturn the election and the Capitol insurrection.

In other words, whether he likes it or not, Mike Pence is potentially on the verge of sending Donald Trump to federal prison for a very long time.

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Capitol Insurrection Congress GOP January 6

WATCH Jamie Raskin Destroy Marjorie Taylor Greene For Continuing To Defend Jan. 6 Rioters

During a meeting of the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) chastised Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for claiming that the “major civil rights issue” facing the country is the pro-Trump rioters who have been criminally charged and incarcerated for taking part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Raskin noted that Greene is blind to the mistreatment of those who live in Washington, D.C. and instead whines about “MAGA insurrectionists who are in jail for assaulting officers, interfering with a federal proceeding, and engaging in seditious conspiracy.”

The Maryland Democrat added that House Republicans would love to “turn the clock back on D.C.’s home rule power and relive the glory days when Washington was run like a colony by some racist Dixiecrats out of the House district committee.”

He finished his verbal destruction of Greene and her GOP colleagues by remarking:

“Today, it’s the GOP that is determined to put the people of Washington in their place … attacking Washington not just for its local voting rights policies and criminal justice code, but for its gun safety policies, for its defensive abortion rights and LGBTQ rights, its decriminalization of marijuana, and dozens of other issues potentially headed to the House floor.”

Raskin is absolutely right about House Republicans and their colleagues in the Senate who are still trying to minimize what took place on Jan. 6. To hear them tell it, the rioting was “legitimate political speech” and no one should be punished for taking part in the attack on the Capitol.