Category: Latest News

Capitol rioter Proud Boy being ‘threatened’ in jail by fellow inmates: attorney

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On Thursday, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that a key high-ranking member of the Proud Boys being held in a jail in Seminole County, Florida is alleging to have been “threatened” by other inmates in the facility while awaiting trial for his involvement in planning the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Joseph R. Biggs, 37, was a leader among the Proud Boys in planning ‘an organized and violent attack’ upon the country’s democracy and its Capitol building on Jan. 6, according to federal prosecutors,” the paper reported. “And word that Biggs is locked up in a subsection of the Seminole County Jail, which holds about 150 federal inmates in other cases, has been getting around, according to J. Daniel Hull, who represents Biggs. ‘I do worry about somebody wanting to test Joe Biggs’ mettle,’ Hull said. ‘I think that’s going to be coming up more and more.'”

Biggs has been charged as part of a conspiracy — videos taken of the incident shows his fellow Proud Boys violently stampeding into the Capitol. Continue reading.

Matt Gaetz’s campaign paid $25,000 to lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein

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The fee, for legal consulting, was paid to Manhattan criminal defense attorney Marc Fernich

Rep. Matt Gaetz’s campaign paid $25,000 in June to a Manhattan criminal defense attorney who lists Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who killed himself in prison, as a notable client, according to a filing Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

The Florida Republican and acolyte of former president Donald Trump is under investigation for possible sex trafficking of a minor. A spokesman for Gaetz did not address the payment but touted the congressman’s fundraising haul, which totaled more than $1.3 million in the second quarter of the year.

The June payment, for legal consulting, went to the law office of Marc Fernich, whose website says he specializes in “subtle, novel and creative arguments that other attorneys may miss.” Continue reading.

Anatomy of an insurrection: How military veterans and other rioters carried out the Jan. 6 assault on democracy

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More than six months after the storming of the US Capitol, more than 550 people have been arrested, with an estimated 800 people surging into the building during the hours-long assault. Members of the Oath Keepers, a loosely organized right-wing paramilitary, and Proud Boys street fighters galvanized by then-President Trump’s call to “stand back and stand by” have been indicted on conspiracy to disrupt Congress, which delayed the certification of Joe Biden as president by almost six hours.

“Every single person charged, at the very least, contributed to the inability of Congress to carry out the certification of our presidential election,” prosecutors wrote in memorandum filed with the court on Tuesday.

The slow-moving tedium of prosecutorial legal machinery and the GOP campaign to deflect responsibility can make it easy to lose sight of the big picture of what transpired on Jan. 6. But based on an aggregate review of individuals cases, along with other sources, a Raw Story analysis of the critical events in the Jan. 6 siege reveals a striking degree of coordination, sustained and intentional violence, planning and preparation, and determined effort to disable the United States’ critical governance apparatus by participants, including many with recent military experience. Many of the rioters who played critical roles in breaching the Capitol came away from the experience vowing to wage war against the United States. Few among those who are being prosecuted have expressed any remorse for their actions. Continue reading.

Four Pinocchios for Ron Johnson’s campaign of vaccine misinformation

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“The fact of the matter is it looks like natural immunity is as strong if not stronger than vaccinated immunity. … There is a risk to the vaccine. Again, it’s very small, but there are some pretty serious side effects, including death. We are already over 5,200 deaths reported on the VAERS system. That’s a CDC, FDA’s early warning system.”

— Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), in an interview on “Hannity” on Fox News, July 14

Johnson has emerged as the leading vaccine skeptic in Congress this year.

For months, the senator has been peddling misinformation about coronavirusvaccines, undeterred by fact checkers, federal health agencies, medical experts and a growing body of scientific research.

We previously dug into two Johnson claims that resurfaced in this interview on Fox News, a network whose right-wing personalities consistently bash the Biden administration’s vaccination efforts. Continue reading.

Mo Brooks Pays $25K To Trump Resort After Former Guy Endorses Senate Bid

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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), who is currently a candidate for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat, paid out over $25,000 to former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort just days after receiving an endorsement from Trump.

Brooks is running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Richard Shelby, who has announced he will not run for reelection in 2022. The seat has been rated as “solid” for the Republican Party by multiple political ratings organizations.

On Thursday, in a federal campaign finance filing, Brooks’ campaign disclosed that it had paidover $25,000 to Mar-a-Lago for catering and event space. Shelby held a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on April 23 and Trump, who currently lives at the resort after losing the presidential election, was scheduled to be in attendance. Continue reading.

Capitol Police arrest Rep. Joyce Beatty at protest

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Congressional Black Caucus chair was part of a group advocating voting rights

Capitol Police arrested Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, for participating in a voting rights demonstration in the Hart Senate Office Building on Thursday.

Beatty and eight other voting rights activists were arrested for crowding, obstructing or incommoding, the legal term used by the department when protesters are arrested on Capitol Hill. 

They were protesting to call for action in the Senate on the For the People Act, a wide-ranging elections overhaul bill that would, among other actions, expand voting rights significantly. Republicans in the chamber blocked the measure in June, utilizing the filibuster and its 60-vote threshold to prevent the Senate from moving forward on it. Continue reading.

Trump was so weak with COVID he dropped his overnight bag at Walter Reed after only carrying it a few feet: new book

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Previous stories have revealed that former President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 infection was far worse than had originally been reported. It was revealed earlier that Trump was on supplemental oxygen at the White House, but his oxygen rate dropped so low that White House staff grew concerned. That’s when Trump was given the option of walking out to the helicopter or being wheeled out in front of the press.

In Michael Bender’s new book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost,” it was revealed that Trump was so ill that chief of staff Mark Meadows was asking staff to pray for him. 

White House reporters were worried that Trump might come over to them, not knowing just how bad he was. They made a pact, the book says, that they would ask him to maintain his distance for their protection. Continue reading.

Embarrassing Trump video re-emerges after he insists the world ‘didn’t laugh’ at us when he was president

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On Thursday, former President Donald Trump released an angry statement attacking Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker’s upcoming book “I Alone Can Fix It.” In particular, he took aim at the book’s coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) expressing fear he would use nuclear weapons after the election, calling her a “known nut job.”

“I was the one that got us out of wars, not into wars,” wrote Trump. “And I was the one who got respect for our Country again, not like now when the leaders of the entire World are laughing at us. They didn’t laugh when I was there!”

Trump’s comments prompted the recirculation of an old video of the former president giving a speech at the United Nations, where global dignitaries literally laughed at him after he said, “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” Continue reading.

Canada could open to vaccinated U.S. tourists as soon as August, Trudeau says

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NOTE: This article is provided free to read by The Washington Post.

Canada could reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September, and possibly welcome immunized Americans as soon as mid-August, the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said late Thursday.

Canada closed its land border with the United States in March 2020 as the pandemic first accelerated, and it has since restricted entry for other foreign visitors to help stem the spread of the virus.

But now, as vaccination rates climb and transmission slows, those controls could be lifted in the coming weeks, Trudeau said in a call with Canadian provincial leaders Thursday.

Judge loses patience with MAGA rioter: ‘I can no longer give the defendant the benefit of the doubt’

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A federal judge on Thursday lost patience with an accused Capitol rioter who expressed “no regrets” about his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Brandon Fellows, a former grocery store worker from Schenectady, New York, was ordered back to jail while awaiting trial after a federal judge ruled he had violatedthe terms of his pretrial release by calling his probation officer’s mother.

“I can no longer give the defendant the benefit of the doubt,” said District Court Judge Trevor McFadden. “I’ve tried, but we are where we are.” Continue reading.