Category: US Senate

Critics slam Sen. Ron Johnson for unfounded claim that ‘fake Trump protesters’ led riots: ‘It’s disgraceful’

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As senators on Tuesday worked to unpack the security failures that allowed a pro-Trump mob to storm the Capitol last month, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) offered a wholly different take on what had happened: that “agent provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters” were to blame.

Critics, including some within his party, promptly slammed Johnson over his unfounded suggestions that the Jan. 6 insurrection had been a “jovial” protest and that rioters who stormed the Capitol were not supporters of Donald Trump.

“It’s disgraceful for a sitting Senator to spread disinformation so blatantly,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who has been an outspoken critic of Trump and his role in the insurrection, said Tuesday evening on Twitter. “It’s a disservice to the people he serves to continue lying to them like this. It’s dangerous and it must stop.” Continue reading.

Opinion: The people concerned about Neera Tanden’s incivility sure didn’t seem to mind the Trump era’s

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It has become a rite of the modern presidential transition: The gods of politics demand a human sacrifice, the Senate torpedoes a nomination, the new administration takes a hit, and everyone moves on.

But the case of Neera Tanden, President Biden’s embattled choice to direct theOffice of Management and Budget, presents a new twist.

Tanden is amply qualified for the job. She is not accused of failing to pay her taxes or hiring an undocumented household worker. She is not on the ideological fringes. There has been no scandal in her personal life. Continue reading.

Retired NYPD Officer Who Guarded City Hall Charged in Capitol Riot

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Thomas Webster turned himself in on charges that he assaulted a Washington police officer with a flagpole during the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

A retired New York police officer who once was part of the security detail at City Hall was charged on Tuesday with assaulting a police officer with a metal flagpole during the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The former officer, Thomas Webster, served in a New York Police Department unit that provided security for the mayor, Gracie Mansion and City Hall, according to a law enforcement official. He retired from the force in 2011.

Mr. Webster, 54, a former Marine, surrendered to the F.B.I. on Monday and was charged with six counts relating to the attack on an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and his participation in the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying the presidential election results. Continue reading.

Amy Klobuchar shuts down a GOP senator spreading a ‘conspiracy theory’ at the Capitol riot hearing

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On Tuesday, members of the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection — and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin promoted a debunked conspiracy theory claiming that the insurrectionists were really left-wing militants. But Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a centrist Democrat, pushed back against that false claim.

According to far-right conspiracy theorists, members of Antifa attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6 in order to make supporters of then-President Donald Trump look bad. But there is no evidence to support that claim, and the participation of QAnon, the Proud Boys, White nationalists, various militia groups and others on the far right has been well-documented. Axios’ Jonathan Swan, on Jan. 12, reported that when Trump floated that conspiracy theory, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pushed back and told him, “It’s not Antifa, it’s MAGA. I know. I was there.”

But Johnson, on Tuesday, promoted false claims that on Jan. 6, the U.S. Capitol Building was attacked by “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters.” And when Klobuchar spoke, she made it clear that she saw no validity in those claims. Continue reading.

Five big takeaways on the Capitol security hearings

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Former Capitol security officials clashed publicly on Tuesday over the events surrounding last month’s deadly assault on the Capitol complex, casting blame at the intelligence community and the Pentagon while delivering conflicting accounts of how the tragedy unfolded.

Here are five takeaways from the day’s proceedings.

Congress will need to probe contradictions

There were major discrepancies between former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving as they recounted their actions before and during the Jan. 6 attack. The two officials couldn’t even agree whether a phone call had taken place between them as rioters were breaking into the building. Continue reading.

How the effort to deny the reality of the Jan. 6 attack is evolving

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It is probably not a strong indication that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) commands a lot of respect from his peers that the claims he offered during a hearing Tuesday about the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 generally were met with a shrug.

After claiming that he had a battery of questions for the officials testifying about security lapses on that day, Johnson instead spent his time delineating baseless claims about how the day unfolded written by a lone observer that had been published on a far-right website. The gist of the assessment is that since most of those present in D.C. that day were run-of-the-mill Trump supporters, those who stormed the Capitol must almost necessarily have been something else.

“He describes four different types of people: plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters, and then a disciplined, uniformed column of attackers,” Johnson said of the article. “I think these are the people that probably planned this.” Continue reading.

DC police chief stunned by ‘reluctance’ to deploy Guard during Jan. 6 attack

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The head of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) told senators Tuesday that there was an initial “reluctance” to send the National Guard during the Jan. 6 rioting at the U.S. Capitol — a resistance that left him “surprised” and “stunned,” given the gravity of the violent attack.

Testifying before a pair of Senate committees, acting Chief Robert Contee said that at 2:22 p.m. on Jan. 6 — more than an hour after his forces were summoned to the Capitol — he was part of an emergency phone call that included leaders of the Capitol Police, the National Guard and the Department of the Army.

“I was surprised at the reluctance to immediately send the National Guard to the Capitol grounds,” Contee told senators on the Rules and Homeland Security committees. Continue reading.

Ted Cruz uncorks profane rant on neighbors who leaked chats about Cancun vacation plans

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) this week uncorked a profane rant against whichever one of his neighbors leaked private chat transcripts about his infamous trip to Cancun to the New York Times.

During an appearance on the “Ruthless” podcast hosted by former Mitch McConnell campaign manager Josh Holmes, Cruz ranted about neighbors who were included in group chats started by wife Heidi Cruz in which she informed them of the family’s plans to escape snowstorm-stricken Texas to stay on the warm beaches of Cancun.

“I will say, Heidi was pretty pissed at that,” Cruz said. “She was over at the neighbor’s house yesterday, sort of walking through that… We have a number of Republicans who are neighbors but we also have a lot of Democrats, folks on our streets who put up Beto signs, which I thought was a little rude.” Continue reading.

A disaster for journalism raises disturbing doubts for the Republic

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On Sunday, NBC’s “Meet the Press” interviewed United States Senator Ron Johnson. ABC’s “This Week” interviewed House Minority Whip Steve Scalise. CBS’s “Face the Nation” interviewed United States Senator Lindsey Graham. “Fox News Sunday” interviewed United States Senator Rand Paul. They’re Republicans and they had a message for a combined television audience of millions: Donald Trump won.

Not in those exact words, but that was the clear implication. This thing or that thing—it didn’t really matter what thing—meant in their “view” that the former president was robbed and the legitimacy of the current president, Joe Biden, is somehow suspect.

I bring this up not because yesterday was a disaster for journalism and the integrity of the public square (though it was that). I bring this up because it seems to me an answer to the question that haunts democratic discourse: How does a republic deal with parties that lie so intensely, so voluminously and so shamelessly? Some say we should afford them the same respect we ourselves would expect. If we call them liars, that might encourage them to lie more given the outrage of being called liars. Better to check their facts, state the truth and move on in hopes that they behave in kind. Continue reading.

Republican Drift Toward Far Right Strains Traditional Business Ties

The nation’s most powerful business lobby has long been an ally of Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Now, that may be changing.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which calls itself the “world’s largest business organization,” and aims to “advocate for pro-business policies,” has spent $1.6 billion on federal lobbying — more than double the next largest interest group — and more than $116 million on political expenditures since 1998. But in recent years, it has shifted its rhetoric, embracing more bipartisanship and commonsense policy solutions, as citizens demand more social responsibility from businesses. Continue reading.