Mo Brooks Erupts When Served In Capitol Riot Lawsuit

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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) appears to be up in arms after he was finally served a lawsuit from California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who is accusing Brooks of helping incite the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6 and is seeking damages from Brooks for his conduct.

Brooks was one of the leaders of the effort to try to block congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory last January 6. And he spoke at a rally that preceded the insurrection, telling the Donald Trump-supporting crowd that eventually stormed the Capitol that “American patriots” should “start taking down names and kicking ass.”

On March 5, Swalwell sued Brooks — along with Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani — whom he accused of being responsible for the attack by launching “a campaign of lies and incendiary rhetoric [that] led to the sacking of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” Continue reading.

Republican AG admits voter suppression helped Trump win Texas in 2020

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One need only compare now-President Joe Biden’s losses in Texas in 2020 to his losses in Idaho or Wyoming to see that Texas has gone from deep red to light red. Biden lost Texas by 6%; he lost Wyoming by 43%, Idaho by 30% and North Dakota by 43%. Nonetheless, the Democratic Party has, historically, had a turnout problem in the Lone Star State; Democrats are going to need a heavier turnout in the Democrat-leaning parts of the state if they are going to win statewide races (presidential, gubernatorial or U.S. Senate) in the future. And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, during a June 4 appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast, essentially admitted that voter suppression helped former President Donald Trump win Texas in 2020.

Paxton told Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist in the Trump Administration in 2017 following his years as chairman of Breitbart News, that had his office not blocked Harris County from sending out mail-in ballot applications to its residents, Trump would have lost Texas in 2020. Harris County includes Democrat-leaning Houston.

“Trump won by 620,000 votes in Texas,” Paxton told Bannon. “(The) Harris County mail-in ballots that they wanted to send out were 2.5 million. Those were all illegal, and we were able to stop every one of them.” Continue reading.

Far-Right Gang Killed Cop In Plot To Blame 2020 Protest Violence On ‘Leftists’

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Despite the widespread media narrative blaming Black Lives Matter and antifascist activists for last summer’s protest violence, there were plenty of suspicions that far-right extremists seeking to intensify the public’s fear of the “violent left” were in fact responsible for a significant amount of it. These suspicions were fed by such incidents as the assassination of a federal officer in Oakland by two far-right “Boogaloo Bois” and the arrest of another “Boogaloo” enthusiast from Texas for attacking a police station in Minneapolis.

Now we know, thanks to federal prosecutors investigating the Oakland incident, that in fact it was not the act of a single “lone wolf” and his accomplice, but rather part of a larger plot by group of far-right extremists who called themselves the “Grizzly Scouts” and planned a series of deadly attacks on law-enforcement officers with the intent of making it appear to be the work of the “violent left.” Even more disturbing, according to the San Jose Mercury-News, most of these conspirators, following their arrests for destroying evidence in the case, have been released on bond by federal magistrates who have deemed them not a risk to the community.

The Grizzly Scouts, according to the grand jury indictment handed down in April, plotted a variety of lethal actions targeting law-enforcement officers in the months and weeks before fellow “Boogaloo Boi” Steven Carillo—an active-duty Air Force sergeant—shot and killed federal protection officer Dave Patrick Underwood on May 29, 2020, and then a week later, a Santa Cruz sheriff’s deputy seeking to arrest him. Carrillo was a key member of the group, which in addition to planning attacks on police, engaged in paramilitary training exercises at the home of a member near Turlock, California. Continue reading.

The problem with using the Squad as a proxy for ‘socialism’

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It is more than 500 days until he’s up for reelection, but Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) isn’t taking any chances.

In an interview with Fox News over the weekend, he bashed Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), a potential Democratic challenger in that race and one who is generally seen as most likely to earn her party’s nomination. He compared her to a group of House Democrats that calls itself “the Squad,” a group that includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.).

“None of them will admit to being a socialist. She probably won’t. But she certainly has voted for socialist things,” Rubio said of Demings. “How can you vote with the Squad 94 percent of the time and argue that you’re not an honorary member of that group? How can you vote with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi 100 percent of the time and argue that you’re not a far-left, liberal extremist?” Continue reading.

Mary Trump Predicts How Donald Trump Will Throw His Children Under The Bus

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And the ex-president’s niece is “fairly sure” her cousins will flip on their father.

Mary Trump doesn’t doubt that her uncle, ex-President Donald Trump, will sacrifice his own children to save himself from potential prosecution.

On Monday, CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Mary Trump if her uncle would “take one for his kids” if they were targeted by prosecutors. Both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump work for the Trump Organization, which is under criminal investigation by authorities in New York.

“No, he wouldn’t,” responded the former president’s niece, a vocal critic of her relative. Continue reading.

Biden’s Task Force Identified More Than 3,900 Immigrant Children Who Were Separated From Their Families Under Trump

“Our efforts to reunify every family continue,” a senior Department of Homeland Security official said.

The Biden administration has identified 3,913 children who were separated from their parents at the southern border as a result of Trump’s zero tolerance policy as efforts to reunite them ramp up.

Officials believe the latest official government tally released on Tuesday accounts for nearly all separation cases, but said there is still a lot of work required to undo the damage to the families.

“Children were unjustly ripped from the arms of their mothers and loved ones and forced to separate. It is no experience any family should have to live through,” a senior Department of Homeland Security official said on a call with reporters. “Our efforts to reunify every family continue.” Continue reading.

10 Emerging GOP Lies About The U.S. Capitol Riot Shredded On MSNBC

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The latest Republican spin on the Jan. 6 insurrection got firmly fact-checked by “The Beat” anchor Ari Melber.

MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Monday pointed out how “more and more” Republicans are embracing lies about the U.S. Capitol riot by pretending the violence wasn’t that bad or trying to cast blame away from former President Donald Trump for starting it.

“The Beat” anchor then swiftly shredded 10 emerging falsehoods — by playing audio of outlandish GOP claims alongside footage of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection incited by Trump and his election lies.

“There are signs of (how) blatantly rejecting the evidence of your eyes and ears has become a litmus test for some hard-right figures,” said Melber. “This matters for truth and justice and how these lies spread matters for our future as a country.” Continue reading.

Why the GOP Just Got Blown Out in a Congressional Race

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New Mexico, a once-purple state, is turning increasingly blue.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM Two weeks before the GOP had its first chance to pick up a seat in Congress since Joe Biden became president, the Republican Party of New Mexico hosted a three-day event dubbed “Operation Freedom.” State Sen. Mark Moores, who was running for the open seat, addressed a crowd of a few hundred party leaders, activists and donors in a hotel conference center. Afterwards, he left the hotel and drove nearly 300 miles back to Albuquerque, where he was actually competing for votes.

New Mexico Republicans had opted to hold their marquee event in Amarillo, Texas.

When the votes came in, Moores had lost to Democratic State Rep. Melanie Stansbury by 24 percentage points—even more than the margin by which Joe Biden had won the district. Nationally, it was seen as a referendum on Biden’s first months in office. But in New Mexico, the story is longer and more complex. For some frustrated New Mexico Republicans, the Amarillo episode and Moores’ loss last Tuesday highlight deeper problems with the state party’s leadership and direction over the last few years—including a turn towards Trumpism that has galvanized some of the party’s base but has seemingly turned off swing voters in the state’s traditionally purple electorate.

In the Know: June 9, 2021

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Governor Tim Walz
Gov. Walz highlights new pop-up COVID-19 community vaccination site at MSP Airport, KSTP

Minnesota Legislature
‘The Sausage Will Get Made’: Legislative Leaders Expect Budget Deal To Get Done During Special Session, CBS
GOP, DFL far apart on police funding as special session nears, Fox 9

Minnesota News
Children’s Minnesota tackles racial health disparities, Star Tribune
Minnesota’s heat wave is poised to set more records, MPR
Three young adults, gun groups sue over Minnesota’s 21 age requirement for gun carry permits, Star Tribune

Continue reading “In the Know: June 9, 2021”

Meet the influencers making millions by dealing doubt about the coronavirus vaccines.

Heather Simpson never thought to question vaccines. Her parents vaccinated her when she was a child, and she got tetanus and flu shots as an adult.

But when she and her husband were thinking about starting a family, she saw an ad for the documentary series “The Truth about Vaccines,” and “fear crept in,” she later wrote.

Simpson paid about $200 for the series, which taught her the tenets of vaccine skepticism.  Continue reading.