Tag: Donald Trump

Chicago Cop Arrested In Jan. 6 Attack Allegedly Texted ‘We Inside The Capital LMFAO’

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Officer Karol J. Chwiesiuk allegedly breached the Capitol building, and told an acquaintance beforehand that he was going to D.C. to “f**k up some commies.”

Federal authorities arrested a Chicago police officer Friday morning for his alleged role in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election. 

Chicago Police Department officer Karol J. Chwiesiuk appeared remotely before U.S. Judge Gabriel Fuentes on Friday. Chwiesiuk faces charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority.

In a press conference Friday, CPD Superintendent David Brown said Chwiesiuk had been on the force for two years, and has been placed on desk duty since his arrest. Continue reading.

Capitol rioter’s attorney goes off on Trump for ‘letting the dummies take the hit’ while he went golfing at Mar-a-Lago

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After earlier comparing former president Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the attorney for one of the Capitol rioters went on a rant at the end of an interview with CNN host John Berman in which he railed at Trump for sending “dummies” to do his dirty work in an effort to void the 2020 presidential election.

After his client, Anthony Antonio, carefully parsed his words in an effort to apologize for his actions — while at the same time admitting he went to Washington, D.C., on Jan 6th because the then-president was calling for people to show up — Antonio’s lawyer, Joseph Hurley went on an extended attack on Trump.

Asked if Trump should be held accountable for the Jan 6th insurrection, Antonio conceded, “I have my day in court and do I think he’s held responsible for this? I think he should be held responsible — we’re all responsible for our own actions, and I do think he should be held responsible,” before adding, “I trust our legal system to do what they see fit when it comes to his actions that day.” Continue reading.

Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas

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The top two Senate Democrats on Friday called for multiple investigations into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decisions in 2017 and 2018 to issue subpoenas seeking metadata records of House Intelligence Committee members as the Trump administration pursued leak investigations.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (Ill.) also called for two of former President Trump’s attorneys general, William Barr and Jeff Sessions, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The revelation that the Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed metadata of House Intelligence Committee Members and staff and their families, including a minor, is shocking. This is a gross abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers,” Schumer and Durbin said in a joint statement Friday. “This appalling politicization of the Department of Justice by Donald Trump and his sycophants must be investigated immediately by both the DOJ Inspector General and Congress.” Continue reading.

Oregon House officially expels Mike Nearman over involvement in State Capitol breach

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Oregon lawmakers have moved to expel Rep. Mike Nearman (R-Ore.) from the Oregon House of Representatives following his decision to aid far-right demonstrators by letting them into the state Capitol. 

On Thursday, June 10, House lawmakers voted 59-1 in favor of a resolution condemning Nearman’s decision to open the doors of the State Capitol for a crowd of protesters on Dec. 21 of last year. Lawmakers agreed that Nearman’s actions, which they described as “disorderly behavior” were enough cause for them to expel him, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Prior to the highly publicized vote, top-ranking House lawmakers weighed in with their opinion of Nearman’s actions. When House Republican Leader Christine Drazan appeared on the public radio show Think Out Loud, she admitted that protesters’ intrusion could have easily escalated into a deadly encounter similar to the one that unfolded at the White House on Jan. 6. Continue reading.

Arizona ‘Fraudit’ Challenged By Experienced Election Auditors

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A team of seasoned election auditors has challenged the Republicans leading the Arizona Senate’s inquiries into the accuracy of 2020’s presidential election results to a demonstration where the auditors say that they will conclusively show that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in Arizona’s most populous county.

The challenge, led by a longtime Republican Party election observer and two technologists familiar with voting systems and vote-counting data, would present the results of every race in any randomly chosen batch of ballots, as generated by Maricopa County’s 2020 election data. Those paper ballots would be hand-counted and compared to the electronic totals to attest to the election’s results. These paper and digital records are the building blocks of the county’s voting system.

“We now have the capability to determine the ballot count and vote results for all of the elections on any batch and any box of ballots that were delivered to the [Senate’s contractor, Florida-based Cyber] Ninjasunder the [Senate’s] subpoena, without ever looking at a single ballot,” Tucson’s Benny White, a longtime election observer for the Arizona and Pima County Republican Parties, wrote on June 8 in a letter to Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and the audit liaison and former Secretary of State Ken Bennett. Fann and Bennett are Republicans. Continue reading.

FBI Director Testifies Capitol Rioters Carried ‘All Sorts Of Weapons’

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FBI Director Christopher Wray testified under oath on Thursday that at least one person among the supporters of Donald Trump who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 carried a firearm, while many used other items as weapons, refuting GOP attempts to portray the insurrection as less violent than it was.

Asked by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee whether anyone involved in the riot had been armed with a firearm, Wray responded, “I can think of at least one instance where there was an individual with a gun inside the Capitol, but for the most part the weapons were weapons other than firearms.”

Gohmert is one of several GOP lawmakers who have downplayed the attack that left five people dead and 140 law enforcement officers injured. Republicans like Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) falsely described the riot as a “normal tourist visit,” while Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) described the Trump supporters who violently pushed their way into the Capitol and beat up police officers guarding the building as “peaceful patriots.” Continue reading.

Alleged supporters of right-wing Three Percenters group charged in new Jan. 6 Capitol riot conspiracy

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Six Southern California men, including four self-described members of the Three Percenters movement, were arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

The new indictment adds the Three Percenters to the list of right-wing groups — mainly the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — whose alleged associates have been charged with conspiring to impede police or thwart Congress’s confirmation of the 2020 presidential election results.

The 28-page indictment unsealed Thursday accuses the men of felony counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the obstruction of a joint session of Congress, although only one defendant allegedly entered the Capitol. Continue reading.

Bill Barr could lose his law license over Trump DOJ spy scandal: Legal expert says ‘expect a lot of legal fallout’

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On CNN Thursday, Norm Eisen, who acted as counsel for House Democrats during the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, expressed outrage at the New York Times report that the Justice Department secretly spied on members of Congress investigating Trump’s ties to Russia — and predicted that former Attorney General William Barr could face the loss of his law license over the scandal.

“In my 30 years in Washington representing people in front of Congress, and at DOJ working in government and the executive branch as a staff member like those staff members who got subpoenaed in congress, it is completely without a precedent,” said Eisen. “It’s groundbreaking and earth-shaking. And there are going to be consequences. There’s going to be fallout.”

“You’re going to see congressional observations, you’re going to need a policy or laws to protect reporters and members of Congress,” said Eisen. “They even went after the child of one of these targets on the Hill to get information about a child’s account from Apple! And then there’s the question of Bill Barr … we’ve already had two judges criticize him for a coverup in connection with protecting Trump from obstruction charges. Now people are going to be looking at his law license afresh. So expect a lot of legal fallout from this.” Continue reading.

Biden administration keeps long-sought Trump hotel documents under wraps

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The Trump administration blocked Democrats’ efforts to unearth documents related to his leased D.C. hotel. Not much has changed under Biden.

For Donald Trump’s entire presidency, top congressional Democrats used every tool at their disposal to investigate the Washington hotel he leased from the federal government, issuing subpoenas, holding hearings and filing a lawsuit to try to bring the inner workings of Trump’s luxury property to light.

The efforts were framed as a defense of democracy itself. Rep. Peter A. DeFazio(D-Ore.) said the Trump administration’s refusal to provide documents “was not just disconcerting but an affront to the democratic institutions that the United States has been founded upon.” Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) saidthe lawsuit, filed in federal court, was “in pursuit of justice to make sure our committee can fulfill its duty to the American people.”

None of it worked — a testament to Trump’s willingness to fight at every turn. But now, with the Biden administration in place, Democrats’ efforts to unearth and make public the information haven’t gone much better. Continue reading.

Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress

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The Justice Department seized records from Apple for metadata of House Intelligence Committee members, their aides and family members.

WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks of classified information early in the Trump administration, it took a highly unusual step: Prosecutors subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, aides and family members. One was a minor.

All told, the records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, according to committee officials and two other people briefed on the inquiry. Representative Eric Swalwell of California said in an interview Thursday night that he had also been notified that his data had been subpoenaed.

Prosecutors, under the beleaguered attorney general, Jeff Sessions, were hunting for the sources behind news media reports about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Ultimately, the data and other evidence did not tie the committee to the leaks, and investigators debated whether they had hit a dead end and some even discussed closing the inquiry. Continue reading.