Trump attempt to steal a second term 13 , CD3 DFL

House to vote on bill launching probe of Jan. 6 insurrection

WASHINGTON — A new committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol would have 13 members and the power to subpoena witnesses, according to legislation released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week.

The effort comes after Senate Republicans blocked the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission to probe the attack, in which hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters violently broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

The new, partisan House panel would have eight members appointed by Pelosi and five appointed “after consultation with” Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. A Pelosi aide said the speaker is considering including a Republican among her appointments, which would bring the likely partisan split to 7-6. The aide was granted anonymity to discuss her thinking.

Pelosi said in a statement Monday that Jan. 6 was “one of the darkest days in our nation’s history” and that the committee will seek the truth about it. Continue reading.

Bill Barr’s ‘clean-up exercise’ to save his reputation actually reveals he was far more corrupt than anyone realized: columnist

Former Attorney General William Barr is attempting to resuscitate his image after two years of using the Justice Department as a partisan defense agency for former President Donald Trump. In a new interview with reporter Jonathan Karl, Barr claimed he always knew Trump’s election conspiracy theories were “bullsh*t” and that then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) begged him to help push back on them.

But on Monday, writing for The Washington Post‘s “The Plum Line,” columnist Greg Sargent argued that far from exonerating him, Barr’s new revelations show the depths of his corruption.

“Having gone to extraordinary lengths to help Donald Trump corrupt the presidency, William P. Barr is working overtime to launder his post-Trump reputation,” wrote Sargent. “But the former attorney general’s latest clean-up exercise may end up showing that the stain of his corruption is even darker than we thought — in a way that soils other Republicans as well.” Continue reading.

Bombshell Barr interview reveals Trump had ‘criminal intent’ in election lies: ex-prosecutor

On his YouTube channel, where he generally explains legal things for the layperson, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner walked through the recently posted interview with former Attorney General Bill Barr in The Atlantic.

The report revealed one thing that could ultimately work against Trump in the investigation over whether he committed voter fraud in Georgia. After the state was called for Joe Biden, Trump called the governor and secretary of state to urge them to “find” him votes to overthrow the election.

According to Kirschner, the interview with Barr proved that Trump was well aware that there was no voter fraud, no election problems and that he lost the 2020 election. Barr told him and Trump acknowledged it, speaking about himself in the third person saying, “you must hate Trump.” Continue reading.

Wisconsin GOP leaders call Trump ‘misinformed’ after the he claims they’re hiding election corruption

Almost eight months after now-President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 presidential election, the former president continues to falsely claim that he was the real winner in Wisconsin — and he is bashing the Wisconsin Republicans who refuse to join him in the Big Lie. In an article published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 26, journalist Molly Beck takes a look at “divisions” among “Wisconsin Republicans over whether and how far to litigate the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.”

Those divisions, according to Beck, were evident during the Wisconsin GOP’s annual convention on June 26. A small group of delegates, Beck reports, want to oust Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican over the 2020 election. At the convention, Beck reports, Vos announced that he “was hiring, at taxpayer expense, a former conservative Supreme Court justice to oversee an investigation by retired police detectives into the election — the third such review Vos has called for.”

However, Trump has been railing against Vos for not doing more to promote the Big Lie. Continue reading.

Wisconsin Republican used leftover funds from his failed campaign to attend Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ rally

After losing to incumbent Democratic Rep. Ron Kind in Wisconsin’s 3^rd Congressional District in the 2020 election, far-right Republican Derrick Van Orden had some campaign funds left over — and according to the Daily Beast reporter Roger Sollenberger, he used some of that money to attend then-President Donald Trump’s Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C. on January 6.

Van Orden is running for Congress again in 2022, and he has been endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy despite the fact that he openly promoted Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

In an article published by the Beast on June 27, Sollenberger explains, “Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL and small-time actor, has previously acknowledged attending the January 6 rally, but has repeatedly claimed he never entered the Capitol grounds. However, social media posts from the riot suggest that isn’t true. A Facebook image from January 6 shows Van Orden standing on a wall on the Capitol grounds that was inside a restricted area. The Daily Beast recreated the photo on Friday and confirmed that Van Orden would have had to cross police barricades to reach that area.” Continue reading.

Bill Barr on Trump’s election fraud claims: “It was all bullsh*t”

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the Justice Department always knew Trump’s claims of election fraud were “bullsh*t,” according to an excerpt from journalist Jonathan Karl’s upcoming book published in the The Atlantic.

Why it matters: Barr’s new comments come as Trump continues to propagate the lie that the 2020 election was “rigged.” Republicans in swing states now are conducting“audits” of election ballots based on false conspiracies about the election.

Flashback: Last December, Barr told the AP: “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.” Continue reading.

Terrorism expert: Trump remains a major ‘national security’ threat to the United States

Some Republicans recently accused New York Times reporter Maggie Gallagher of suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome” when she reported that according to her sources, former President Donald Trump believes he will be “reinstated” as president by August. But in fact, Gallagher’s reporting was accurate, and John Cohen— the top counterterrorism official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — believes that Trump’s delusion could lead to more political violence in the United States. On June 25, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace discussed Cohen’s warning with MSNBC contributor and former FBI counterterrorism expert Clint Watts, who commented on how much of a national security threat Trump continues to be.

Wallace, a Never Trump conservative who served in the George W. Bush Administration, told Watts, “It’s just jaw-dropping that the disgraced, twice-impeached ex-president’s utterances are now a national security threat on an hourly, daily basis — to which Watts responded, “It is remarkable that it continues on.”

Watts told Wallace, “It’s also remarkable because there is still significant online discussion of this, which means —think if you’re a believer in this conspiracy, and you’ve seen everything from QAnon to January 6, the inauguration occurring, ballot recounts failing — and you still are pursuing this fantasy. How would it not lead to violence over time?” Continue reading.

Opinion: The Real Fraud: Republicans’ Voter-Fraud Scare

Setting the record straight is our duty to democracy itself.

This week, Senate Republicans in lockstep blocked key reforms of the For the People Actthat would address gerrymandering and big money in politics, plus enhance ethics for federal office holders. The Act would also strengthen voting rights—on which a big battle is now underway across the country.

While Democrats in more than half the states have lowered barriers to voting, Republicans are pushing them higher, with campaigns for at least 389 restrictive voter laws in 48 states. Already, 17 states have enacted 28 such bills. But now, the Justice Department is suing Georgia over its new voting restrictions.

Republicans often justify their opposition to lowering voting barriers with the argument that it encourages voter fraud. Arizona’s Republican Representative John Kavanagh told CNN earlier this year that Democrats are “willing to risk fraud” because they “value as many people as possible voting.” Republicans, he underscored, “are more concerned about fraud, so we don’t mind putting security measures in that won’t let everybody vote—but everybody shouldn’t be voting.” Continue reading.

Rudy Giuliani’s New York suspension proves dangers of Trump’s lies

The court has sent a strong message about the real harm posed by those individuals who continue to push falsehoods about the 2020 election.

Rudy Giuliani’s license to practice law in New York state was suspended on Thursday by a state appellate court. For those who have been following the antics of former President Donald Trump’s former lawyer for the past five years, this may not be shocking. But while in some ways it feels like the predictable culmination of years of questionable and offensive conduct, it’s still a big deal — and good news for anyone who cares about the integrity of the law profession.

It’s probably too much to hope that this finding will pierce the right-wing information bubble, where 56 percent of Republicans still believe the election was stolen from Trump. But it should leave Giuliani’s credibility in tatters with anyone not immune to the truth. And it sends a strong message about the real harm, and indeed danger, posed by those individuals who continue to push falsehoods about the election.

Disbarment — a punishment meted out by a court for code violations — is always devastating to a lawyer. This punishment occurs when a lawyer commits an offense that directly relates to his or her fitness to practice law. Such offenses may include dishonesty and negligent representation. Giuliani, whose license is now suspended, is likely on his way to permanent disbarment, but he does have the opportunity to contest the court’s ruling in a post-suspension hearing. His lawyers indicate they will do this, claiming in a statement that they “believe that once the issues are fully explored at a hearing, Mr. Giuliani will be reinstated as a valued member of the legal profession that he has served so well in his many capacities for so many years.” Continue reading.

Kevin McCarthy met with officer injured in Trump’s insurrection — and it didn’t end well

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally met with a police officer who is still out on medical leave after being brutally attacked during Donald Trump’s January 6th insurrection.

“I asked him specifically for a commitment to denounce that publicly. And he said that he would address it at a personal level, with some of those members. But again, I think that as a leader of the House Republican, or I’m sorry, as the leader of the House Republican Party, it’s important to hear those denouncements publicly,” DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone said.

When asked how the meeting went after leaving McCarthy’s office, Fanone replied, “I need a drink.” Continue reading.

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