Tag: Trump attempt to steal a second term

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Releases Absurd Conspiracy Infomercial

Far-right network OAN aired the video on repeat.

Mike Lindell, the founder of MyPillow and a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, was suspended from Twitter for promoting election conspiracies. A host on the conservative channel Newsmax recently walked out of an interview as the pillow salesman spouted off lies. Major retailers have begun dropping his product, and lawyers have threatened him with “imminent” defamation suits over his baseless allegations.

But Lindell is still pushing the debunked and dangerous claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, most recently in a two-hour video that he paid far-right channel One America News Network to air for 12 hours straight on Friday. 

The video, called “Absolute Truth” (which was apparently mistakenly uploaded to YouTube as “Absolue Truth”), is a two-hour cavalcade of conspiracies about election fraud featuring delusional claims and discredited guests, such as Rudy Giuliani’s nationally mocked witness Melissa Carone. Lindell careens through baseless allegations with infomercial pitchman energy, interspersed with stock footage — including arms bearing a hammer and sickle to represent Communism. Continue reading.

Two More Texas Real Estate Agents Who Took Private Jet to Riot Are Charged

In the days before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Texas real estate agent Jason Lee Hyland texted a small group chat titled “Patriot flight.”

“Thanks for joining me to DC to stand up for America. This will be historic – no matter the outcome,” he allegedly wrote. “We will leave from us trinity hanger at Denton Airport tomorrow.”

Four others joined him on Jan. 5 on the small private jet bound for Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C. The group included real-estate broker and life coach Jenna Ryan, and real-estate agent Katherine “Katie” Schwab. They posted smiling selfies on board the aircraft and reportedly sang along to music. Continue reading.

In Viral House Floor Speech, Rep. Phillips Appeals to the Better Angels of His Colleagues and Country

Phillips: “I’m not here this evening seeking sympathy – rather to make a public apology.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) joined a special order hour organized by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to share their experiences of January 6, 2021, when Congress was subject to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that led to the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and the first breach of the institution since the War of 1812.

WATCH: 

Continue reading “In Viral House Floor Speech, Rep. Phillips Appeals to the Better Angels of His Colleagues and Country”

Professor explains how Trump’s ‘Save America’ rally contained not-so-subtle elements of fascist propaganda

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Hours before a mob of far-right insurrectionists — including members of the Proud Boys, QAnon supporters, White nationalists and members of various militia groups — violently stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, then-President Donald Trump held a “Save America” rally in Washington, D.C.’s Ellipse Park. Trump and his allies showed a propaganda video at that event, and according to Yale University professor Jason Stanley — author of the book “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them” — that video was full of fascist themes.

Stanley has made no secret of the fact that he considers Trumpism a fascist movement. In an article published by Just Security on February 4, the Yale professor identifies some of the overtly fascist themes in the video presented at the Save America Rally.

“On January 6,” Stanley explains, “Trump supporters gathered at a rally at Washington D.C.’s Ellipse Park, regaled by various figures from Trumpworld, including Donald Trump, Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. Directly following Giuliani’s speech, the organizers played a video. To a scholar of fascist propaganda, well-versed in the history of the National Socialists’ pioneering use of videos in political propaganda, it was clear, watching it, what dangers it portended. In it, we see themes and tactics that history warns pose a violent threat to liberal democracy. Given the aims of fascist propaganda — to incite and mobilize — the events that followed were predictable.” Continue reading.

Smartmatic files $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell

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Voting company Smartmatic on Thursday filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, some of the network’s top hosts, Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell for starting a “disinformation campaign” against the company.

Why it matters: This is the second voting company to file a lawsuit against Giuliani and Powell, following Dominion Voting Systems’ two $1.3 billion defamation lawsuits against the pro-Trump lawyers.

  • Dominion warned Fox News last month that lawsuits were imminent. 
  • In comparison to Dominion, which was used in several states, Smartmatic machines were only used in Los Angeles County. Continue reading.

Trump Supporter’s Delusions About A Stolen Election Make Him More Dangerous: Judge

Couy Griffin’s belief in conspiracy theories hurt his case to be released ahead of his trial linked to the Capitol insurrection.

A federal magistrate judge ordered a defendant charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection to be held until trial, in part by finding that the man’s delusional beliefs about a stolen U.S. election make him unlikely to recognize the government’s authority.

Federal Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ordered on Monday that Couy Griffin ― a New Mexico commissioner and founder of an organization called “Cowboys for Trump” ― be held until trial.

Faruqui found that Griffin’s lack of belief in the United States government “as it sits today,” along with his rhetoric endorsing violence against Democrats, indicated that there was no way to release him and still assure the safety of the American public and his future appearances in court. Continue reading.

Atlanta U.S. attorney, appointed by Trump amid post-election pressure campaign, resigns

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The federal prosecutor tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Atlanta U.S. Attorney’s Office during Trump’s failed bid to overturn the election has resigned from that post, a spokesman confirmed Monday.

Bobby Christine, a former local prosecutor and magistrate court judge, had been appointed by Trump as the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia after fellow Trump appointee Byung J. “Bjay” Pak suddenly resigned Jan. 4.

The move raised questions of possible political interference, as Trump bypassed Pak’s deputy — who would otherwise have taken over as acting U.S. attorney by default — to install an official who was leading the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Georgia. At the time, Trump was pressing officials in the state to support his unfounded claims of voter fraud, and Christine brought with him to Atlanta two prosecutors who had been assigned to monitor election malfeasance. Continue reading.

A Harvard professor argues the Trump mob’s siege fits the Framers’ ‘paradigmatic case of treason’

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Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is set to begin next week, and senators will be asked to decide whether or not he committed “incitement to insurrection.” While Trump has previously been accused by various commenters of “treason” on multiple fronts, in uses of the term usually dismissed by experts, the charge of treason has been largely absent from the debate around the Capitol attack. But in a recent piece of The New Yorker., Harvard University law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen, discussing Trump’s impeachment and the events of Jan. 6, argued that the term may be more apt than ever.

Gerson cited the work of Carlton F. W. Larson, a law professor at the University of California at Davis, who has argued that there are many unethical acts and impeachable offenses that don’t qualify as treason. Certain corners have frequently accused Trump of “treason” in the Russia investigation, the Ukraine impeachment, and other matters, but Larson has been reticent to apply that label as a technical, legal, and historical matter.

Gersen wrote: “But the insurrection of Jan. 6 changed his answer, at least with regard to Trump’s followers who attacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress’ certification of the election.” Continue reading.

Growing extremist threats put more pressure on Biden

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With far-right domestic terror threats on the rise, experts are urging President Biden to go beyond his initial executive actions and ensure national security forces are better equipped to address homegrown threats.

Biden is coming under pressure to shift resources and boost intelligence sharing following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, when law enforcement agencies were caught flat-footed by hundreds of violent protesters who stormed the building in support of former President Trump.

And the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week warned that the U.S. may face heightened threats from “ideologically-motivated violent extremists.” Continue reading.