Tag: Trump attempt to steal a second term

Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack, court documents say

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Self-styled militia members from Virginia, Ohio and other states made plans to storm the U.S. Capitol days in advance of the Jan. 6 attack, and then communicated in real time as they breached the building on opposite sides and talked about hunting for lawmakers, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

While authorities have charged more than 100 individuals in the riot, details in the new allegations against three U.S. military veterans offer a disturbing look at what they allegedly said to one another before, during and after the attack — statements that indicate a degree of preparation and determination to rush deep into the halls and tunnels of Congress to make “citizens’ arrests” of elected officials.

U.S. authorities charged an apparent leader of the Oath Keepers extremist group, Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, of Berryville, Va., in the attack, alleging that the Navy veteran helped organize a ring of dozens who coordinated their movements as they “stormed the castle” to disrupt the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college victory. Continue reading.

MyPillow Products Will No Longer Be Sold by These Companies

Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow, has said that several companies have stopped selling his products following his continued pushing of baseless allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Lindell, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, has repeatedly and falsely claimed that Trump did not lose the election and will stay in office for a second term.

His continued push of these false narratives, even after the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, prompted calls on social media for retailers to stop carrying MyPillow products. Continue reading.

Poll: Republican support for convicting Trump in Senate growing

About 20 percent of Republicans said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of a Senate conviction in the latest poll, conducted between Jan. 15-17.

Republican support for convicting President Donald Trump in his Senate impeachment trial has grown in his final days in office, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday. 

About 20 percent of Republicans said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of convicting in the latest poll, conducted Jan. 15-17. That’s an increase from the previous poll, conducted Jan. 8-11, in which 14 percent of Republicans said the same.

Approval of a conviction remained heavily partisan, with about 86 percent of Democrats saying they “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of a Senate conviction, a slight decrease from the previous poll. About 50 percent of independent respondents “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of a Senate conviction, up slightly from 47 percent in the Jan. 8-11 poll. Continue reading.

Lawmakers who objected to election results have been cut off from 20 of their 30 biggest corporate PAC donors

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U.S. executives continue to grapple with political bloodshed and its ripple effects on the corporate landscape

The 147 Republican lawmakers who opposed certification of the presidential election earlier this month have lost the support of many of their largest corporate backers — but not all of them.

The Washington Post contacted the 30 companies that gave the most money to election-objecting lawmakers’ campaigns through political action committees. Two-thirds, or 20 of the firms, said they have pledged to suspend some or all payments to their PACs.

Meanwhile, 10 companies said only that they would review their political giving or did not commit to take any action as a result of this month’s events. Continue reading.

‘She’s not on the home team’: Congressman says GOP’s Boebert gave ‘large tour’ of Capitol before insurrection

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U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) on Monday identified freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) as the member of Congress who gave a “large tour” in the days before the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

“We saw Congressman Boebert taking a group of people for a tour sometime after the 3rd and before the 6th,” Rep. Cohen told CNN late Monday morning, adding that “she had a large group with her.”

“She’s not on the home team,” Cohen said. Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham Slammed For Decrying Impeachment As ‘Divisive’

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was roundly denounced Sunday after sending a letter to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer that characterized the pending trial of President Donald Trump as “vengeance” and “political retaliation” that he argued would further divide the nation.

While the U.S. House impeached Trump for his roll in inciting a violent mob of his supporters to storm the nation’s capitol building on January 6—an insurrectionist effort unparalled in U.S. history that left at least five people dead—Graham argues in his letter that Schumer, if he proceeds with a trial in the Senate, would be guilty of “one more unconstitutional action in this disgraceful saga” that he said would only “incite further division.”

Critics of Graham, however, immediately pounced on the South Carolina Republican for his faulty logic and the disgraceful nature of the letter. Continue reading.

FBI screens U.S. troops for possible insider threats ahead of inauguration

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U.S. defense officials say the federal government is conducting insider-threat screening on the 25,000 National Guard troops who have begun flowing into the nation’s capital to secure the inauguration, as concerns intensify about extremism in the ranks.

The extra precaution comes after a number of pro-Trump rioters involved in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 turned out to have military ties, raising questions about extremist sentiment within the armed forces. Dozens of peopleon a terrorist watch list were in Washington as the deadly riot unfolded.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive preparations, said the Army is working with the FBI to vet all service members supporting the inauguration. The Army maintains awareness of threats but does not collect domestic intelligence itself, the official said. It was not immediately clear how extensive the FBI vetting of the military personnel would be. Continue reading.

Republicans call for unity but won’t acknowledge Biden won fairly

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The call for unity came from one of President Trump’s most loyal supporters in Congress, nearly a week after a pro-Trump mob rampaged the U.S. Capitol in a riot that left five people dead.

“What happened at the Capitol on January 6 was as wrong as wrong can be,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told colleagues during a virtual committee meeting about Democrats’ demands that Trump be removed from office. Now was the time for “healing,” and in Jordan’s opinion, that meant allowing the president to finish out his term.

The committee chairman, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), pressed him on one point. Hadn’t Jordan and more than 140 other Republicans given oxygen to the false conspiracy theory pushed by Trump that motivated the Capitol rioters — that the election had somehow been stolen — when they had voted to object to certifying the electoral college results? Continue reading.

FBI probing if foreign governments, groups funded extremists who helped execute Capitol attack

As part of the investigation, the FBI is examining payments of $500,000 in bitcoin to key figures and groups in the alt-right before the Jan. 6 riot.

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether foreign governments, organizations or individuals provided financial support to extremists who helped plan and execute the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, one current and one former FBI official told NBC News.

As part of the investigation, the bureau is examining payments of $500,000 in bitcoin, apparently by a French national, to key figures and groups in the alt-right before the riot, the sources said. Those payments were documented and posted on the web this week by a company that analyzes cryptocurrency transfers. Payments of bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, can be traced because they are documented on a public ledger.

Separately, a joint threat assessment issued this week by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and various other federal and D.C.-area police agencies noted that since the Jan. 6 riot, “Russian, Iranian, and Chinese influence actors have seized the opportunity to amplify narratives in furtherance of their policy interest amid the presidential transition.” Continue reading.

Uncovering The #MAGA Plot Against America

Investigations of the terrible crimes committed against the United States at the Capitol last week had scarcely begun when the usual suspects launched a right-wing cover-up. Rather than blame the motley swarm of #MAGA fanatics, white nationalists and habitual criminals whom we all witnessed storming into the citadel of democracy to stop certification of the 2020 election, they pointed the finger to the antifa and Black Lives Matter movements.

But such a preposterous political alibi, premised on nonexistent evidence, won’t stand up to the kind of scrutiny that must now be brought to bear on these momentous events. Long after President Donald Trump’s impeachment is over and done, and regardless of whether he is convicted or not, the myriad investigations and trials of the perpetrators of the Capitol insurrection will go on for years. Justice will be done; the truth will be revealed; and the breadth of the assault on our constitutional democracy will stun even the jaded and cynical.

Combining vanity and stupidity, the shock troops who carried out the assault recorded themselves in the process of the attack. Perhaps they believed that they would be pardoned by Donald Trump. Knock, knock. Now the FBI is sweeping them up across the country to face federal prosecution. Continue reading.