Tag: Trump big lie

‘The warning signs are all there’: Ex-Reagan aide fears Trump is leading the party to more political violence

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During Donald Trump’s presidency, long-time conservative activist Peter Wehner wrote a series of anti-Trump articles for The Atlantic. And although Trump has been gone from the White House for four months, Wehner remains a vehement critic of the GOP’s current direction. A former speechwriter under three Republican presidents — Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — he discusses Trump’s unending stranglehold on the GOP in an article published by The Atlantic this week. And he warns that the potential for more political violence continues as long as so many Republicans maintain their unwavering devotion to Trump.

“The GOP remains fully in Trump’s thrall, with its leadership more committed than ever to spreading his foundational lies and conspiracy theories,” the 60-year-old Wehner laments. “Under Trump’s sway, the Republican Party is becoming more fanatical, venturing even further into a world of illusion…. No former president, and certainly no president defeated after only one term, has so dominated his party after he left office.”

The Never Trump conservative points to Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming as an example of a prominent GOP conservative who lost a leadership position for being openly critical of Trump and refusing to indulge his false claim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Cheney formerly served as House Republican Conference chair, making her the third highest-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives. But Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, lost that position, Wehner notes, for her “fireable offense” of “refusing to remain silent in the face of Trump’s ongoing efforts to undermine our constitutional system.” Continue reading.

Republicans lose patience with Arizona election audit

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PHOENIX — A growing chorus of Arizona Republicans is calling on the GOP-controlled state Senate to end an audit into Maricopa County’s 2020 election results that is increasingly relying on disproven conspiracy theories to challenge President Biden’s victory here.

The audit, ordered by a state Senate majority that has bought into former President Trump’s big lie about the results of the election he lost handily, is on hold until Monday. It has already dragged on well past the estimated time auditors said it would take to recount the county’s ballots.

But some Republicans say they hope it does not continue after embarrassing revelations that supposedly bombshell allegations by auditors who have perpetuated Trump’s lies were in fact errors made by the auditors themselves. Continue reading.

Proud Boys member who allegedly shouted about taking the Capitol before breach arrested

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U.S. authorities have arrested three more alleged associates of two right-wing groups in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, including one who allegedly shouted, “Let’s take the f—ing Capitol!” an hour before the assault while marching with a large group of Proud Boys around the building.

Charging papers identified Daniel Lyons Scott, 28, of Bradenton, Fla., as the Proud Boys member nicknamed “Milkshake,” who after allegedly yelling about taking the Capitol was admonished, “Let’s not f—ing yell that, okay?” by a Proud Boys leader on a video live-streamed by the group that day. In the same moments, court documents allege, accused leader Ethan Nordean was recorded saying, “It was Milkshake, man, you know . . . idiot!”

Nordean and three other Proud Boys seen near him that day have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to obstruct police and the joint session of Congress to confirm the 2020 election results. Continue reading.

Maricopa County will need new voting machines after GOP’s audit, Arizona secretary of state says

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The machines must be replaced because election officials don’t know what was done to them by the Republican auditors, she said.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said Thursday that the voting machines Republicans turned over to private companies as part of their audit of the 2020 election are no longer safe for use in future elections.

In a letter sent to Maricopa County officials and shared with NBC News, Hobbs, a Democrat, cited security concerns about losing the chain of custody over the equipment when it was handed over to the auditors and urged the county to get new machines. If it does not, her office would consider decertifying the equipment involved in the audit, she wrote. That would remove the machines from service.

State Senate Republicans subpoenaed nearly 400 of Maricopa County’s election machines, along with ballots cast by voters in November’s election, to facilitate an unusual audit of the election results. The GOP hired private firms, led by the Florida-based cybersecurity company Cyber Ninjas, to do the work. Continue reading.

GOP leader’s Jan. 6 call to Trump draws scrutiny in commission fight

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For Kevin McCarthy, the race to move beyond Jan. 6 is personal.

The House Republican leader not only has his eyes set on the Speakership after next year’s midterms, he was also the only lawmaker to speak directly to President Trump in the midst of the violent attack on the Capitol.

Those seemingly unrelated facts are in fact related in the context of the debate over the Jan. 6 commission. The dynamics make McCarthy unique among Republicans — and leave him with an equally unique dilemma.  Continue reading.

This Week in Republican Insurrection Erasure

It will shock you how much it never happened.

In the week following Liz Cheney’s purge for the crime of speaking honestly about the former president’s unprecedented, if buffoonish, attempt to overthrow the election and stay in power against the will of the people, Republicans have taken out their neuralyzer and moved deliberately and unapologetically down the path of January 6 erasure.

  • A witness to the president’s support for a domestic terror assault on the Capitol refuses to testify.
  • A congressman tries to retcon his support for overturning the election on national TV.
  • A Republican campaign committee rewards the members who tried to “Stop The Steal.”
  • A senator who spearheaded the legislative coup is given massive platforms to promote his book about being silenced.

For the GOP, memory-holing the insurrection is the point.

It will shock you how much it never happened. Continue reading.

U.S. House OKs commission to probe Capitol attack, but McConnell objections may doom it

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WASHINGTON—The U.S. House voted Wednesday 252-175 to give the go-ahead to the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission that would investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, despite objections from Republican leaders that the scope of the commission was not wide enough and other investigations are ongoing.

Thirty-five Republicans joined with Democrats in backing the measure, which would set up a 10-member commission styled on the panel that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with appointed members split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

All four of Minnesota’s Republican members voted against the measure: U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber. The four Democrats voted in favor: U.S. Reps. Angie Craig, Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar and Dean Phillips. Continue reading.

Sen. Republicans Admit They Don’t Want Jan 6. Commission Because It Could Color Midterms

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Senate Republicans are candidly admitting their political calculus in opposing a January 6 commission: they don’t want it to encroach on the 2022 midterms, during which they worry it would be “weaponized politically.”

In other words, they don’t want voters reminded of the attack their leader and party provoked as they mull over their ballots. 

Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate minority whip, told reporters that he didn’t want the probe “weaponized politically and drug into next year.” Continue reading.

Capitol Police Officers Blast GOP Leaders For Opposing Jan. 6 Commission

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On Wednesday, anonymous members of the United States Capitol Police, in a letter addressed to members of Congress, said they felt “profound disappointment” in the decisions by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to oppose an investigation into the January 6 attack.

The U.S. Capitol Police said on its Twitter account that the letter was not an official statement from the organization.

CNN reported that it had confirmed with the Capitol Police officer who wrote the letter that it represents the views of 40-50 officers. Continue reading.

GOP defections over Jan. 6 commission deliver rebuke to McCarthy

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Ultimately, 35 Republicans joined Democrats in approving the commission.

House GOP divisions were on full display Wednesday as dozens of Republicans broke with their party leadership and former President Donald Trump to support a proposed commission investigating the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol.

The measure, which would task a bipartisan 10-person commission with delivering a report on the causes and facts of the insurrection by the end of the year, passed the House by a 252-175 vote with every Democrat and 35 Republicans in support.

It now heads to an uncertain future in the 50-50 Senate, where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll oppose the legislation. Continue reading.