Tag: Trump big lie

McCarthy comes out against bipartisan deal on Jan. 6 commission

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will oppose a bipartisan deal announced last week that would form a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, his office announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: McCarthy’s opposition to the deal, which was negotiated by the top Republican and Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, underscores the internal divisions that continue to plague the GOP in the wake of Jan. 6.

  • The formation of a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission had been delayed for months, after some Republicans insisted that the scope of the investigation be expanded to include violence by far-left protesters last summer. Continue reading.

Arizona Vote Review Is ‘Political Theater’ and ‘Sham,’ G.O.P. Leaders Say

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Leaders in Maricopa County, Ariz., are hitting back at Donald J. Trump and fellow party members in the State Senate over a review of the county’s ballots.

The Republican leaders of Arizona’s most populous county issued a blistering rebuke on Monday to a review of the November election that had been ordered by Republicans in the State Senate, calling it “a grift disguised as an audit” that had spun out of the legislators’ control.

The senior Republican in Maricopa County, Jack Sellers, the chairman of the board of supervisors, said flatly that the county would stop cooperating with the review and suggested that it would challenge in court any of its conclusions that pointed toward improprieties.

“This board is done explaining anything,” Mr. Sellers said at a special meeting of the five-member board, four of whose members are Republicans. “People’s ballots and money are not make-believe. It’s time to be done with this craziness, and get on with this county’s critical business.” Continue reading.

Capitol Police faced equipment shortage during Jan. 6 attack

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Rioters in many cases had more, and better, protective equipment than the officers they were fighting

A Capitol Police officer who fought off rioters for hours in a Medieval-style battle at the Capitol on Jan. 6 returned home ready to crash. But before bed, the officer had to shower off all the chemical irritants the embattled officers were assaulted with that day.

“My body was burning,” the officer said. “The parts of your body that were covered with clothes are now getting this mace water all over you. You have to shower. Your body burns. You lay in bed and you’re just on fire all over.”

Three Capitol Police officers talked to CQ Roll Call under the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the department’s failures regarding equipment for Jan. 6, when hundreds of pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in a violent attempt to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s election. Continue reading.

Trump’s comments on Maricopa County election recount are ‘unhinged,’ Arizona Republican official says

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An Arizona Republican who heads up the county elections department that is the target of a GOP audit of the 2020 election results condemned former president Donald Trump for continuing to push false claims of electoral fraud months after his defeat and called his recent comments “unhinged.”

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer on Saturday called on Republicans to stop supporting Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud and slammed the former president for falsely accusing Maricopa County of deleting an elections database.

“This is unhinged,” Richer tweeted, adding that he was “literally looking at our voter registration database on my other screen. Right now. We can’t indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country.” Continue reading.

Capitol riot fuels debate over domestic terror laws

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The White House’s focus on rising domestic extremism has sparked a debate over whether the U.S. needs new laws to fight it, with some groups concerned that such measures could lead to over surveillance of communities of color and infringe on First Amendment rights.

The Jan. 6 riot that overran the Capitol and left multiple people dead has prompted the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress to prioritize white supremacists and various right-wing anti-government extremists as a top national security concern.

It’s still unclear how much momentum is behind any potential new domestic terrorism statute or what it would ultimately look like, but lawmakers’ focus on the issue is already prompting debate about whether such legislation is needed and if it could do more harm than good. Continue reading.

Ex-Defense Secretary Delivers Damning Takedown Of GOP Spin On U.S. Capitol Riot

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“They’re trying to perform a frontal lobotomy on the American people,” warned William Cohen, the Republican former senator for Maine.

Bill Clinton-era Defense Secretary William Cohen on Friday tore into elected Republicans who are desperately trying to spin the narrative on the deadly U.S. Capitol riot.

“Those members who are trying to say, ‘No big deal on Jan. 6,’ they’re trying to perform a frontal lobotomy on the American people, a side effect which is mental dullness,” Cohen, a Republican former senator for Maine, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

GOP lawmakers on Wednesday tried to depict the riot, in which five people died, as “a normal tour visit” involving “peaceful patriots.” That’s despite the existence of thousands of hours of video footage proving the violence incited by ex-President Donald Trump and his enablers was anything but. Continue reading.

Democrat moves to censure three Republicans for downplaying Jan. 6

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Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) on Friday began asking Democratic colleagues to sign on to a resolution to censure three House Republicans who tried this week to minimize the severity of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In a letter to fellow House Democrats, Cicilline said that a resolution will be forthcoming to specifically censure Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Jody Hice (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) for their remarks at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday downplaying and making false claims about the violent attack on the Capitol.

“These three members dangerously mischaracterized what happened that day and showed more sympathy for the domestic terrorists than the Capitol Police officers who died during the attack,” Cicilline wrote. Continue reading.

‘It’s disgraceful’: An officer denounces the GOP’s Capitol riot denialism — and commission plans move forward

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On Friday, Democrat Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi announced an agreement for a bipartisan committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building — an agreement reached with Republican Rep. John Katko of New York State. Liberal Washington Post opinion writer Greg Sargentapplauds this “surprising bit of good news” in his column, but he also laments the fact that there are still many disingenuous Republicans who are determined to “obscure” the horrifying events of January 6.

“Predictably, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) immediately said he hadn’t agreed to the deal,” Sargent notes. “What’s still unclear is how many Republicans will support it. The bill will pass in the Democratic-controlled House, but it will also need GOP support in the Senate, since it could theoretically be filibustered.”

Sargent explains why Thomson and Katko’s proposal is a positive development, writing, “Perhaps the most important thing is that it focuses the scope of the commission on ‘the facts and causes’ related to the January 6 attack and to ‘the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.’ It will also look at the ‘influencing factors’ that ‘fomented’ this attack. Importantly, it describes January 6 as a ‘domestic terrorist attack’ waged against ‘American representative democracy.’ That counters the GOP whitewash effort by framing the mission around the need to explore the deep radicalization that led to an effort to overthrow U.S. democracy itself.” Continue reading.

Lawmakers reach deal on bipartisan commission to investigate Jan. 6

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House negotiators have reached an agreement on the parameters of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the “facts and circumstances” surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the House Homeland Security Committee announced Friday.

Why it matters: The formation of a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission had been delayed for months, after some Republicans insisted that the scope of the investigation be expanded to include violence by far-left protesters last summer.

Details, according to the House Homeland Security Committee: Continue reading.

‘You left us bloody and alone!’ Feds reveal MAGA rioter’s anguished message to Trump after realizing he wasn’t getting pardoned

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A member of the Proud Boys who was arrested for taking part in the January 6th MAGA riots angrily lashed out at former President Donald Trump after he realized he wouldn’t be getting pardoned for his crimes.

Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports that federal prosecutors this week revealed anguished messages sent by Proud Boy Ethan Nordean on January 20th after he watched Trump leave office without delivering a blanket pardon to all those who rioted on his behalf weeks earlier.

“F*CK TRUMP!” he wrote in a social media message. “F*ck him more than Biden. I’ve followed this guy for 4 years and given everything and lost it all.” Continue reading.