Tag: Trump big lie

Capitol riot probes home in on Oath Keepers

The Hill logo

Federal prosecutors appear to be zeroing in on the Oath Keepers following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, making the paramilitary group a priority among the more than 400 people facing criminal charges over the rampage.

A dozen co-defendants reportedly affiliated with the right-wing militia organization are facing conspiracy and other charges over their alleged roles in the storming of the Capitol.

Last week, another member of the Oath Keepers, Jon Ryan Schaffer, became the first defendant following Jan. 6 to plead guilty and agree to cooperatewith law enforcement. Continue reading.

Watch: GOP leader McCarthy squirms as Chris Wallace grills him on Trump’s seditious Jan. 6 behavior

AlterNet Logo

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Sunday disputed allegations that President Donald Trump reached out to him to coordinate an alibi after the Capitol was attacked by Trump-supporting insurrectionists on Jan. 6.

Fox News host Chris Wallace confronted McCarthy about a telephone call he had with Trump soon after the attack on the Capitol was underway.

“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump reportedly told McCarthy at the time, according to Rep. Herrera Beutler (R-WA). Continue reading.

‘Stop the Steal’ fan conducting audit of Arizona ballots with pens that can nullify ballots: report

Raw Story Logo

The report came from the Arizona Republic‘s Jen Fifield, who tweeted Friday that she witnessed the pen issue and mentioned it to Doug Logan, the leader of the firm “Cyber Ninjas” handling the audit.

There’s now a concern that the Cyber Ninjas could have used their pens to change the votes on the ballots that they’re proposing to “audit.”

Laurie Roberts, who wrote a piece exposing Cyber Ninjas for the Republic spoke to Hayes about the company being given a blank check by the state’s officials to do whatever they want. Continue reading.

GOP-backed recount of Maricopa County ballots appears on track to move forward after initial pause ordered by Arizona judge

Washington Post logo

An extensive effort to recount ballots from the November election moved forward in Phoenix on Friday as a private vendor hired by Republicans in the Arizona Senate began reviewing nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in the state’s largest county.

The recount of the ballots from Maricopa County was sought by Senate Republicans to examine unsubstantiated claims that fraud or errors tainted President Biden’s win.

Election officials and the courts have found no merit to such allegations, and the GOP-led county board of supervisors has objected to the recount. Continue reading.

Trump-loving insurrectionist couple arrested for attacking Capitol police after leaving evidence all over Facebook

Raw Story Logo

Mark and Jalise Middleton, a husband and wife from rural Texas, have been arrested on charges that include “engaging in physical violence” against police officers at the January 6 Capitol riot.

The Middletons, from Forestburg TX, are accused of having made a couples’ activity out of assaulting officers on the front line of the Capitol insurrection. Here’s some of the description from the FBI complaint, citing footage from police body cams:

“Officers begin struggling against rioters who are refusing repeated orders to step back from the barricade and are attempting to breach the police line. As the struggle ensues, a male individual wearing a red, white, and blue “Trump” beanie hat, red and white scarf, gray or silver jacket, blue jeans, red and white “Nike” shoes, and gray backpack with a red logo on the back—later identified as Mark Middleton— pushes against the barricades and the police line with his body. As officers repeatedly order (him) and other rioters to “get back,” (he) is heard yelling “fuck you!” as he continues pushing against the barricade. Continue reading.

Evidence in Trump supporter’s trial suggests he espoused Nazi ideals

Washington Post logo

NEW YORK — An impassioned supporter of former president Donald Trump, on trial for allegedly advocating the “slaughter” of influential Democrats after the U.S. Capitol riot, also espoused Nazi ideology and suggested to his father that Trump should override the election results and declare the United States a dictatorship as Adolf Hitler did in Germany generations ago, according to evidence presented by federal authorities in a Brooklyn courtroom Thursday.

Brendan Hunt, that evidence suggests, was fixated on extremist ideas and conspiracy theories — including that Democrats falsely portrayed covid-19 as a deadly epidemic to gain political advantage over Trump — when on Jan. 8 he posted a video titled “KILL YOUR SENATORS: Slaughter them all.”

Hunt’s trial is believed to be the first related to the insurrection since the Justice Department opened its sweeping investigation into the attack and the domestic-extremist threats suspected of fueling the bid by hundreds of Trump supporters to prevent Congress from counting the electoral college votes affirming his defeat. It is seen as a test of how far free speech can go before it violates constitutional protections. Continue reading.

Minnesota GOP challenges Democrats over Rep. Maxine Waters’ words

Star Tribune logo

Democrats counter that GOP was silent on Jan. 6 insurrection at Capitol. 

WASHINGTON – Comments last weekend by Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters at a Twin Cities protest are deeply dividing Minnesota’s political delegation in Washington as Republicans unsuccessfully sought to censure the California lawmaker.

As the nation waited for the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial Tuesday, House Democrats, including four from Minnesota, blocked the GOP’s resolution censuring Waters for urging protesters “to get more confrontational” if the jury acquitted the former police officer.

Minnesota’s four GOP House members pushed for Waters to be censured, saying in a letter that “these comments … are unacceptable, divisive and can only be viewed as a means to incite further violence and destruction.” Continue reading.

GOP attorneys general group in turmoil after Jan. 6 Trump rally

The Hill logo

The chairman of the top outside group dedicated to electing Republican attorneys general has resigned his position in the wake of a show of force by rivals from other states, months after it supported a rally with then-President Trump that turned into an insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) last week stepped down as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), citing a “significant difference of opinion” with the group’s strategic direction.

He is the latest in a string of departures from the organization, including its executive director, Adam Piper, who resigned under what sources said was pressure from the group in the days after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Continue reading.

Judge Emmet Sullivan cites Donald Trump’s ‘continued’ election lies as reason not to release rioter

Raw Story Logo

Federal judge Emmet Sullivan this week cited former President Donald Trump’s recent statements about the 2020 election as a reason not to allow the release of a man who allegedly took part in the failed insurrection of Jan. 6.

In a 39-page opinion filed on Tuesday, Sullivan explained why he was denying the release of Jack Wade Whitton, who is charged with eight felonies and misdemeanors relating to the Jan. 6 events. Whitton is accused of “brutally” assaulting officers who were guarding the U.S. Capitol.

“[T]he Court concludes that clear and convincing evidence supports a finding that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community,” Sullivan explains in the opinion. “Accordingly, the Court orders that Mr. Whitton be detained pending trial.” Continue reading.

Pelosi to offer even split on 9/11-style commission to probe Capitol riot

The Hill logo

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has offered a plan for a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to review the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, backtracking from an earlier proposal that would have allowed Democrats to appoint the majority of the commission’s members.

A source familiar with the discussions told The Hill Pelosi briefed members of her leadership team on the proposal Monday night after efforts to create the commission stalled in the months following the attack.

Pelosi’s plans were first reported by CNN.   Continue reading.