Tag: Trump election fraud lie

Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine

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Extremist organizations are now bashing the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in an effort to try to undermine the government.

Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks — the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like “Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction — and Could Wipe out the Human Race” or “Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.”

If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government. Continue reading.

FBI: Texas Man Hurled Lit Firecracker at Cops During Capitol Riot

The FBI arrested a Texas man on Friday who allegedly hurled a lit firecracker at police officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. David Judd, 35, has been charged with assaulting police, resisting or impeding officers, and civil disorder for what prosecutors describe as his attack against police guarding the Capitol building’s Lower West Terrace doors. Judd was taken into custody by the Dallas FBI field office on Friday morning. According to an affidavit, he was caught on surveillance footage joining other protesters in trying to shove their way through a line of police officers. He then allegedly helped other protesters use riot shields stolen from police to make a “shield wall” against officers before lighting a firecracker and throwing it at the line of officers.

A fellow member of the crowd was apparently so shocked by the move that they yelled: “You going to do that and run away! What the fuck.” According to the affidavit, that same unidentified person then notified others in the area that “he threw a firecracker, a big giant, what the…” In addition to being captured in footage from the riots, Judd also posted to social media before the rally boasting of having “a license to carry a firearm” before proclaiming it was time to “fight to save this country and support the greatest president,” federal prosecutors say. View the post here.

Scoop: House chamber hardened with bulletproof doors

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The House chamber is being transformed into a massive safe room for members with the addition of bulletproof doors.

Why it matters: One of the most dramatic images from the Jan. 6 attack was Capitol Police officers inside the chamber holding protesters at bay by pointing their guns at them after they broke windows in the doors. The new doors will provide fresh fortification.

Details: An Axios reporter leaving the Capitol on Wednesday night saw workers removing doors on one of the double-doored entrances to the gallery one level above the floor of the chamber. Some members huddled there on Jan. 6. Continue reading.

Texas AG Ken Paxton refuses to release messages about attendance at pro-Trump rally before Jan. 6 insurrection

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The Texas attorney general’s office is attempting to withhold all messages Ken Paxton sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Several news organizations in Texas have requested copies of the attorney general’s work-related communications. The Texas Public Information Act guarantees the public’s right to government records — even if those records are stored on personal devices or online accounts of public officials.

After Paxton’s office refused to release copies of his emails and text messages, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, The Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, and The San Antonio Express-News are working together in an effort to obtain the documents and review Paxton’s open-records practices. Continue reading.

Secret until now, records reveal clash over the Trump DOJ’s demand for NC voter data

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Federal prosecutors have announced an end to a sweeping, four-year-long investigation into voter fraud in North Carolina, peeling back a veil of secrecy from a probe that pitted state and federal officials against each other over a massive demand for data on every one of the state’s registered voters.

The effort initiated by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District resulted in a range of charges related to immigration, registration and election rules against about 70 people — more than 40 of whom were accused of casting ballots illegally. Dates of those charges, which involved activity during the 2016 election and prior, range from July 2018 to mid-February 2021.

Many of the latest indictments were announced for the first time Friday, but the totals fall far short of early suggestions by the federal government of “pervasive” or “systemic” fraud, suspicions the U.S. Attorney’s Office put before a federal judge in an effort to keep details of its inquiry secret for years. Continue reading.

Justice Dept. faces risks, rewards with riot sedition charges

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Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers face risks and rewards if they move forward with sedition charges against members of the mob that overran the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Many legal experts say sedition charges are a natural fit given what happened at the Capitol that day.

Hundreds of former President Trump’s supporters overwhelmed Capitol Police and interfered with Congress’s lawful certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory. Five people were killed, including a Capitol Police officer, with dozens more injured. Continue reading.

Georgia Prosecutors Eye ‘False Statement’ Charges for Rudy Giuliani and Team Trump

Charging the ex-president’s lawyer with lying to officials would be unusual. But so were Rudy Giuliani’s antics after the election.

Local prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are actively researching whether they can apply “false statement” charges against Rudy Giuliani and other members of Donald Trump’s team for their mendacity-packed attempts to meddle with the state’s 2020 election results, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer and a former New York City mayor, twice presented Georgia state legislators withfake evidence and wild allegations of a conspiracy theory to commit widespread election fraud. Separately, on two recorded phone calls to state election officials, then-President Trump made specific false claims that votes for him were discarded and suitcases full of votes for Joe Biden were trucked in.

In a Feb. 10 letter to state officials that was first made public by The New York Times, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did note that her investigation includes—among other crimes—potential violations of Georgia laws prohibiting “the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies.” Continue reading.

The Justice Department Is Investigating Officials Who Talked To The Press About The Capitol Riot Investigation

Michael Sherwin, the former acting US Attorney in DC, had told media “the facts” support charging some Capitol rioters with sedition.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has launched internal probes into a recent spate of apparently unauthorized comments to the media about the status of the Capitol insurrection investigation, a supervisor in the US Attorney’s office in Washington told a judge on Tuesday.

US District Judge Amit Mehta scheduled an emergency hearing to question the government about a March 21 broadcast of 60 Minutes featuring an interview with Michael Sherwin, the former acting US Attorney in Washington, DC, as well as a New York Times article published Monday that quoted anonymous law enforcement sources. Both reports addressed the government’s conspiracy case against 10 people associated with the Oath Keepers militia collective who are charged with participating in the insurrection; Mehta is presiding over that case.

John Crabb, the head of the Criminal Division in the DC US Attorney’s office, told Mehta it appeared that Sherwin had failed to comply with the department’s rules and policies that govern contacts with the press. Crabb said Sherwin had been referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates misconduct allegations against DOJ lawyers and officials. Continue reading.

Sidney Powell moves to dismiss Dominion lawsuit

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Sidney Powell, the pro-Trump lawyer who spread baseless claims of election fraud, moved Monday to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against her.

What she’s saying: Powell argues in her motion that “no reasonable person” would conclude that her accusations of Dominion’s election-rigging scheme “were truly statements of fact.” 

  • She claims that Dominion conducted a “well-orchestrated public relations campaign to save their business” and that allegations against her are “sparse.”
  • Her legal team also requested that the case be moved from D.C. to Texas if it isn’t tossed out. Continue reading.

Evidence in Capitol attack investigation trending toward sedition charges, departing chief says

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Former interim U.S. attorney Michael R. Sherwin, of Washington, reiterated Sunday that he thinks charges of seditious conspiracy could be brought against certain defendants in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, a rarely invoked charge for those who use violence to hinder the execution of federal law.

In a “60 Minutes” interview aired on CBS two days after he stepped down from supervising the investigation, Sherwin said, “I personally believe the evidence is trending toward that, and probably meets those elements.”

“I believe the facts do support those charges. And I think that, as we go forward, more facts will support that,” he said. Continue reading.