Tag: Trump insurrection

Trump Claimed Election ‘Rigged’ Or ‘Stolen’ Over 100 Times Ahead Of Capitol Riot

Then-President Donald Trump falsely claimed more than 100 times that Democrats had “rigged” or “stolen” the 2020 election ahead of January’s deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, a HuffPost analysis found.

In reviewing all of Trump’s tweets and speeches between Election Day on Nov. 3 and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, HuffPost mapped out the rhetoric his followers absorbed as their defiance against President Joe Biden’s win mounted.

Over the course of those two months, Trump ― the most powerful politician in the country and, arguably, the entire world ― lied that the election was rigged at least 68 times and that it was stolen or in the process of being stolen at least 35 times. He made claims of voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities more than 250 times, specifically making baseless claims that voting machines tossed or changed votes at least 45 times. Continue reading.

Trump Is Calling Us to Fight!’: Georgia Teen Charged in Capitol Riots

Prosecutors allege Bruno Cua—who recently got busted for allegedly blaring his horn from a MAGA-themed truck in his hometown—was at the front of the pack.

Federal prosecutors on Monday unsealed charges against a MAGA-loving Georgia teen who allegedly shoved a police officer to enter the Senate chamber during the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot and encouraged his social media followers for days to show up to Washington, D.C., to “fight.”

Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, was arrested Friday and charged with several crimes—including assault on a federal officer and civil disorder—for his role in the unprecedented siege. In a criminal complaint, prosecutors allege that after encouraging his social media followers for almost two weeks to support former President Donald Trump and protest against the election, the Georgia teenager stormed the Capitol.

The Milton, Georgia, resident is seen in several photos and videos at the Capitol wearing a MAGA hat and a sweatshirt adorned with an eagle—including a New Yorker video showing a slew of rioters fighting their way onto the Senate floor. Continue reading.

The Boogaloo Bois Have Guns, Criminal Records and Military Training. Now They Want to Overthrow the Government.

Hours after the attack on the Capitol ended, a group calling itself the Last Sons of Liberty posted a brief video to Parler, the social media platform, that appeared to show members of the organization directly participating in the uprising. Footage showed someone with a shaky smartphone charging past the metal barricades surrounding the building. Other clips show rioters physically battling with baton-wielding police on the white marble steps just outside the Capitol.

Before Parler went offline — its operations halted at least temporarily when Amazon refused to continue to host the network — the Last Sons posted numerous statements indicating that group members had joined the mob that swarmed the Capitol and had no regrets about the chaos and violence that unfolded on Jan. 6. The Last Sons also did some quick math: The government had suffered only one fatality, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, who was reportedly bludgeoned in the head with a fire extinguisher. But the rioters had lost four people, including Ashli Babbitt, the 35-year-old Air Force veteran who was shot by an officer as she tried to storm the building.

In a series of posts, the Last Sons said her death should be “avenged” and appeared to call for the murder of three more cops. Continue reading.

On cusp of impeachment trial, court documents point to how Trump’s rhetoric fueled rioters who attacked Capitol

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Storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was no spur-of-the-
moment decision for Jessica Marie Watkins, an Ohio bartender and founder of a small, self-styled militia, federal prosecutors allege.

In documents charging her with conspiracy and other crimes for her role in the insurrection, they say she began planning such an operation shortly after President Donald Trump lost the November election, ultimately helping recruit and allegedly helping lead dozens of people who took violent action to try to stop congressional certification of the electoral college vote last month. 

In text messages cited in court documents, Watkins was clear about why she was heading to Washington. “Trump wants all able bodied patriots to come,” she wrote to one of her alleged co-conspirators on Dec. 29, eight days before prosecutors say they invaded the building. Continue reading.

Five ways Trump’s impeachment differs from a court trial

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When former President Trump’s second impeachment trial gets underway on Tuesday, the Senate proceedings will differ from what typically unfolds in a courtroom.

Court trials largely stick to a standard, uniform script. By contrast, the framers of the Constitution empowered the Senate to devise its own rules.

Historically, this has led to Senate trials diverging from courtroom protocol on issues like introducing evidence. The two venues also take vastly different approaches to punishment and the possibility of appeal. Continue reading.

Myth that Trump can’t be convicted by Senate because he’s no longer in office blown up by DC law firm head

According to the head of a high-powered law firm based in Washington D.C., Republican protestations that Donald Trump cannot be convicted in his second impeachment trial because he is no longer in office are fundamentally wrong.

With conservative boosters of the president attempting to undercut the proceedings that begin on Tuesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate by attacking the process, Chuck Cooper, the founder and chairman of Cooper & Kirk, laid that argument to rest.

On the pages of the conservative Wall Street Journal, Cooper referred to the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton to make his case. Continue reading.

Mental health expert explains why Trump must be convicted

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The Trump presidency may be over, but Donald Trump’s dangers continue. This is because we have yet to contain the number one emergency, which is the spread of mental pathology.

Without addressing this mental health pandemic, even the Biden administration’s admirable efforts to contain the viral pandemic may meet with obstacles. Similarly, without conviction and prosecution, which is the first step to containing this mental health pandemic, hopes for “reconciliation” and “unity” may also be for naught.

Mental health professionals knew from the start that Donald Trump had the psychological makeup to become very dangerous with presidential powers. Following our 2017 assessment, I and thousands of my colleagues at the World Mental Health Coalition issued more than 300 pages of letters, petitions, and statements asserting that Donald Trump’s dangers would spread and erupt. In March 2020, we issued a “Prescription for Survival,” stating that the president’s removal through the 25th Amendment, impeachment, or resignation—or at least removal of influence—was essential to avoiding widespread unnecessary deaths. Continue reading.

Video surfaces showing Trump ally Roger Stone flanked by Oath Keepers on morning of Jan. 6

Some Oath Keepers were later involved in the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

A new video has surfaced showing former President Donald Trump’slongtime adviser Roger Stone in Washington, D.C., on the morning of Jan. 6, flanked by members of the Oath Keepers militia group just hours before the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building.

In the video, which was obtained and reviewed by ABC News, Stone takes pictures and mingles with supporters outside a D.C. hotel as Oath Keepers hover around him, one wearing a baseball hat and military-style vest branded with the militia group’s logo.

“So, hopefully we have this today, right?” one supporter asks Stone in the video, which was posted just after 10 a.m. on the morning of the rally. “We shall see,” Stone replies.https://abcnews.go.com/US/video-surfaces-showing-trump-ally-roger-stone-flanked/story?id=75706765

Trump’s lie that the election was stolen has cost $519 million (and counting) as taxpayers fund enhanced security, legal fees, property repairs and more

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President Donald Trump’s onslaught of falsehoods about the November election misled millions of Americans, undermined faith in the electoral system, sparked a deadly riot — and has now left taxpayers with a large, and growing, bill.

The total so far: $519 million.

The costs have mounted daily as government agencies at all levels have been forced to devote public funds to respond to actions taken by Trump and his supporters, according to a Washington Post review of local, state and federal spending records, as well as interviews with government officials. The expenditures include legal fees prompted by dozens of fruitless lawsuits, enhanced security in response to death threats against poll workers, and costly repairs needed after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. That attack triggered the expensive massing of thousands of National Guard troops on the streets of Washington amid fears of additional extremist violence. Continue reading.

144 Constitutional Lawyers Call Trump’s First Amendment Defense ‘Legally Frivolous’

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Taking aim at a key plank of the former president’s impeachment defense, the lawyers argued that the constitutional protections did not apply to an impeachment proceeding.

WASHINGTON — Claims by former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers that his conduct around the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is shielded by the First Amendment are “legally frivolous” and should do nothing to stop the Senate from convicting him in his impeachment trial, 144 leading First Amendment lawyers and constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum wrote in a letter circulated on Friday.

Taking aim at one of the key planks of Mr. Trump’s defense, the lawyers argued that the constitutional protections do not apply to an impeachment proceeding, were never meant to protect conduct like Mr. Trump’s anyway and would most likely fail to shield him even in a criminal court.

“Although we differ from one another in our politics, disagree on many questions of constitutional law, and take different approaches to understanding the Constitution’s text, history, and context, we all agree that any First Amendment defense raised by President Trump’s attorneys would be legally frivolous,” the group wrote. “In other words, we all agree that the First Amendment does not prevent the Senate from convicting President Trump and disqualifying him from holding future office.” Continue reading.