Tag: Trump insurrection

Trump Supporter’s Delusions About A Stolen Election Make Him More Dangerous: Judge

Couy Griffin’s belief in conspiracy theories hurt his case to be released ahead of his trial linked to the Capitol insurrection.

A federal magistrate judge ordered a defendant charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection to be held until trial, in part by finding that the man’s delusional beliefs about a stolen U.S. election make him unlikely to recognize the government’s authority.

Federal Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ordered on Monday that Couy Griffin ― a New Mexico commissioner and founder of an organization called “Cowboys for Trump” ― be held until trial.

Faruqui found that Griffin’s lack of belief in the United States government “as it sits today,” along with his rhetoric endorsing violence against Democrats, indicated that there was no way to release him and still assure the safety of the American public and his future appearances in court. Continue reading.

A Harvard professor argues the Trump mob’s siege fits the Framers’ ‘paradigmatic case of treason’

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Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is set to begin next week, and senators will be asked to decide whether or not he committed “incitement to insurrection.” While Trump has previously been accused by various commenters of “treason” on multiple fronts, in uses of the term usually dismissed by experts, the charge of treason has been largely absent from the debate around the Capitol attack. But in a recent piece of The New Yorker., Harvard University law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen, discussing Trump’s impeachment and the events of Jan. 6, argued that the term may be more apt than ever.

Gerson cited the work of Carlton F. W. Larson, a law professor at the University of California at Davis, who has argued that there are many unethical acts and impeachable offenses that don’t qualify as treason. Certain corners have frequently accused Trump of “treason” in the Russia investigation, the Ukraine impeachment, and other matters, but Larson has been reticent to apply that label as a technical, legal, and historical matter.

Gersen wrote: “But the insurrection of Jan. 6 changed his answer, at least with regard to Trump’s followers who attacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress’ certification of the election.” Continue reading.

Trump legal switch hints at larger problems

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Former President Trump abruptly changed his legal team over the weekend, underscoring his difficulties in putting together a strong defense just a week before his impeachment trial is to begin.

The president announced late Sunday that his legal defense will be led by attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor, two figures involved in controversial cases in the past.

The two replace South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, who had been connected to Trump with the help of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) but reportedly differed with the ex-president over strategy for the trial. Continue reading.

Growing extremist threats put more pressure on Biden

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With far-right domestic terror threats on the rise, experts are urging President Biden to go beyond his initial executive actions and ensure national security forces are better equipped to address homegrown threats.

Biden is coming under pressure to shift resources and boost intelligence sharing following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, when law enforcement agencies were caught flat-footed by hundreds of violent protesters who stormed the building in support of former President Trump.

And the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week warned that the U.S. may face heightened threats from “ideologically-motivated violent extremists.” Continue reading.

77 Days: Trump’s Campaign to Subvert the Election

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Hours after the United States voted, the president declared the election a fraud — a lie that unleashed a movement that would shatter democratic norms and upend the peaceful transfer of power.

By Thursday the 12th of November, President Donald J. Trump’s election lawyers were concluding that the reality he faced was the inverse of the narrative he was promoting in his comments and on Twitter. There was no substantial evidence of election fraud, and there were nowhere near enough “irregularities” to reverse the outcome in the courts.

Mr. Trump did not, could not, win the election, not by “a lot” or even a little. His presidency would soon be over.

Allegations of Democratic malfeasance had disintegrated in embarrassing fashion. A supposed suitcase of illegal ballots in Detroit proved to be a box of camera equipment. “Dead voters” were turning up alive in television and newspaper interviews. Continue reading.

After The Riot: Inside A Secret Militia’s Telegram Chat Room

When the FBI arrested Edward “Jake” Lang on Jan. 16 for his alleged role in the U.S. Capitol attack, court documents show agents had followed a seemingly straightforward trail from his public social media to collect evidence. “THIS IS ME,” Lang wrote over one video that showed an angry mob confronting police officers outside the Capitol. The same post showed him trashing a police riot shield.

The government charged Lang with committing assault and other crimes, but the account of his activities spelled out in court papers doesn’t mention how the 25-year-old spent the 10 days between the riots and his capture: recruiting militia members to take up arms against the incoming Biden administration by way of an invitation-only group on the messaging app Telegram.

“Everyone needs to get 5 patriots in this group tonight that’s the goal 🙌🏻🇺🇸🗽,” Lang wrote in a chat on Jan. 9, one of more than 2,500 messages obtained by ProPublica. “We need each person to go out and fight for new members of this Militia like our lives depend on it.” Continue reading.

Text Messages Show Top Trump Campaign Fundraiser’s Key Role Planning the Rally That Preceded the Siege

Caroline Wren, a Trump fundraiser, is listed as a “VIP Advisor” in a National Park Service permit for the Jan. 6th rally at the Ellipse. Text messages and a planning memo show the title downplays the active role she played in organizing the event.

In the week leading up to the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., that exploded into an attack on the Capitol, a top Trump campaign fundraiser issued a directive to a woman who had been overseeing planning for the event.

“Get the budget and vendors breakdown to me and Justin,” Caroline Wren wrote to Cindy Chafian, a self-described “constitutional conservative,” in a Dec. 28 text message obtained by ProPublica.

Wren was no ordinary event planner. She served as a deputy to Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, at Trump Victory, a joint presidential fundraising committee during the 2020 campaign. The Justin mentioned in her text was Justin Caporale, a former top aide to first lady Melania Trump, whose production company helped put on the event at the Ellipse. Continue reading.

Lincoln Project demands Rudy Giuliani retract “textbook act of defamation”: “Refuse at your peril”

Lincoln Project demands Rudy Giuliani retract “textbook act of defamation”: “Refuse at your peril”

Former New York City Mayor Rudy was put on notice that he must retract his allegations that the Lincoln Project was responsible for organizing the fatal Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

On Friday, Giuliani blamed the Lincoln Project for the riots by Trump supporters during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast.

Giuliani suggested that insurrection was a false flag operation, saying that it was “wolves in sheep’s clothing” that were behind the insurrection. Continue reading.

First on CNN: Trump’s impeachment defense team leaves less than two weeks before trial

Former President Donald Trump’s five impeachment defense attorneys have left a little more than a week before his trial is set to begin, according to people familiar with the case, amid a disagreement over his legal strategy. 

It was a dramatic development in the second impeachment trial for Trump, who has struggled to find lawyers willing to take his case. And now, with legal briefs due next week and a trial set to begin only days later, Trump is clinging to his election fraud charade and suddenly finds himself without legal representation.

Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are no longer on the team. A source familiar with the changes said it was a mutual decision for both to leave the legal team. As the lead attorney, Bowers assembled the team. Continue reading.

How Trump’s Focus on Antifa Distracted Attention From the Far-Right Threat

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Federal law enforcement shifted resources last year in response to Donald Trump’s insistence that the radical left endangered the country. Meanwhile, right-wing extremism was building ominously.

WASHINGTON — As racial justice protests erupted nationwide last year, President Donald J. Trump, struggling to find a winning campaign theme, hit on a message that he stressed over and over: The real domestic threat to the United States emanated from the radical left, even though law enforcement authorities had long since concluded it came from the far right.

It was a message that was quickly embraced and amplified by his attorney general and his top homeland security officials, who translated it into a shift in criminal justice and national security priorities even as Mr. Trump was beginning to openly stoke the outrage that months later would culminate in the storming of the Capitol by right-wing extremists.

Mr. Trump’s efforts to focus his administration on the antifa movement and leftist groups did not stop the Justice Department and the F.B.I. from pursuing cases of right-wing extremism. They broke up a kidnapping plot, for example, targeting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat. Continue reading.