Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Mark Meadows told aide not to quit — because Trump wasn't leaving office: report



Chief of staff Mark Meadows revealed on Dec. 2, 2020 that Donald Trump did not intend to leave office despite losing the presidential election to Joe Biden, a former top White House official revealed on CNN.

Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin recounted on CNN a conversation she had with Mark Meadows on that day while wondering who allowed Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne into the White House for the "unhinged" Dec. 18 meeting.

"Who waived them?" Griffin asked. "Which is putting them through security to get onto White House grounds. We don't even have that answer now."

"I suspect it was Mark Meadows and I say that because I can tell you before I resigned, I said 'Sir, I'm planning to move on, I want to put in my notice.' And he said to me, 'What if I could tell you we're actually going to be staying?' You can interpret that as hypothetical, but there were people around the president telling him that and that's what led to this absolute insanity," Griffin said.

She noted she "moved up my resignation to the next morning and I said, 'No, of course, we're not.' I told all my staff we lost"

She resigned on Dec. 3, making Dec. 2 the date of the reported conversation.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

The Infamous ‘Game Of Thrones’ Red Wedding Scene Made A Chilling Cameo During The January 6 Hearings
https://uproxx.com/viral/game-of-thrones-red-wedding-january-6-hearing/


Far-Right Figure Called For 'Red Wedding’ On Jan. 6 Following Trump Tweet

"Red Wedding" refers to a notoriously violent scene in "Game of Thrones" by the same name.



The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection on Tuesday held its seventh public hearing into former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, culminating with a violent mob attacking the Capitol building itself and trying to halt the proceedings of Congress.

Central to the argument Tuesday was the behavior of Trump supporters before and after the president sent a tweet in the early morning hours of Dec. 19, summoning his followers to meet for a “big protest in D.C.” on Jan. 6.

“Be there,” he wrote, “will be wild!”

Immediately after, the far-right media ecosystem, boosted by social media and right-wing YouTube bloggers, dutifully spread Trump’s message. The committee played a clip Tuesday of various pro-Trump personalities hyping the rally to millions of followers using increasingly violent rhetoric:

'One of Trump’s supporters [predicted] a red wedding, which is a pop culture reference to mass slaughter' — The Jan 6 committee showed how a tweet by Donald Trump became an 'explosive invitation' for far-right groups to descend upon Washington, D.C.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1546919632967290882

At one point in the clip, pro-Trump YouTuber “Salty Cracker” ― who currently has 776,000 subscribers ― told his followers: “You better understand something, son. Red wave, b***h! There’s gonna be a red wedding going down Jan. 6.”

“M****r f****r, you better look outside,” he continued. “You better look out Jan. 6, kick that f*****g door open and look down the street. There’s going to be a million-plus geeked-up, armed Americans.”

“Red Wedding” is a clear reference to an extremely violent “Game of Thrones” scene of the same name, in which attendees at what was intended to be a celebratory feast are instead betrayed, trapped inside a venue and murdered.

Coincidentally, that wasn’t the only “Game of Thrones”-inspired call for violence in the leadup to Jan. 6: In his address to the crowd that morning, Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, urged attendees to embrace “trial by combat” before marching on the Capitol.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jan-6-red-wedding-capitol-riot_n_62cdbd09e4b06e3d9bbbb235

[Rick Plant]

'Big Lie' mastermind Roger Stone has been laying the groundwork for Trump insurrection since 2016: Watergate prosecutor



On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat," Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman highlighted the critical role played by longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone in the bid to overturn the election.

Stone, noted Akerman, had been planning something like this for years — even before Trump was actually elected.

"We know that in the last hearing Cassidy Hutchinson testified that her boss called Roger Stone," said Akerman. "We also know that Meadows also attended a meet big phone at the Warwick war room the day before January 6th."

"Let's slow you down," said anchor Ari Melber. "While you're saying the primary link may only be to Stone — and in fairness to other individuals if it stops there it doesn't legally implicate them — but you're suggesting Stone was playing a role he played before as a cutout, potentially, allegedly for Donald Trump?"

"I think allegedly, and most likely," said Akerman. "The line the election was stolen from Trump goes back to the primary in 2016 when Roger Stone set up the Stop the Steal movement. He's the one that started this whole thing. He is the prime adviser to Donald Trump in terms of these crazy political machinations."

Stone has previously been placed close to the action in the January 6 attack, with video showing him flanked by Oath Keepers bodyguards on the same day.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Trump gave 'direct commands' to 'ragtag terrorists' to stage the Capitol attack: former prosecutor

On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House", former prosecutor Harry Litman broke down the significance of the testimony from the day's hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The hearing focused on ties between Trump associates and the violent extremist groups who allegedly helped plan and organize the insurrection.

"It seemed important to both Congressman Raskin and Congresswoman Cheney and Congresswoman Murphy to make clear that they were also victims, that their lives were also upended not just by the lies but what they did in service to the lies," said anchor Nicolle Wallace.

Litman agreed, saying that "they really put a human touch on it, even to the people who were acting on [Trump's] behalf."

"And he was in some ways — was Trump — a sort of supporting player here," said Litman. "We found out a few nuggets. There's the statement in the December 18th meeting, which is an amazing meeting that it's crazy the chief of staff let happen. There's his rewriting of the speech and adding all this stuff about Pence. But otherwise, he doesn't figure in as much, except, look, there are always ragtag terrorists out there. I've prosecuted them. There are people who are deluded or believe in a charismatic leader. What they aren't, however, are normally following the direct commands of the president of the United States."

"So, in some ways, even though he's the supporting player here, he really is the looming factor in the background that is making everything happen, and that's what gives rise to the potential charges," added Litman.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

'This is banana republic stuff': CNN analyst stunned by detail from White House lawyers' meeting



Reviewing the testimony given and clips shown during Tuesday's House select committee hearing on the Jan 6th insurrection, CNN analyst John Avlon pointed out on "New Day" that he was struck by one telling detail that came out of the contentious meeting between two factions of attorneys in the White House in mid-December.

With CNN legal analyst Laura Coates and counterintelligence expert Phil Mudd stating an ironclad legal case has not been made against Donald Trump so far, Avlon claimed there is plenty for prosecutors to work with.

"This meeting that took place -- and again, the timeline is really interesting -- this meeting takes place hours before Donald Trump sends this tweet, which says, you know, come to the Capitol on January 6th, it will be wild. the descriptions of this meeting really are something," host John Berman prompted.

"I mean, describing it as the most chaotic oval office meeting of the Trump era is the highest bar imaginable, but this makes a strong case for it, Avlon began. "You clearly have a group of outside advisers who are completely unhinged, as [White House counsel] Pat Cipollone says, not even bothering to meet the basic standards of anything resembling evidence, arguing that the president should seize voting machines."

"They come with a draft executive order, they're not just suggesting it's drafted," New Day co-host Brianna Keilar interjected.

"It's so totally crackers, but beyond that, this is -- this is banana republic stuff," Avlon added.

"Don't we have, by the way, [former attorney general] Bill Barr saying that former president Trump was asking him about seizing voting machines?" Berman asked.

"Yes!" Avlon explained.

"You have Trump in on the notion of seizing voting machines," Berman continued with Coates chiming in, "And Bill Barr saying there's no probable cause to do what you're asking. Remember, you actually have to have some reason to seize things; it's called the Fourth Amendment."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Proof: Trump Planned the Mob’s March to the Capitol

The January 6th Committee just proved it was deliberate strategy

https://www.thebulwark.com/proof-trump-planned-the-mobs-march-to-the-capitol/

[Rick Plant]

There are likely far more witnesses being intimidated by Trump than the committee knows: ex-White House aide



Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin thinks that there are far more witnesses being subjected to Donald Trump's intimidation than the members are aware of.

At the close of the Tuesday afternoon hearing, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) revealed that another witness that the public had not seen got a phone call from the former president. From what the officials have said about the call, the person didn't answer the phone and all that is known is that the call was made. Had the person answered the call the witness could have testified to what was said. Without answering, however, there's little that can be done, legal experts explained.

Last week, Cheney showed two examples of witness tampering, that were not only specific but could be investigated, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig explained. One incident includes former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

The message to her said that an unnamed person "let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he's thinking about you. He knows you're loyal, and you're going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition."

Another example from a witness said, "What they said to me is as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I'm on the team, I'm doing the right thing, I'm protecting who I need to protect, you know, I'll continue to stay in the good graces in Trump world. And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just keep that in mind as I proceed through my depositions and interviews with the committee."

Griffin told CNN that she spoke to former communications aide Sarah Matthews and there was no conversation about witness tampering.

"So, Cassidy had told me prior to her testimony that she felt like she wasn't empowered under her previous representation to share all the information she knew," said Griffin. "She got that new counsel. From Sarah Matthews, she has not told me she's feeling pressure. I'm very curious who this figure is Liz Cheney referred to. Regardless of what it is, I believe strongly that this pressure and intimidation is more widespread than even the committee knows it to be. It is the playbook of Trump's world to intimidate and say we know he's going to be watching and using somebody like Cassidy as an example — the way they've gone after her, attacked her credibility, talked about her finances, her family, her background. Nothing is off limits. That's another form of intimidation to keep people from coming forward."

These witnesses weren't the only ones who faced witness tampering, apparently, Trump has done it in other cases.

Speaking to former impeachment lawyer and ethics czar Norm Eisen in his "Mea Culpa" podcast, Michael Cohen acknowledged that he too got some of the team treatment early on in his questioning while still working for Trump. Eisen called them "veiled messages."

"Yeah, you were told, for example, I know because we studied this in the impeachment as part of the obstruction of justice count against the former President Trump," Eisen recalled. "You were told, 'You have friends in high places. You should sleep well tonight.' Right?"

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said that even an attempt to reach out like that is concerning.

See the conversation with Griffin below: