Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

The electors cast their official vote for the winner of each state and that officially declares the Electoral College win and the winner of the presidency. The illegal scheme that Trump in his cohorts planned was to install fake electors which would vote for Trump in the key states he lost declaring him the winner even though he lost. That is clear treason and he must go to prison for it.

'A uniquely serious threat': Legal expert claims Trump's 'fake elector scheme' will lead him to jail



In a column for the conservative Bulwark, longtime attorney Philip Rotner explained that, based upon recent events, the most likely reason Donald Trump might serve time in jail will be due to his "fake elector scheme."

Noting a recent flurry of subpoenas that were issued in the past week to officials in multiple states who were part of the scheme to replace their states' actual electoral votes with their own based on fraudulent election claims, the attorney said the Department of Justice is following the correct trail if they want to indict the former president.

As Rotner wrote, it seems like Trump has continually avoided paying for his crimes, but, if he had to put money on it, that streak will end with charges over the election theft gambit.

"The phony elector scheme is now looking more each day like—wait for it—Trump’s Watergate. Yes, Nixon was an incumbent while Trump is out of office, but consider the parallels: Federal investigators are aggressively on the case, once again assisted by a relentless press, and public congressional hearings are again generating one stunning revelation after another," he wrote. "Over a two-day period last week, at least nine people in four different states reportedly received federal grand jury subpoenas in connection with the fake elector investigation. The recipients included not only some of the phony electors themselves but also 'aides to Mr. Trump’s campaign.' Federal agents also executed search warrants directed at the chairman of the Nevada Republican party and the party’s secretary."

The attorney added that these developments, combined with the focus on Trump attorney John Eastman, who was recently on the receiving end of a pre-dawn raid by the FBI, are extremely bad news for the former president.

As he notes, recent testimony from GOP officials undercuts the ability of Trump to say he had no knowledge of the scheme.

"First, he can’t convincingly argue that he didn’t know about the scheme or that he didn’t participate in it. Ronna McDaniel’s testimony has foreclosed that potential defense. Second, assuming that future evidence corroborates Trump’s knowledge of and participation in the scheme, none of his standard defenses will work here," he wrote before adding, "Perhaps Trump will try, as Rolling Stone reported last week that he is considering whether to throw John Eastman under the bus. But the facts, at least as they have come to light so far, suggest that Trump was himself aware of and involved in the scheme. And he can’t seriously argue that he relied on legal advice from Eastman or others that forging election certificates and passing them off as official documents wasn’t illegal. That’s absurd on its face."

"Trump’s all-purpose master defense — 'But I truly believed the election was stolen' — won’t work here either. Belief that an election was tainted by fraud, no matter how deeply held, wouldn’t excuse the crime of forging election certificates and attempting to pawn them off as official government documents. To the contrary, it would only establish that Trump had a strong, if tortured, motive to commit the crime," he added before concluding, "Nobody has ever made any money betting that the long arm of the criminal law will finally reach out and grab Donald Trump. But if Trump is eventually indicted for any crime in connection with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, odds are this will be the one."

You can read his entire analysis here:

https://www.thebulwark.com/could-trump-face-justice-over-the-fraudulent-electors/

[Rick Plant]

CNN analyst explains the big mistake the Trump White House made with Cassidy Hutchinson

Discussing the highly anticipated testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, who previously served as the chief aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Axios editor Margaret Talov explained that the Donald Trump administration made a grievous -- but common -- error in how they treated her.

Hutchinson, who has already given over 20 hours of testimony under oath to the House Jan 6th Committee, is expected to be the central figure in the surprise hearing that will be televised on Tuesday, and, as Talov explained, she probably has some bombshells to drop under questioning.

Speaking with host Poppy Harlow, the journalist explained that staffers like Hutchinson are often taken for granted -- and in the case of the former Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) intern, it could prove deadly for Donald Trump and his inner circle.

"I think we don't know at this point what she is prepared to testify to, what she is prepared to testify about," Talev told the CNN host. "When you have a person like Cassidy Hutchinson, you know, White Houses are filled with young people who are the eyes and ears in the room, and the principles, chief of staff, president, lawyers, sometimes forget about these people."

"They just take for granted that these are the people who are there every day, that they're staffing or just keeping the wheels turning and they also take for granted that there is almost kind of lukewarm permanent loyalty baked in," she added. "January 6th, I think, tested some of the most diehard supporters of the president in terms of who they felt they served and who they had a responsibility -- and that's -- I think that's what we're going to see and hear today."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Many Trump supporters carried firearms on Jan. 6, police transmissions reveal

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Tuesday shared radio transmissions from police identifying supporters of former President Donald Trump who were carrying firearms including AR-15s, rifles and Glock pistols on the National Mall on the morning of the insurrection.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, testified on June 28 and in an earlier deposition that former President Donald Trump and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows were aware that rioters were armed.

Hutchinson said she witnessed Tony Ornato, the former deputy chief of staff of operations who was responsible for security, brief Meadows about the number of weapons present among the crowd.

The hearing was unexpectedly announced a week after the Jan. 6 committee said they were taking a break until the month of July. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day.

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Trump lunged at agent who said he couldn't go to Capitol amid Jan. 6 violence, aide says

Upon hearing that his security detail could not authorize a trip to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after his speech on the Ellipse, former President Donald Trump lunged at the Secret Service agent in charge of his security that day, according to testimony on June 28 from a former senior aide.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked for former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the House Jan. 6 committee that the Secret Service, advisers and lawyers to the president had all warned him about traveling to the Capitol with rioters that day during Congress' official count of Electoral College votes.

Security reports from that morning indicated protesters along the National Mall had weapons, including knives, guns, pistols and rifles, body armor, spears and flag poles. Hutchinson said security officials warned multiple times they could not make a trip to the Capitol happen, guidance she relayed to Meadows both before and after Trump's speech, in which he told rallygoers he would join them in a march toward Congress.

On the way to Trump's vehicle, Meadows told the president that the head of his detail, Bobby Engel, had more information about the trip to the Capitol.

When Trump got into the car, Engel told him they didn't have the assets for the trip and that it wasn't secure. Trump became "irate," Hutchinson said White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato recalled to her after she returned to the White House.

Trump said something to the effect of, "I’m the f***ing president, take me up to the Capitol now." After Engel relayed they had to return to the White House, Trump reached up to the front of the vehicle to grab the steering wheel. Engel grabbed the president's arm and said "Sir, you need to let go," Hutchinson recalled. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Engel's neck, Ornato reportedly told Hutchinson.

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: 'Extremely angry' Trump threw lunch at wall after AG said election fraud claims insufficient

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to the former White House chief of staff during the administration of President Donald Trump testified on June 28 that the former president became “extremely angry” after then-Attorney General Bill Barr gave a news interview in Dec. of 2020 saying fraud had not changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

Hutchinson's testimony came during the sixth public hearing on June 28 by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. She testified that she had been working in the White House when she heard noise down the hallway. She looked out and a valet approached her, saying that Trump wanted to speak to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

After Mark visited Trump, Hutchinson went to the dining room and saw a valet changing the tablecloth.

“He motioned for me to come in and then pointed towards the front of the room near the fireplace, mantle and the TV where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall, and there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor,” Hutchinson said.

“The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP [Associated Press] interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.”

Hutchinson said that the valet warned her that Trump was “really ticked off" and she should stay clear of him.

This was not the first time Trump had thrown dinnerware, according to Hutchinson. She said she was aware of several times this had happened while she was at the White House.

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Aide says Trump wanted to let armed supporters into rally, ’They’re not here to hurt me’

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified on June 28 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its findings to the public.

Hutchinson told Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., that former President Donald Trump was “angry about the extra space [on the Ellipse] and wanted more people to come in” to hear his speech on the day of the Capitol attack.

The committee played video of Hutchinson’s deposition in which she detailed why was Trump was upset — that people with weapons weren’t being let into his rally.

“I overheard the president say something to the effect of, you know, ‘I don’t f-ing care that they have weapons, they aren’t here to hurt me,’” Hutchinson said in the recording, saying he urged them to take the magnetometers away.

Hutchinson then testified she twice attempted to tell Meadows, while he was sitting in a vehicle, that law enforcement at the Capitol needed help defending the building but both times he shut the door when she went to open it.

About 20 to 25 minutes later when she finally told him, Hutchinson said Meadows had a “lack of reaction.”

Hutchinson testified that she had a conversation with former White House counsel Pat Cipollone in which he urged her to relay to Meadows that going to the Capitol on Jan. 6 would be “legally a terrible idea for us.”

“In the days leading up to the 6th, we had conversations about obstructing justice or defrauding the electoral count,” she said.

[Rick Plant]

Trump 'nervous' and 'blindsided' about Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony before Jan 6 committee: report

Former President Donald Trump was bracing for an explosive day of testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide and assistant to chief of staff Mark Meadows, CNN reports.

Hutchinson had previously testified to the Jan. 6 committee that Trump approved of death threats against then-Vice President Mike Pence that were chanted by rioters at the U.S. Capitol.

A person close to Trump who spoke to CNN said the former president is nervous about Tuesday's hearing, which will feature live testimony from Hutchinson and "present recently obtained evidence."

"He definitely wasn't expecting a twist like this," said the person close to Trump.

"The former President and his allies are planning to cast Hutchinson as a junior aide who had little influence inside the West Wing, despite her proximity to both the then-President and his then-chief of staff," CNN reports. "Hutchinson served in the Office of Legislative Affairs prior to becoming a top aide to Meadows and was an eyewitness to several key episodes leading up to January 6, in addition to witnessing some of Trump's real-time reactions that day."

Read the full report over at CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/28/politics/trump-blindsided-january-6-hearing/index.html