Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

MAGA rioters ‘both wept’ as they were sentenced to over 3 years in prison for J6 violence: report



Two supporters of Donald Trump cried in court on Friday as they were sentenced for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"Two New York state men who led a mob that overwhelmed police at the perimeter of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — then bodysurfed over the top of the crowd at a building entrance and pepper-sprayed officers — were both sentenced Friday to 44 months in prison," The New York Times reported. "Cody Mattice, 29, of Greece, N.Y., and James Mault, 30, of Brockport, N.Y., both wept as they stood before Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell and asked for leniency, apologizing for their actions and saying they hoped to return soon to their families and young children. But Howell noted that prosecutors had already cut them a reasonable deal by dropping charges that could have led to far more prison time, and she imposed the sentences requested by the government. Only four other Jan. 6 defendants have been sentenced to longer prison terms."

Judge Howell said, "they were not patriots on Jan. 6, and no one who broke the police lines and stopped the democratic process was a patriot that day."

Mattice reportedly took video of the two.

"Text messages obtained by the FBI showed that Mattice and Mault planned for violence on Jan. 6, initially expecting resistance from antifa. They texted family members during the mayhem, and then congratulated each other in the days after the riot, which temporarily halted the certification of the presidential election," the newspaper reported. "Howell read from many of the messages, using the same profanity the men had."

The two men pleaded guilty in April.

"Shortly before the police line was breached, Mault attempted to convince officers to stand down and join with the mob," the DOJ announced. "At approximately 2:30 p.m., Mattice pulled down a segment of the metal barricades that stood in front of a police line. He quickly grabbed it with both hands, pulling it away from officers and onto the ground. A short time later, rioters overwhelmed the police line, forcing officers to retreat up a central staircase to the Lower West Terrace. Mattice and Mault were part of the group that assaulted the police line. They stood at or near the front of the group, pushing forward against the officers, who attempted to keep the rioters from advancing."

Both men maced officers.

"At approximately 4 p.m., Mattice and Mault approached the tunnel leading into the Capitol Building from the Lower West Terrace," DOJ said. "They attempted to push through the crowd and climbed up and body-surfed over other rioters. After reaching the tunnel, they grabbed onto and hung from the wooden frame surrounding the arch. Mattice reached out to another rioter and grabbed a small object appearing to be a canister. He then sprayed chemical spray at police officers. After doing so, Mattice fell back and into the crowd. Mault likewise obtained a small canister containing chemical spray from another member of the crowd, and he, too, sprayed it at officers defending the tunnel."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Fingered: Meet the notorious Trump operative who delivered the false elector lists



Politico on Friday identified the Donald Trump aide who delivered lists of fake electors in a bid to get them to Mike Pence.

"Mike Roman, then Trump’s 2020 director of Election Day operations, delivered those false elector certificates — signed by pro-Trump activists in Michigan and Wisconsin — to Rep. Mike Kelly’s (R-PA) chief of staff at the time, both people told Politico," Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu reported. "Kelly was a Trump ally in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, and his then-top aide received the documents from Roman before deputizing a colleague to disseminate copies on Capitol Hill, according to both people."

Roman was subpoenaed in February by the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"The origin of the false elector lists, which never got to Pence before he presided over certification of Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, has become an enduring subplot in the select panel’s investigation of the Capitol attack designed to disrupt that day," Politico reported. "After the committee revealed the role of a top aide to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) in the episode during a hearing last month, Johnson said the false elector lists came from Kelly — who has repeatedly denied any involvement by his office in their distribution."

Kelly chief of staff Matt Stroia was reportedly the intermediary.

The Trump White House did not announce Roman's hiring.

"Mike Roman, a longtime Republican opposition researcher who worked for billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch before joining the Trump campaign, is now the White House’s director of special projects and research," ProPublica reported in May of 2017. "He is one of a half-dozen unannounced hires the White House has made since President Trump took office. Roman, who led the Kochs’ surveillance and intelligence-gathering unit before it was disbanded in April 2016, is best known for promoting a video showing members of the New Black Panthers allegedly intimidating voters outside a Philadelphia polling place in 2008."

"ProPublica noted "Roman, who made roughly $246,000 in salary from the Koch-backed Freedom Partners, according to his financial disclosure, was also a contributor to the conservative news site Breitbart and was tapped to run Trump's 'election protection' poll-watching efforts this November."

Roman would again run Trump's election day operation in 2020 and has a long history of election activism.

"A veteran Republican operative who got his start in politics by helping to persuade a judge to throw out hundreds of mail-in ballots is organizing an 'army' of volunteers for President Donald Trump’s campaign to monitor voting in Democratic-leaning areas on Tuesday," the AP reported on election day. "Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day Operations, is a former White House aide from Pennsylvania who gathered claims in 1993 of voter fraud, resulting in a court ruling overturning election results and getting his candidate seated in the Pennsylvania State Senate. It’s a strategy that Trump has been advocating on Twitter and on the stump."

In 2015, Politico reported on Roman under the heading, "The Koch intelligence agency."

"The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life," Kenneth Vogel reported. "The competitive intelligence team has a staff of 25, including one former CIA analyst, and operates from one of the non-descript Koch network offices clustered near the Courthouse metro stop in suburban Arlington, Va."

A former official with the group described Roman, who was paid $286,000 the previous year.

“They act all cloak and dagger – like the CIA. There was a joke about how hardly anyone ever met Mike Roman. It was like, if you wanted to find him, he’d be in a trench coat on the National Mall,” said the former official.

The select committee subpoena says, "it appears" Roman "helped direct" Trump staffers on the phony electors scheme.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

3 men linked to Russian spies were in 'unhinged' Dec. 18 Oval Office meeting with Trump: report



One of America's top counterintelligence experts revealed his thoughts on Saturday on the three men linked to sanctioned Russian spies who were present for a key White House meeting plotting Donald Trump's coup attempt.

"Four days after the electors met across the country and made Joe Biden the president elect, Donald Trump was still trying to find a way to hang on to the presidency," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said in Tuesday's public hearing of the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"On Friday, December 18th, his team of outside advisers paid him a surprise visit in the White House that would quickly become the stuff of legend," Raskin explained. "The meeting has been called unhinged, not normal and the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency. The outside lawyers who'd been involved in dozens of failed lawsuits had lots of theories supporting the big lie, but no evidence to support it."

At the meeting, the group discussed the idea of using the U.S. military to seize voting machines.

"In the wee hours of December 19th, dissatisfied with his options, Donald Trump decided to call for a large and wild crowd on Wednesday, January 6th, the day when Congress would meet to certify the electoral votes," Raskin explained. "Never before in American history had a president called for a crowd to come contest the counting of electoral votes by Congress or engaged in any effort designed to influence, delay, or obstruct the joint session of Congress in doing its work required by our Constitution and the Electoral Count Act. As we'll see, Donald Trump's 1:42 AM tweet electrified and galvanized his supporters, especially the dangerous extremists in the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and other racist and white nationalist groups spoiling for a fight against the government."

In a thread posted to Twitter, former FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok noticed a pattern among some of the participants. Strzok had also headed the FBI's counterespionage section.

Strzok said the meeting had 'staggering counterintelligence issues' presented by three of those in attendance.

"Mike Flynn, who who was paid by an organ of Russian state media to travel to Moscow to attend a dinner where he was seated next to Putin. Flynn later plead guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian Ambassador about election interference," he noted.

"Patrick Byrne, one of several men once in an intimate relationship with convicted Russian agent Marina Butina. Byrne gave money to Butina after her return to Russia, where she ran for the Duma, hounded Navalny, and supported the invasion of Ukraine," Strzok continued. "Rudy Giuliani, who repeatedly met with and took info from sanctioned Russian agents like Andrii Derkach, despite USIC warnings to the White House in 2019 that Trump’s personal lawyer 'was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence.'"

"So in this tiny meeting in the Oval Office where options to upend US democracy were advanced to the President of the United States, there were not one, not two, but three people directly linked to sanctioned and convicted agents of the Russian government," Strzok noted. "While I doubt Russia planned it, their efforts to gain access to Trump’s inner sanctum succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. And it demonstrates just how successful seemingly amateurish intelligence activity can be."

He included a Russian Foreign Ministry photo from inside the Oval Office of Trump meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The meeting occurred in May of 2017, one day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey for investigating Russia's successful efforts to help Trump win the 2016 election.

"President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State," The Washington Post reported a few days later. "A Russian photographer took photos of part of the session that were released by the Russian state-owned Tass news agency. No U.S. news organization was allowed to attend any part of the meeting."

Here is the thread Strzok posted to Twitter:

Read: https://twitter.com/petestrzok/status/1548315766767792128


Legal expert offers roadmap to indict Trump on manslaughter charges

In a column for MSNBC, former U.S Attorney Barbara McQuade suggested there is enough evidence revealed so far during the Jan 6th House committee hearings on the Capitol insurrection that a case could be made to indict Donald Trump on multiple charges of manslaughter.

According to the former federal prosecutor, the committee is focusing on possible sedition or criminal conspiracy referral to the Justice Department, but another avenue to holding the former president to account for the Capitol riot he encouraged would be to nail him for the lives lost that day.

Noting, "Five people died in the Jan. 6 attack. Officer Brian Sicknick sustained a fatal stroke a day after rioters sprayed him with a chemical irritant. Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was shot by police when she tried to climb through a window and enter the House chamber. A Georgia woman, Rosanne Boyland, was crushed by fellow rioters as they pushed their way against the police outside a Capitol door. Kevin Greeson, an Alabama man, died of a heart attack in a sea of Trump supporters on the sidewalk west of the building. Benjamin Philips of Pennsylvania died of a stroke during the assault on the Capitol," McQuade claimed it would not be unreasonable to pin their deaths on Trump due to his negligent actions that day.

Writing, "Under federal law, involuntary manslaughter occurs when a person commits an act on federal property without due care that it might produce death," she explained that Trump's refusal to step in when advised repeatedly by close advisors -- including his children -- that people could get hurt could serve as a starting point for multiple charges of negligent manslaughter.

"It was not until the 187th minute of the riot that Trump put out a video-recorded statement asking the mob to go home. I believe his three hours of inaction could amount to an omission necessary to prove that first element of manslaughter," she wrote. "For criminal liability, prosecutors must show not just simple negligence, but gross negligence, an extreme deviation from the standard of care. Here, Trump certainly was aware, or should have been aware, of the risk of death at the Capitol. And yet he failed to take action. Testimony from staffers who urged him to act will be important at the upcoming hearing, especially for establishing a failure to take due care."

As she notes, "Under DOJ’s Principles of Federal Prosecution, prosecutors should generally charge the most serious, readily provable offense," and that it is debatable that manslaughter charges could take precedence over sedition charges.

"Charging one crime does not preclude charging another, and indictments may include multiple counts. Here, charging manslaughter would not prevent DOJ from also charging Trump with other serious crimes," she suggested before offering, "If sufficient evidence can be assembled to prove conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding or seditious conspiracy, those charges can and should be filed as well to encompass the full scope of his apparent misconduct."

You can read more here:

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/did-trump-commit-manslaughter-jan-6-committee-doj-should-find-n1297314


Right-wing lawyer advised Trump to use 'martial law' in effort to overturn election

According to a bombshell report from the New York Times, around Christmas day in 2020 Donald Trump spoke on the phone with a right-wing lawyer for advice on using martial law as a mechanism to overturn the presidential election results.

The reports note that the new evidence Trump conspired to steal the election comes from notes made by attorney William J. Olson about his conversation with the former president who was at Mar-a-Lago at the time.

According to the Times' Maggie Haberman and Luke Broadwater, "The lawyer, William J. Olson, was promoting extreme ideas to the president that Mr. Olson later conceded could be regarded as tantamount to declaring 'martial law' and could even invite comparisons with Watergate. They included tampering with the Justice Department and firing the acting attorney general, according to the Dec. 28 memo by Mr. Olson, titled 'Preserving Constitutional Order,' describing their discussions."

According to the report, Olson wrote, "Our little band of lawyers is working on a memorandum that explains exactly what you can do,” with the Times adding he marked his notes, "privileged and confidential” and also added "The media will call this martial law. That is ‘fake news.’”

"The document highlights the previously unreported role of Mr. Olson in advising Mr. Trump as the president was increasingly turning to extreme, far-right figures outside the White House to pursue options that many of his official advisers had told him were impossible or unlawful, in an effort to cling to power," the Times is reporting. "The involvement of a person like Mr. Olson, who now represents the conspiracy theorist and MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell, underscores how the system that would normally insulate a president from rogue actors operating outside of official channels had broken down within weeks after the 2020 election."

You can read more here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/16/us/politics/trump-olson-lindell-election.html

[Rick Plant]

Secret Service may be too close to Trump — and they might even be co-conspirators: impeachment lawyer

Former impeachment lawyer and White House ethics czar Norm Eisen speculated whether there were Secret Service agents who are part of Donald Trump's plot to overthrow the government.

Norm Eisen @NormEisen

Here we go @cnn to discuss the mystery of the Secret Service.

Are there a few bad apples in there who are co-conspirators in Donald Trump‘s possible obstruction of justice and witness tampering?

i’ll discuss w/ @FWhitfield a little after 3:40 PM ET

it’s clear there is a witness intimidation campaign

it appears that some at the Secret Service are part of it

now the question is how the new document distruction allegations relate

I’ll discuss tomorrow, Sunday, @CNN at 7AM et & again mid afternoon https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/07/potential-charges-trump-witness-intimidation.html

https://twitter.com/NormEisen/status/1548754304382664706

Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Eisen said that his questions go deeper than just the text messages but about the alliances that the law enforcement agents have with the former president.

"I think that the questions have a larger significance than just whether texts were lost or not," he began. "I'm more concerned that after Cassidy Hutchinson testified, after the blockbuster testimony about Donald Trump's anger that he couldn't go to the Capitol, that some in the Secret Service seem to be part of an anonymous whisper campaign disagreeing with her story. Mr. [Anthony] Ornato, Mr. [Bobby] Engel. And then you find out there have been other witnesses who have come forward and pushed back on that, including a member of the MPD. And now we find out that documents may be missing from the critical days of the 5th and the 6th."

He went on to explain that the committee should be looking into possible legal issues and obstruction of justice charges.

"Was there any intentional effort to obstruct justice here as part of Donald Trump's Secret Service agents being too close to Donald Trump? We don't know the answer, but that needs to get a hard look from the service, from congress, and from the Department of Justice," he said.

Eisen went on to say that he thinks the committee will get to the bottom of what happened and that the DOJ will take a deeper look into a pattern of behavior. That will likely include "the Secret Service agents who may have been a little too close to Mr. Trump. Were they part of an effort to intimidate Cassidy Hutchinson? We need answers on the lost documents and on the behavior of these individuals."

See the panel discussion below:

Right-wing militias will succeed with their next coup attempt after learning their lessons from Jan. 6: extremism expert

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show" early Sunday morning, extremism analyst Kristopher Goldsmith claimed that far-right militia groups like the Proud Boys are paying close attention to House select committee hearings on Jan 6th insurrection and taking notes on what not to do the next time they are given a chance.

Speaking with host Phang, Goldsmith that, for far-right extremists, Jan 6th was a learning experience and the lessons they took away from that day will help them in the future.

"You are very plugged into this world of extremism," host Phang began. "How have members have this group reacted to the January 6th hearings? How will it affect their tactics moving forward?"

"To be frank, they are not reacting, it's like the hearings are not happening," he replied. "Right now, organizations like the Proud Boys are securing seats on the Republican Executive Committee in Miami; this is where Jeb Bush grew his base of power years ago. Now over half a dozen members or former members of the Proud Boys are on the Republican Executive Committee in Miami - Dade."

"We are looking at an evolution of the fascist wing of the far-right extremist Republican Party that is not afraid of law enforcement," he continued. " I mean they learned their lesson, don't fail at a coup and the next time they are going to be successful. And it's going to be because they have people in power who aren't just afraid of them but are truly on their team."

Watch Video Below: 

[Rick Plant]

Wisconsin swing voters who once voted for Trump now believe he should be locked up for Jan. 6



Axios reported Sunday that a focus group of swing voters by Engagious/Schlesinger is ready for former President Donald Trump to be prosecuted for the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.

Polls have consistently shown an increase in the blame for the former president as the House Select Committee continues to host public hearings presenting the evidence they've uncovered. But a focus group can take a deeper dive into Americans' attitudes, particularly of swing voters in swing states.

The Wisconsin swing voters match the same opinion as Arizona swing voters who were interviewed last month.

"Engagious/Schlesinger conducted two online focus groups on Tuesday with 14 Wisconsinites who voted for Trump in 2016, then Joe Biden in 2020," said Axios. "They included 12 independents, one Democrat and one Republican... Eight participants said they've watched at least part of the Jan. 6 hearings so far. Several said the hearings were helpful for "accountability" but that the committee already has 'their proof' of what happened that day."

It's a problem for Donald Trump, but more for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who is up for reelection in November. Johnson was asked by someone to hand over a list of fake electors to Vice President Mike Pence. That list has now come under investigation by the Department of Justice as potential fraud.

Signers to the slate of fake electors have been subpoenaed in recent weeks as the DOJ seeks information on who in Donald Trump's campaign was behind the scheme.

While many of those in the group didn't know much about Johnson, those who did weren't happy. One voter called him a "puppet for Trump."

"Those who thought Trump should face criminal prosecution didn't relent even when the moderator pushed back and said doing so would be unprecedented, potentially putting future presidents at risk of being prosecuted for political reasons," Axios said of the focus group report. "Voters were adamant that such a move would help deter similar attempts by anyone else in the future to 'overthrow the government.'"

One woman said that no president should have provoked what happened on Jan. 6.

"Many people were injured. Look at how many lives you put at stake because you were allowing this to happen. And he was happy about it," said Samantha O.

Another person in the focus group, 59-year-old Andrew R. said, "We have to show other people that this just can't be done in the future. [Prosecution] is going to be the price to pay if you try to do a coup again — and that's exactly what it was, a coup."

There were others in the group who compared Jan. 6 to something happening in "third-world countries." One called it "too extreme," and they feared it would happen again if something wasn't done to prevent it. "It just opens a floodgate for what anybody else is allowed to do."

Rich Thau, president of Engagious, was the one who created the focus group, explained that after leading chants of "lock her up," it's Trump they want to see locked up.

Read the full report at Axios:

https://www.axios.com/2022/07/17/wisconsin-swing-voters-biden-trump-2022-midterms

[Rick Plant]

Two New York residents charged with funneling Chinese investor money to Trump campaign


Sherry Li (right) is pictured with Donald Trump

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Two New York state residents were charged with illegally using funds from Chinese and Singaporean investors to donate $600,000 to then-President Donald Trump's re-election campaign in 2017, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday.

The scheme was part of an effort by Sherry Li and Lianbo Wang to showcase political connections as they sought funds to build a China-themed park in upstate New York, prosecutors said, adding that they raised $27 million in investment, but never completed the project.

Li called the park "Chinese Disneyland," according to a complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn.

Prosecutors said Li and Wang made contributions in their own names to a committee hosting a fundraiser for Trump on June 28, 2017, but that the funds came from 12 foreign donors the pair had charged $93,000 each to attend the event with them.

U.S. campaign finance laws bar foreigners from contributing to political candidates, or being solicited for donations, but nothing prohibits foreign nationals from attending fundraisers, said Washington lawyer Kenneth Gross, an expert in election law.

Li and Wang, both naturalized U.S. citizens originally from China, were arrested in Long Island on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Wang's lawyer declined to comment. A lawyer for Li did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman and a lawyer for Trump, who was not accused of wrongdoing, did not reply to requests for comment.

Li and Wang used a photograph taken at the June 2017 event of Li smiling with Trump and then-first lady Melania Trump to solicit investment for the theme park project, prosecutors said.

Li also used a Chinese national's funds to make donations to other committees that enabled her to attend campaign events in October 2017, including a dinner with Trump.

© Reuters


Trump donors ran $27 million real estate and green card scam, prosecutors say



NEW YORK — Two major Trump donors from Long Island ran a multimillion-dollar immigration fraud scheme, tricking foreigners into believing they’d get green cards and political access for investing in an upstate real estate project, federal prosecutors charge.

Sherry Li and Lianbo "Mike" Wang, who pumped more than $600,000 into President Donald Trump’s failed reelection campaign, were charged Monday in Brooklyn federal court.

Li was photographed with Trump and first lady Melania Trump at a 2017 fundraiser. She and Wang are accused of running the $27 million real estate scam and acting as straw donors to help foreigners skirt bans on U.S. political contributions and gain access to politicians.

Li, 50, and Wang, 45, donated $600,000 to the Trump Victory Fund to get a dozen people from China and Singapore into a June 28, 2017, fundraiser at Trump’s D.C. hotel, according to a criminal complaint.

The money allegedly came from the foreign nationals — a violation of federal law barring foreign contributions to U.S. politicians.

There’s no indication in the criminal complaint that Li and Wang got anything more than fundraiser face-time with Trump in exchange for their donation.

Li and Wang used the appearance of that access, though, to bolster their claims to investors that plans to build an educational complex in upstate New York would go through, even though they didn’t even have the necessary local permits, prosecutors allege.

“Tens of millions of dollars came in from investors and straw donors, who expected their money would bear fruit. However, only one promise came to fruition, the access to political power,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “Foreign money pollutes our immigration and democratic processes, and we must do all we can to protect them.”

When one Chinese citizen asked in December 2018 how much it would cost to get a picture with the president, Wang sent along the photo of Li with the first couple and pushed the real estate project.

“It’s unlawful for businessmen in China to make donations. But these businessmen can invest in our company and become our shareholders. We can then arrange for them to meet with the president, congresspeople, etc.,” Wang explained, according to the complaint. “Donation is definitely necessary. Our company can do that and it is legal.”

Representatives of the former president and the Republican National Committee — which received more than $350,000 in donations from Li and Wang — did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The duo, who live together in Oyster Bay, raised $27 million from about 150 investors into their company, Thompson Education Center, prosecutors allege.

That amount included $16.5 million from people who were hoping to take advantage of the EB-5 Visa Program, which offers the possibility of permanent resident status to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in new businesses in high-unemployment or rural areas.

None of them ever received green cards, despite promises from Li and Wang, the feds allege.

Another $11 million allegedly came from investors promised that they’d hit it big when the educational center announced an initial public offering, which never materialized.

Li and Wang had initially proposed in 2011 a sprawling Chinese cultural theme park in upstate Sullivan County that Li referred to as a “Chinese Disneyland” — complete with an amusement park, a college, homes and an estimated 1.5 million visitors a year, according to court documents.

The plan met resistance from upstate residents and officials, so they scaled it back and instead announced they’d build the Thompson Educational Center in Thompson, New York. They proposed a “multi-phase” project, starting with a $150 million complex that included college classroom buildings, a sports facility, student activity centers and a half-dozen dorm buildings.

They paid for architect plans and minor construction work, but little else -- instead using the money on expensive clothes and jewelry, fine dining and vacations, prosecutors allege.

All the while, the government was rejecting the investors’ green card applications, since immigration officials didn’t find their business plan credible, according to the complaint.

In their marketing material, Li and Wang said the education complex had all the necessary zoning approvals, but that turned out to be a lie, federal prosecutors say.

Li also sent bogus updates to one investor’s mom, along with photos of an entirely different construction site as proof that the project was moving along, prosecutors allege.

© New York Daily News


Minnesota Trump supporter faces federal fraud charges after burning his own camper and blaming it on BLM



On Tuesday, Patch.com reported that a Trump supporter in Minnesota is facing multiple counts of wire fraud after allegedly committing vandalism and arson against his own property, then trying to blame it on Black Lives Matter activists and "Antifa."

"Denis V. Molla, 29, has been charged in federal court with two counts of wire fraud. Molla lied about being targeted by anti-Trump vandals, according to federal investigators," reported William Bornhoft. "On Sept. 23, 2020, Molla falsely reported to law enforcement that someone else had lit his camper on fire, authorities said. Molla reported that his garage door was vandalized with spray-painted graffiti stating, 'Biden 2020,' 'BLM,' and an Antifa symbol, according to investigators. Molla also that his camper was targeted because it had a Trump 2020 flag displayed on it, authorities said."

According to the report, Molla had actually committed the vandalism and arson himself — and then made $300,000 in fraudulent insurance claims for the property he destroyed, $61,000 of which was paid out by his insurance company after he threatened legal action against them.

He also received $17,000 from GoFundMe donors.

Trump repeatedly attacked Black Lives Matter activists as violent in the wake of the George Floyd protests, and threatened demonstrators with further violence, tweeting, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."

This is not the first case of a Trump supporter engaging in fake vandalism and trying to blame it on political opponents. In 2017, Stephen Marks of Connecticut, another Trump fan, was charged with criminal mischief after he graffitied “Kill Trump,” “Left is the best,” “Bernie Sanders 2020” and “Death to Trump” on a local elementary school playground, hoping liberals would take the blame for it.

https://patch.com/minnesota/minneapolis/minnesota-trump-supporter-staged-blm-antifa-crime-feds

[Rick Plant]

Newsmax has broadcast 40 fabrications and conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 since the hearings began



On Monday, the Associated Press reported that far-right cable network Newsmax, an alternative to Fox News that has grown in popularity with conservative viewers in recent years, has told at least 40 false claims or outright conspiracy theories about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol since June, when the House Select Committee's public hearings on the event began.

"Many of the falsehoods, presented by anchors, reporters and guests who include Republican members of Congress, have been repeatedly debunked. Newsmax did not comment on the report," reported Amanda Seitz. "Anchors and guests have claimed that there were only a few hundred rioters or that they were 'unarmed,' despite photos taken from that day and federal charges that show some were armed with guns or used pepper spray, flagpoles and stun guns as weapons. The Department of Justice estimates at least 2,000 people entered the U.S. Capitol."

"Another false claim that Trump ordered National Guard troops to the scene, only to be blocked by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was repeated 11 times since the Jan. 6 committee began its hearings on June 9, for example," continued the report. "That misinformation was proven false more than a year ago: Pelosi doesn’t direct the National Guard."

Jack Brewster, an analyst for NewsGuard, told the AP that this rate of misinformation is significant: “If you’re watching Newsmax, you may come away with an entirely different feeling of what happened at the hearings, and what happened on Jan. 6.”

This comes as Newsmax faces a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, an elections equipment company that the network suggested secretly switched votes away from former President Donald Trump. Courts have rejected repeated efforts by Newsmax to get that litigation dismissed.

Trump has increasingly moved to giving interviews on Newsmax, viewing it as a friendlier venue than Fox News. However, even Newsmax has at some points been cowed by the threats of legal action for false claims, moving to cut the former president's conspiracy theories about election fraud during one interview at the end of June.

Read More Here:

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-donald-trump-misinformation-afa51409a16672232b55fa62b432aba4


Is the Secret Service protecting Trump or itself?



Former senior adviser to Ted Cruz, Amanda Carpenter, wrote for the Bulwark that she's not quite clear on who the U.S. Secret Service is protecting given what has been uncovered about their behavior on Jan. 6.

Among the things that have been uncovered, it turns out the Secret service informed the president about weapons that participants at the Ellipse rally had on Jan. 6. They didn't arrest anyone, despite it being illegal to have firearms on federal property like the Washington Monument. In fact, the Secret Service didn't report the weapons they discovered from rally attendees to the DC Metro Police or the Capitol Police as those rally goers began marching in that direction.

The Jan. 6 committee uncovered an incident that an agent on leave while working for Trump relayed to Cassidy Hutchinson. He is now denying that the incident ever happened and that he told her about it.

Another incident that Carpenter took issue with is the idea that Vice President Mike Pence refused to allow the Secret Service to whisk him away from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Pence’s aide Greg Jacob testified Pence told his lead Secret Service agent Tim Giebels, "I trust you, but you’re not the one behind the wheel." Secret Service procedure is to remove the protectee from dangerous situations. On Sept. 11, 2001, it was unclear what was happening in the United States and Vice President Dick Cheney was put on Air Force Two and they put him in the air away from the overwhelming majority of threats.

Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, said that the vice president didn't want people at the Capitol chanting "hang Mike Pence" to see him fleeing and thinking they'd won. But the idea that Pence didn't trust the Secret Service to make the decisions was startling to those who've worked in the White House over the past several administrations.

Finally, the worst, said Carpenter, is that the Secret Service "lost" the data on their phones that would have revealed any evidence about the expectations or conversations on or around Jan. 5 and 6. It only adds to the years of scandals that the Secret Service has faced, prompting some, like former Breitbart staffer Kurt Bardella to ask if they were obstructing justice, lying and covering up evidence for Trump.

"Does that explanation not quite sound believable? It shouldn’t. Because, really, how could the Secret Service, a law enforcement agency well versed in the practice of preserving documents and corroborating stories, just accidentally destroy communications from one of the most momentous days in its history—especially after the agency was asked to preserve exactly those types of documents?" she asked.

She closed by asking what the real story is and for congressional investigators to probe the details to uncover if there are further questions about the Secret Service if oversight should investigate.

"Put another way: Who or what is the Secret Service really protecting? The president and the vice president, as the highest constitutional officers? Donald Trump? Or itself?" she asked.

Read the full column at The Bulwark:

https://www.thebulwark.com/who-is-the-secret-service-really-protecting/