Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

New York MAGA election official arrested by FBI on 12 counts of voter fraud



MAGA Republicans all over the United States have been falsely accusing Democrats of committing widespread voter fraud and stealing elections, and many of them are, in the 2022 midterms, campaigning on the false and thoroughly debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump — including gubernatorial nominees such as Arizona's Kari Lake and Pennsylvania's Doug Mastriano. But in upstate New York, according to the New York Daily News, a Republican elections board commissioner, Jason T. Schofield, was arrested on Tuesday, September 13 "on charges of" allegedly "carrying out a brazen ballot scheme that allowed him to cast votes in voters' names."

The New York Daily News' Tim Balk reports, "Jason Schofield applied for absentee ballots for voters who did not want to vote, and, in some instances, personally pushed voters to sign absentee ballot envelopes, positioning himself or his associates to commit voter fraud in primary and general elections in 2021, according to court papers. The 12-count indictment charging Schofield said ballots were counted from at least four voters who were instructed to sign ballot envelopes but were not allowed to complete them."

The court papers, according to Balk, allege, "Schofield was able to vote — or have other people vote — in the RVs' names."

Schofield is an elections board commissioner in upstate New York's Rensselaer County, which is near the state capital of Albany and includes Troy, NY. Balk notes that Schofield "faces up to five years in prison on each of 12 counts of unlawful possession and use of a means of identification, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Albany."

According to Balk, "The Albany Times Union reported that Schofield was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday morning outside his home, and entered a not guilty plea at court in the afternoon. Schofield was released pending a trial scheduled before Judge Mae D'Agostino. He declined to comment as he left his arraignment hearing, according to the Times Union. The Times Union reported that he was subpoenaed earlier this year in connection with a sweeping ballot probe that has also led a Troy city councilwoman to plead guilty to a count of identity theft."

Read More Here:

https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/Rensselaer-County-s-Republican-elections-17438122.php?IPID=Times-Union-HP-CP-spotlight

[Rick Plant]

The GOP is now run by 'your crazy uncle' — and is spreading 'mass psychosis': conservative



On Wednesday's edition of MSNBC's "The ReidOut," conservative analyst Charlie Sykes warned that former President Donald Trump's brand of conspiracy theories and attacks on democracy have metastasized into the entire Republican Party, from the bottom up.

Sykes, a longtime Trump critic who has repeatedly called out the modern GOP's double standards, said that there is no longer much safe harbor for any Republicans who want to govern reasonably, or engage constructively with their right-wing constituents.

"We've both been in talk radio and there were some real gems, so we know they're out there," said anchor Joy Reid. "Could you have ever imagined that the people who used to call in on the radio are now the mainstream — not just the base of the party, they're the candidates. Your thoughts?"

"What a strange and wild ride," said Sykes. "It is like your crazy uncle that you kept in the basement has now suddenly appeared and is running the show ... it's almost as if we've gone post-Trump here, where the craziness has morphed into this mass psychosis where it's not just a few scattered anecdotes anymore, it is state after state where you are seeing, you know, some of the most extreme election deniers, not people running on some conservative or right-wing agenda, but people who have embraced the most bizarre conspiracies."

Among the factors inflaming things further, Sykes noted, are Trump increasingly endorsing the QAnon movement directly and calling into a D.C. jail rally for the high-level January 6 offenders. Meanwhile, he argued, Republican primary voters are consistently choosing "complete kooks" over "reasonably rational Republicans" — something that most recently happened this week in New Hampshire, where voters chose an election denier to run for Senate over Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's preferred candidate.

"If this is really an existential threat, we ought to act like it. But it is bizarre," said Sykes. "I've been pessimistic for some time. I've been amazed over and over again how the craziest voices have become dominant, and unfortunately it's getting worse."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

DOJ is investigating Jeffrey Clark for conspiracy, obstruction and false statements



Donald Trump loyalist Jeffrey Clark, allegedly one of the top people inside the Department of Justice seeking to overturn the 2020 election, is being investigated for felony violations of false statements, conspiracy, and obstruction.

"Clark’s legal team wrote that on June 20 'approximately a dozen armed agents of the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General executed a criminal search warrant at [Mr. Clark’s] home at around 7 a.m. and seized his electronic devices' as part of an investigation into violations of laws concerning false statements, conspiracy and obstruction, according to a report published Wednesday by a committee of the DC Bar’s Board on Professional Responsibility," CNN reported. "This is the first time a document has named the specifics of what the Justice Department is considering as possible crimes, as it looks at the top circle of political players around then-President Donald Trump before January 6."

The disciplinary hearing in front of the DC Bar is separate from the criminal investigation into Clark.

"The attorney discipline committee’s report released Wednesday quoted an assertion Clark made in a still-confidential filing where he discloses the details of the search of his home. He had argued to the ethics authorities that his proceedings there should be on hold while the DOJ and other authorities investigate him," CNN reported. "Trump toyed with the idea of firing the Justice Department’s top leadership and installing Clark, after Clark tried to push the department toward questioning the former President’s election loss."

Clark was also separately subpoenaed by the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"According to a report released last week by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, there is credible evidence that, while serving as an official at the Department of Justice, Mr. Clark was involved in efforts to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power," the select committee wrote. "Mr. Clark proposed delivery of a letter to state legislators in Georgia and others encouraging to delay certification of election results. Moreover, he recommended holding a press conference announcing that the Department was investigating allegations of voter fraud despite the lack of evidence that such fraud was present. Both proposals were rejected by Department senior leadership for lacking a factual basis and being inconsistent with the Department’s institutional role."

Read More Here:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/14/politics/jeffrey-clark-doj-false-statements-conspiracy-obstruction-investigation/index.html



'Shocking' new book claims Trump offered West Bank to Jordan’s King Abdullah II

Former President Donald Trump caused panic when he offered to give away one of the most contested pieces of land in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported, "President Trump once offered what he considered 'a great deal' to Jordan’s King Abdullah II: control of the West Bank, whose Palestinian population long sought to topple the monarchy. 'I thought I was having a heart attack,' Abdullah II recalled to an American friend in 2018, according to a new book on the Trump presidency being published next week. 'I couldn’t breathe. I was bent doubled-over.'"

The book also documents Trump's difficulties with his own cabinet.

"Several top officials 'were on the verge of quitting en masse,' according to the book, citing an October 2018 message Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, wrote to a top aide over the encrypted app Signal," the newspaper reported. "Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke 'all' wanted to quit, Nielsen wrote, according to the book."

The book also details Trump's efforts to punish his perceived enemies, including CNN, Jeff Bezos, James Clapper, John Brennan, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Let’s just cancel it,” Trump reportedly told Nielsen.

Read More Hsre: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/trump-book-jordan-abdullah/

[Rick Plant]

Trump is 'unhappy and displeased' someone in his inner circle is cooperating with the DOJ: reporter



Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig and former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal explained that it was almost certain based on the information that was included in the Justice Department court filings that they most likely had an inside source.

Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Thursday, Leonnig said it might be the reason that folks reportedly said Trump was "unhappy and displeased" while he was at his Virginia golf course this week.

"While there are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around about why he was there, his mood is pretty obvious," Leonnig explained. "He is on multiple fronts under investigation. And he knows, based on all the subpoenas flying around, and some were returned, including Mark Meadows, the request by DOJ for texts, all these things flying around have given the Department of Justice a lot of information. He must know by now as well, Nicole, that somebody in his inner circle, somebody close to him, close to him at Mar-a-Lago, close to him in his White House has been cooperating with the Department of Justice to make clear that there was a high degree of certainty that they would find classified records. Still at Mar-a-Lago after Donald Trump's lawyers insisted they had done a diligent search and none were to be found."

She went on to say that based on what legal analysts have said and the activity of the Justice Department, they may refer it to potential obstruction of justice, potential retention and concealment of government records.

"They are at the place where there's a lot of subpoenas flying around, and that is was Donald Trump or some of his aides and allies engaged in a seditious conspiracy to start that pretty frightening insurrection at our Capitol on January 6th?" she asked.

Katyal agreed with Leonnig, noting that it's clear that Trump is scared, referring to Betsy Woodruff Swan's reports saying that Trump has paid his lawyer at least $3 million from the "Save America PAC."

"$3 million is extraordinary, extraordinary money to do a case," said Katyal. "If you talked to the general counsel of any large company, they'll say maybe a couple of times we've done that and paid that much for a case. But that's a lot. That means there's one of two possibilities. Possibility one is that this lawyer, who was the former Florida solicitor general is demanding a super premium because he's never going to work again."

The second option is that he's overwhelmed with the legal work to do.

"I do think it's remarkable that Trump does at the end of the day manage to find new legal counsel when virtually every attorney that has gone near him thus far wound up the source of a federal probe or ethics violations or this and that," Katyal said. "But $3 million evidently he's talked to at least one person."

The host went on to ask about the possibility of the insider giving the DOJ all of the info.

"It would seem that [the DOJ] is aided by someone who can point them to surveillance footage, by someone who could say, 'There's still more,' or 'It's not all in the storage room, check the office,'" Wallace noted.

Katyal said that the obstruction case was "very strong" against Trump after the search. If it turns out there are more documents he hasn't turned over despite the subpoena and the search warrant, it's guaranteed.

"I think most people that worked at the Justice Department have said, Nicole, they must have a source or sources on the inside," he continued. "It's just too hard to think they would have known to go in, know where exactly to go in, and get these documents. So, I certainly think there is a source or sources on the inside. I also think that Donald Trump himself recognizes it.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

'Most worried Trumpworld has ever been' -- and they're waiting for 'another shoe to drop': MSNBC's Lemire



The Jan. 6 Committee has received thousands of new pieces of evidence from the U.S. Secret Service, and MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire said the latest developments in that investigation has struck fear into Trumpworld.

Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said Wednesday that investigators had received text messages, radio traffic and other "significant" evidence from the agency, and panel member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) agreed lawmakers had received a "large volume of information" the Secret Service fought against releasing.

"Yeah, for most of Trump's time in office and even in his first months out of office, those around him felt like he was almost bulletproof, that he could get by any scandal here," Lemire told "Morning Joe." "Whether it was the Mueller probe or some congressional investigations, even impeachment, that he emerged largely politically unscathed."

"That has changed and in this story," said Lemire, the White House bureau chief for Politico. "We talked to a number of people in the former president's orbit who have been downright spooked by recent developments in Atlanta, D.C., the Jan. 6 committee and, the last few days, dozens of Trump aides received subpoenas. Some had their phones seized, including Mr. Pillow, and there's a sense here, there's paranoia in Trumpworld as to who might be cooperating, text chains have gone silent. There are worries about who might be talking to investigators, and they worry that aides tell us they could be next."

The Department of Justice has not given any indication whether Trump will be charged criminally, or when that might potentially happen, but Lemire said that uncertainty has sent a chill through the former president's orbit.

"DOJ is working quietly, but even the sight of the former president arriving in Washington the other day sparked fears in his orbit that perhaps he was being called in by the Department of Justice," Lemire said. "Turns out he was visiting his golf course in suburban Virginia. The sense from Trumpworld, each and every day, there's a bad headline, another shoe is set to drop, and they do worry that there's more below the surface they're not seeing it. This is the most worried the Trumpworld has ever been, I would say, of the possibility of legal peril for the former president."

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[Rick Plant]

Georgia DA finds credible allegations that serious crimes have been committed in Trump election fraud inquiry: report



Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced Thursday that her office has found credible allegations that serious crimes have been committed in the Donald Trump election fraud case in Georgia, the Washington Post reported.

The scandal began when the former president pressured Georgia officials to change the 2020 election results. In a recorded phone call with Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump demanded that he "find 11,780 votes."

The special grand jury has questioned several top Republicans involved in the election and who either directly witnessed what could be considered a conspiracy to commit election fraud. At one point, Trump's then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, flew down to Atlanta, Georgia with the demand to speak to election officials. The officials were uncomfortable with Meadows and any administration officials putting pressure on their office, while fully understanding that Trump lost the election, according to text messages.

“The allegations are very serious. If indicted and convicted, people are facing prison sentences,” Fulton County District Attorney Willis told The Post.

“A decision is going to have to be made,” on whether to ask Trump to testify, “and I imagine it’s going to be made late this fall," she also said.

She also made it clear that she put a stop to any grand jury information during the primary election to avoid allegations that she was behaving in a political manner. She will also stop the panel on Oct. 7 to ensure the month prior to the election is similarly quiet.

She also said that the probe would be finished calling witnesses by the end of the year.

Previously, Willis suggested that the elector's scandal, the pressuring of officials and threats against election officials could be prosecuted using Georgia's conspiracy and anti-racketeering or RICO laws.

“The RICO statute allows you to tell jurors the full story” of a complex conspiracy, Willis explained. “It’s a great statute for prosecutors."

Read More Here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/15/fani-willis-georgia-prison/

[Rick Plant]

Trump is 'incredibly worried' Jeff Clark will flip on him as conspiracy charges are prepared: expert

On Thursday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat," former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal reacted to the new reports that the Justice Department is investigating former Donald Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark is under investigation for conspiracy, false statements, and obstruction.

Clark, who pushed conspiracy theories at the DOJ and planned to pressure Georgia officials to throw out the election, would be one of the highest ranking officials so far to be charged as a result of the 2020 coup plot. But, said Katyal, it could also put Trump himself in jeopardy.

"You see Jeffrey Clark, who was at one time slotted to be an inexperienced coup attorney general by Trump, going into January 6th," said anchor Ari Melber. "Now we're learning they were looking at, among other things, conspiracy. What does that tell you?"

"It tells me a lot," said Katyal. "So conspiracy is a very flexible doctrine that prosecutors can use, and the key thing about it — it goes all the way back to like the 17th century — that it doesn't require the completion of a crime. It's called an inchoate crime. If you and I agree to rob a bank, that's a crime, even if we end up not doing it, as long as there's an act and furtherance of it. I wrote a whole Yale journal about how this doctrine is a flexible tool for prosecutors to use because it allows people to flip and turn in information to law enforcement."

All of this, argued Katyal, means that Trump — who already apparently has insiders giving the FBI information — should be "incredibly worried" that Clark could flip on him. And the fact that he hired a new lawyer for $3 million upfront is an indication he already is.

"If you talk to the general counsel of any company in the country and you say, what kind of case would you spend $3 million on, it's usually something with a ton of legal work," said Katyal. "And so that suggests to me that's what's going on here. Trump understands that this is not just a small document dispute or something like that between January 6th and this. It's a massive criminal investigation, as it should be."

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