DOJ delivers a 'significant' blow to Trump as Capitol riot hearings openDonald Trump's alleged efforts to get Justice Department officials to overturn the results of the 2020 election constitute an "extraordinary circumstance" and are not protected by executive privilege, the DOJ wrote in a letter this week.
In the letter obtained by the New York Times, the DOJ advised officials who served in the Trump administration that they can give "unrestricted testimony" to committees investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, including the House panel that will meet for the first time Tuesday.
"The decision runs counter to the views of former President Donald J. Trump, who has argued that his decisions and deliberations are protected by executive privilege," the Times reported. "It also sets up a potential court battle if Mr. Trump sues in a bid to block any testimony.
Trump's supporters have argued that "executive privilege" applies to the former president's communications, but others say it's a matter of "settled law" that executive privilege doesn't apply to extraordinary circumstances. In this case, the Times notes, Trump "pressured DOJ officials overturn the results of the election, asking them to open investigations into claims of vote tampering that investigators said they had already looked into and determined to be untrue."
Bradley Weinsheimer, a top ranking career official in the deputy attorney general's office, noted in the letter that Trump was attempting to use the DOJ to advance his "personal political interests."
"The extraordinary events in this matter constitute exceptional circumstances warranting an accommodation to Congress," Weinsheimer wrote.
Andy Wright, who served as associate counsel to former President Barack Obama, said the DOJ's decision was "a significant development."
A really important move by DOJ to start walking back the previous administration's overly broad executive privilege claims. Keep it coming," added MSNBC analyst Matthew Miller.
Read the full story here:
Trump officials can testify in inquiries into efforts to subvert election outcome and Jan. 6 riothttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/27/us/politics/trump-officials-jan-6-testify.htmlCapitol cop praised for mic drop answer on why he refers to pro-Trump rioters as 'terrorists'Responding to a question from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) about his use of the term "terrorists" to describe the followers of former president Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6th, Capitol policeman Daniel Hodges read the definition of "terrorism" into the record to the applause of viewers watching the House hearing.
Hodges, who was filmed during the riot being crushed between doors as he defended lawmakers on that day, told the Democratic lawmaker, "I can see why someone would take issue with the title of terrorist, it's gained a lot of notoriety in our vocabulary in the past few decades ... But I came prepared."
Following his reading of the definition, commenters rushed to Twitter to praise his performance and for his setting the record straight.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-terrorists-2654011411/Newsmax host rages after his bizarre conspiracy theory gets shut down at Capitol riot hearingDC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone shut down a right-wing conspiracy theory about what happened to him on January 6th during testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
"Forgive me for these questions, but I've got to ask you," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said.
"Apparently in some nether regions of the internet it's being said that you, Officer Fanone, were mistaken for antifa and that's why you were nearly beaten to death that day and carried into the crowd," Raskin noted.
The conspiracy theory has been pushed by Newsmax personality Greg Kelly.
"Is it possible FANONE was mistaken for ANTIFA ? He often, for media appearances, has worn all Black but no insignia, police patches, rank etc"
The tweet came seven minutes after Kelly noted Fanone was wearing his uniform when he responded to the Capitol, something the plainclothes officer had not done in a decade.
"Is there any way that you were mistaken for antifa?" Raskin asked Fanone.
"Well, I was in full uniform. I was -- like I said, wearing my uniform shirt adorned with the Metropolitan Police Department's patch," he explained. "I had my badge on until someone ripped it off my chest. I do not believe I was mistaken for a member of antifa."
Kelly later tweeted: "None of these cops can be trusted with weapons. Resign."
Liz Cheney slams House GOP for playing 'stunning an indefensible' political games with Capitol riot commissionOn CNN Tuesday, following the first day of testimony before the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol riot, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), one of the only Republicans on the committee, blasted GOP leadership for their behavior surrounding the investigation.
"These MAGA forces tried to steal the election once and they're going to try again," said anchor Jake Tapper. "And we don't hear Kevin McCarthy and Steve Ccalise and Elise Stefanik say, no, no, no, we would never do that again. There is zero attempt at reassuring people that what you are suggesting is not true."
"Look, in some ways I think it's actually even worse than that, Jake," said Cheney. "I think that we're in a situation where the people that you mentioned seem to view this as some sort of a partisan political game. And as every American who watched saw this morning, this is really deadly serious. This is a situation where the institution's held, but it was a close-run thing. And as the chairman said, we didn't have a peaceful transfer of power. We had an insurrection, we had an assault on the Capitol."
"Today you had members of Congress, Republican members of Congress actually protesting in front of the Justice Department on behalf of the people who were here and who had been arrested because they participated in the riot and in the insurrection," added Cheney. "That's a stunning and indefensible turn of events."
Watch below:
'Trump is not happy': CNN reporter says watching Capitol cops trash former president was 'devastating' for himCNN reporter Jamie Gangel on Tuesday said that the first day of the Capitol riot commission was not a good one for former President Donald Trump.
In discussing Trump's mindset, Gangel said that the former president must have been particularly angry that he didn't even have longtime ally Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to make a scene while defending him.
"Donald Trump is not happy," she said. "What happened today is what he didn't want to happen. He did not want any committee, and to your point, he didn't have Jim Jordan or any other allies there fighting back or pushing back."
She also said it must have stung for Trump watching uniformed Capitol police officers trash him and his political movement.
"It also was devastating because four policemen in uniform, four heroes, sat there and in devastating, excruciating detail, talked about how Donald Trump supporters were racist, were violent, were trying to stop democracy," she said. "This was a bad day for Donald Trump."
Watch the video below:
WATCH: Republican Adam Kinzinger chokes up at Capitol riot hearing -- then rips his GOP colleaguesRep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the two GOP members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, choked up during his opening statement on Tuesday.
"I never expected today to be as quite as emotional for me as it has been. I've talked to a number of you and have gotten to know you, I think it's important to tell you right now, though, you guys may, like, individually feel a little broken. You guys all talk about the affects you have to deal with, and you talk about the impact of that day. But you guys won," he said, holding back tears.
"You guys held," he continued. "You know, democracies are not defined by our bad days. We're defined by how we come back from bad days, how we take accountability for that. For all the overheated rhetoric surrounding this committee, our mission is very simple: it's to find the truth and it's to ensure accountability."
"Like most Americans, I'm frustrated that six months after a deadly insurrection breached the United States Capitol for several hours on live television, we still don't know exactly what happened. Why? Because many in my party have treated this as just another partisan fight," he explained. "It's toxic and it's a disservice to the officers and their families, to the staff and employees on the Capitol Complex to the American people that deserve the truth. Self-governance is at stake, that's why I agreed to serve on this committee."
"I want to know what happened that day, and more importantly, I want all Americans to be able to trust the work this committee does and get the facts out there free of conspiracy. I am a republican, I'm a conservative, but in order to heal from the damage caused that day, we need to call out the facts. It's time to stop the violence, and most importantly we need to reject those that promote it," Kinzinger said.
Watch:
