1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

REVEALED: Militia group abruptly changed its name as Capitol riot probe was closing in



A far-right paramilitary group linked to Donald Trump's one-time national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abruptly changed its name shortly before its leader was subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

The 1st Amendment Praetorian — which has provided bodyguards to Flynn and other conspiracy theorists, including on the eve of the insurrection — has rebranded itself as an “intelligence, investigations, security and support” firm, the Daily Beast reported Saturday.

"Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 19, multiple social-media accounts associated with a California-based company calling itself 'The Shepherd Group' went live, as did a website hawking its 'holistic, boutique approach' to digital forensics, physical security, surveillance/counter-surveillance, and corporate intelligence," the site reported. "But a little digging reveals that the Shepherd Group is not entirely new: rather, it appears to be a front for the militant group 1st Amendment Praetorian, previously a volunteer outfit that has deployed its self-described force of former armed forces and police personnel as security for right-wing leaders and events. The group’s name derives from the elite cadre of Roman soldiers who served as the emperor’s personal retinue."

The leader of the 1st Amendment Praetorian, Robert Patrick Lewis, was subpoenaed in the Capitol riot probe in November. He now lists himself as CEO of the Shepherd Group on LinkedIn.

The 1st Amendment Praetorian chaperoned a pro-Trump rally at D.C's Freedom Plaza on Jan. 5, and Lewis reportedly had contact with both Flynn and "Stop the Steal" organizer Ali Alexander prior to the insurrection. The subpoena "alluded to Lewis’ social-media cheerleading of the rioters, which he previously told The Daily Beast he did from the Willard Hotel, where various Trump allies had established a 'war room' that day."

"Experts suggested the pivot to a for-profit business model might represent a bid for legitimacy in the face of public scrutiny," according to the Daily Beast.

Chuck Tanner of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights told the Daily Beast that other militia groups, including the Oath Keepers, also "present themselves as a protective service as a means of expanding further into the mainstream."

“Being a security firm and not a far-right paramilitary outfit can give you more legitimacy in that respect, for monetizing and recruiting, and putting on a public face as a more respectable entity,” Tanner said. “There’s a long history of violence stemming from far-right paramilitary organizations. So anything that can foster recruitment, or give them legitimacy, or inflate their sense of power potentially amps up the threat.”

Pointing to Lewis' promotion of conspiracy theories, Tanner added, "It’s terrifying: you combine the conspiracy framework that a lot of these groups operate under with far-right ideas and weapons training."

Read the full story below:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/flynns-fave-paramilitary-rebrands-as-private-security-firm

[Rick Plant]

Capitol rioters' boasts on social media are coming back to haunt them as they face prison



According to a report from the Associated Press, participants in the Jan 6th Capitol insurrection are finding out that their boasts on social media about taking part in the riot that sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives are influencing the amount of time they may spend in jail.

Case in point: convicted insurrectionist Russell Peterson of Pennsylvania was confronted by U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson with a Facebook post he wrote where he told his friends, "Overall I had fun lol.”

That didn't sit well with the judge who told him, before sentencing him to 30 days in jail, "The ’lol’ particularly stuck in my craw because, as I hope you’ve come to understand, nothing about January 6th was funny. No one locked in a room, cowering under a table for hours, was laughing.”

Peterson is not the only one to have his social media comments blow up in his face months after the riot.

"FBI agents have identified scores of rioters from public posts and records subpoenaed from social media platforms. Prosecutors use the posts to build cases. Judge now are citing defendants' words and images as factors weighing in favor of tougher sentences," AP's Michael Kunzelman wrote. "As of Friday, more than 50 people have been sentenced for federal crimes related to the insurrection. In at least 28 of those cases, prosecutors factored a defendant’s social media posts into their requests for stricter sentences, according to an Associated Press review of court records."

According to the report, "Rioters’ statements, in person or on social media, aren’t the only consideration for prosecutors or judges. Justice Department sentencing memos say defendants also should be judged by whether they engaged in any violence or damaged property, whether they destroyed evidence, how long they spent inside the Capitol, where they went inside the building and whether they have shown sincere remorse."

In the case of Lori Ann Vinson who "publicly expressed pride in her actions at the Capitol during television news interviews and on Facebook," Judge Reggie Walton admonished her, “I understand that sometimes emotions get in the way and people do and say stupid things, because it was ridiculous what was said. But does that justify me giving a prison sentence or a jail sentence? That’s a hard question for me to ask,” before sentencing her to five years of probation and ordering her "to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 120 hours of community service."

New Jersey gym owner Scott Fairlamb was filmed punching a police officer outside the Capitol, with AP reporting, "His Facebook and Instagram posts showed he was prepared to commit violence in Washington, D.C., and had no remorse for his actions, prosecutors said."

Facing Senior Judge Royce Lamberth, Fairlamb was told after accepting a plea deal, "You couldn’t have beat this if you went to trial on the evidence that I saw.”

Fairlamb was subsequently sentenced to 41 months in prison.

You can read more here:

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-12-11/capitol-rioters-social-media-posts-influencing-sentencings

[Rick Plant]

Mark Meadows met multiple times at White House with retired military officer tied to insurrection PowerPoint



According to a report from the Washington Post, a retired military officer who was a strong proponent of overturning the 2020 presidential election, was welcomed at the White House and spoke with Donald Trump's chief of staff "maybe eight to 10 times" before the January 6th riot at the Capitol.

The report states that retired Colonel Phil Waldron -- 'who circulated a proposal to challenge the 2020 election, including by declaring a national security emergency and seizing paper ballots' -- was in constant contact with Mark Meadows.

The WaPo reports, "Philip Waldron, the retired colonel, was working with Trump’s outside lawyers and was part of a team that briefed the lawmakers on a PowerPoint presentation detailing 'Options for 6 JAN,' Waldron told The Washington Post. He said his contribution to the presentation focused on his claims of foreign interference in the vote, as did his discussions with the White House. A version of the presentation made its way to the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 5. That information surfaced publicly this week after the congressional committee investigating the insurrection released a letter that said Meadows had turned the document over to the committee."

"The presentation was that there was significant foreign interference in the election, here’s the proof. These are constitutional, legal, feasible, acceptable and suitable courses of action," Waldron explained.

Summing up, the Washington Post reports, "Waldron’s account of his interactions with the White House, together with a 36-page version of the presentation that surfaced online this week and was reviewed by The Post, shed new light on the wild theories and proposals that circulated among the people advising Trump as they worked to overturn his election defeat, causing a crisis at the heart of government. They suggest that Meadows, who also pressed senior Justice Department leaders to investigate baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud, was more directly in contact with proponents of such theories than was previously known."

You can read more here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/phil-waldron-mark-meadows-powerpoint/2021/12/11/4ea67938-59df-11ec-9a18-a506cf3aa31d_story.html

[Rick Plant]

Here's another serious crime Criminal Donald committed
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-2656000211/

[Rick Plant]

The House Select Jan 6 Committee released its Contempt of Congress report against Mark Meadows. It's 51 pages long.

This section highlighted really stands out. The Committee wants to know about the Jan 5th Meadows email about getting the National Guard to "protect Pro-Trump people". 

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211213/114313/HRPT-117-NA.pdf

[Rick Plant]

The House Select Jan 6 Committee released its Contempt of Congress report against Mark Meadows. It's 51 pages long.

This section highlighted really stands out. The Committee wants to know about the Jan 5th Meadows email about getting the National Guard to "protect Pro-Trump people". 

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211213/114313/HRPT-117-NA.pdf

What this amounts to is clear treason by Criminal Donald. He knew there was going to be violence at the Capitol,
otherwise why would he call on the National Guard to "protect his people"? It's illegal for a President to use the National Guard as his own personal military against other Americans.

Mayor Bowser of DC asked for help begging for the National Guard to step in to stop the attack on the Capitol. The National Guard never showed up until hours after the riots, because it looks like what we already knew, and that is the National Guard had direct orders from Trump to stand down because it was "his people" committing the acts of violence. In this email is says for the National Guard to "protect his people". 

Another piece of damning information is that, in the District of Columbia, the National Guard answers only to the President and then Secretary of Defense. Criminal Donald fired the Secretary of Defense on November 9th AFTER he lost the election. So, Criminal Donald was the only one who could have told the National Guard not to show up to protect our Capitol Police officers under attack and our members of Congress who's lives were in serious danger. 100% treason.

[Rick Plant]

The list of people who called Mark Meadows begging Trump stop Capitol attackers on Jan 6



The new 52-page report from the House Select Committee on the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6 details a list of people who called chief of staff Mark Meadows begging then-President Donald Trump to stop the attack.

While many attempted to call Trump himself, he wasn't answering many calls. That's when people turned to other Trump staffers as well as family members like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

The committee report says that Meadows got text messages from a "media personality," who told Meadows to tell Trump he had to issue a statement telling his people to leave the Capitol "peacefully."

Another text, according to the footnotes of the report, captured even the confusion with the direct quotes: It read that Meadows "sent to one of — by one of the President’s family members indicating that Mr. Meadows is, quote, ‘pushing hard,’ end quote, for a statement from President Trump to, quote, ‘condemn this sh*t.’”

The report also said, "We would ask Mr. Meadows questions about text messages reflecting Mr. Meadows’ skepticism about public statements regarding allegations of election fraud put forth by Sidney Powell and his skepticism about the veracity of claims of tampering with Dominion voting machines."

Other text messages and calls cite Meadows' conversations about Trump's Jan. 2, 2021 call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Meadows' communications include "texts to and from participants in the call as it took place, as well as text messages to and received from Members of Congress after the call took place regarding strategy for dealing with criticism of the call."

Another cited by the committee revealed that Meadows participated in meetings and calls where those participating agreed there was a need to "fight" back against "mounting evidence" for voter fraud that courts had overwhelmingly rejected. The report said that Meadows also participated in an Oval Office meeting with Trump and Republican members of Congress he bragged about on Twitter after the fact. There was another call he participated in just days before.

The Justice Department's Trump ally, Jeffrey Clark, was trying to convince Trump and Meadows that he should be installed as the new Attorney General so that he could stop the Jan. 6 certification. In Dec. 2020 text messages, Meadows was discussing the Clark appointment with GOP members of Congress.

Other text messages came from Meadows to members begged for Trump-friendly state legislators who could help stop state certification of the vote. In Nov. 2020, Meadows also asked congressional allies for contact information from the Arizona's attorney general to discuss "election fraud." According to a member, "the President asked him to call Governor Ducey."

Communications between Meadows and organizers of the Jan. 6 political rally after the Capitol attack were also discovered. He discussed with the organizers about who would speak at the Ellipse, about planning and "where certain individuals would be located."

You can read the full Jan. 6 Committee report here:
https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=114313