1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Trump and his supporters still repeating lies about who was behind Jan. 6 MAGA riot

According to NPR's Tom Bowman, the enduring myth that it was outsider agitators who were behind the Capitol riot that followed the "Stop the Steal" rally continues to this day even though it is patently false.

And he should know -- because he was there.

As NPR's Lauren Hodges writes, Bowman described what he saw and heard that day and -- going back and speaking with fans of Donald Trump -- found that they and the former president are still trying to whitewash what happened that day.

According to Bowman, "Some Trump supporters were singing YMCA but using the letters M-A-G-A," at the 'Save America"' rally, however, "things were different at the Capitol building, where I was standing with Hannah Allam, NPR's extremism reporter. The far-right group the Proud Boys had just shown up and were organizing a crowd to head for the rally. We had quietly embedded ourselves with them as they began to walk west on Pennsylvania Avenue."

Arriving nearer the Capitol, Bowman stated he spoke with one man who identified himself as "Joe from Ohio," and asked him what the plan was.

With a replica gallows being built on the Capitol grounds, Joe stated, "The people in this house, who stole this election from us, hanging from a gallows out here in this lawn for the whole world to see, so it never happens again. That's what needs to happen. Four by four by four, hanging from a rope out here for treason."

Natalie O'Brien of Detroit explained her reason for being there, claiming, "The Republic is falling. And becoming corrupt and unmanageable. And our vote not mattering at all whatsoever. Our tax dollars pay for this monument. This is kind of our property."

As NPR's Hodges notes, "Months later, Tom Bowman and I went back to the Capitol grounds in Sept. for the 'Justice for J6' rally. A lot of the people we spoke to had also been there on Jan. 6. And yet, they were echoing the story they had heard on Fox News."

According to Phil from Kentucky, "Those weren't Trump supporters," with Janie from South Carolina adding, "... she saw members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter committing the violence. She also claimed the Trump supporters were actually trying to fight them off. But when we mentioned we were on site that day, she admitted that she never actually came close enough to the Capitol to see any violence," according to Hodges.

With Trump still repeating the lie that it was outsiders who were responsible for the violence, the attorney for several of the Capitol insurgents said his clients have seen the light.

Tampa Bay attorney Bjorn Brunvand explained one of his clients, "...believed in the lies that were being professed by former President Trump and his accomplices," but now knows he was duped.

"It went from 100% support for President Trump and the idea that the election was fraudulent at the beginning ... to the recognition that he was misled. He's sitting in a detention facility here in Washington, D.C. and this big powerful former president who said 'meet me at the Capitol', he's too busy playing golf and has no interest in any of the guys that have been arrested," he explained.

As for Trump, Brunvand added, "Not only did he not show up, he's not there for anyone who were there and supposedly were there to save democracy and save the country. When in fact, they were doing quite the opposite."

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-16-lies/

[Rick Plant]

Jim Jordan looking at 'jail time' if he defies Capitol riot committee: former US attorney



During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Sunday Show," former U.S. Attorney Barabra McQuade agreed with host Jonathan Capehart that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) doesn't "have a leg to stand on" if he defies the House select committee and refuses to talk if they subpoena him.

Stating it would be "unprecedented" McQuade said Jordan could nonetheless end up in jail while talking about the lawmaker and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) who could also be subpoenaed

"You know, the word unprecedented is sometimes overused I think in these days," the former Justice Department official told the host. "But this is absolutely a situation that's unprecedented, subpoenaing a member of Congress. As a professional courtesy, they have first been requested to come forward, but if they continue to refuse, Chairman [Bennie] Thompson (D-MS) said they will use subpoenas if necessary."

"I imagine they will fight them, you know, asserting some of the same legal arguments we heard from others," she continued. "But I think, if Congress wants this information, there is nothing in the law that prohibits them from issuing subpoenas to fellow members of Congress."

Focusing on Jordan after watching a clip of him admitting he spoke with former president Donald Trump, the smirking McQuade added, "Well, I think at some point if he continues to fight, then the committee will demand that he come by issuing a subpoena. At that point his options are to be held in contempt, which can include jail time if he is prosecuted for that crime; so the same path that we have seen for Steve Bannon. So I think it is going to be difficult for him to manage, because unlike Steve Bannon, he's an elected official."

"At some point I think his refusal to testify could impact his candidacy down the road," she added. "Of course, he represents a base that perhaps would see that sort of defiance as being more attractive rather than less attractive. He's clearly somebody who has information. I think if I put somebody on the stand with that kind of evasive answer, I would use that as evidence of consciousness of guilt. I want to know what they discussed that day, before that day, and after that day."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

Capitol police ‘probably 400 officers down’ as Jan 6th riot anniversary looms: report



As the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol looms over America, Capitol Police are warning of increased threats and overburdened officers.

"...while leaders feel readier today than they did on Jan. 5, no one is rushing to declare the threat has passed," POLITICO reported.

“The last thing that I want to do is say, ‘this could never happen again’ and have it sound like a challenge to those people,” Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger told POLITICO. Manger took over the department in August after his predecessor's ouster following the siege. “I’m not trying to be overconfident. We are much better prepared.”

The U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6 resulted in upward of 150 police officers wounded and four rioters dead. Additionally, several officers died by suicide following the riots and another officer succumbed to a stroke.

POLITICO reported that "Capitol Police officers remain overtaxed and exhausted, logging crushing amounts of overtime as they grapple with a depleted force. Threats against members of Congress are still spiking. A Sept. 18 rally to support certain insurrectionists drew an overwhelming police presence that dwarfed the smattering of demonstrators, raising questions about an overcorrection and quality of intelligence."

Manger revealed that 135 officers have retired or resigned since the Jan. 6 riots. The force is “probably 400 officers down from where we should be.”

“My concern about the Capitol Police is that we're making them work too hard and too long,” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate committee that oversees Capitol security, told reporters recently. “And we need to figure out a way to shift some of those responsibilities ... or to figure out a way to recruit more people.”


Could Jan. 6 happen again?
The Capitol Police has made progress under a new chief. But many on the Hill don't have an easy answer.

Could it happen again?

That’s the question facing policymakers and law enforcement leaders who've spent the last year assessing the failures in their response to Jan. 6, 2021.

As they cope with the searing trauma in their own ranks, they’ve tried to patch flaws in Capitol security exposed by the attack — inspired by former President Donald Trump — that wounded more than 150 police officers and left four rioters dead. Another officer died of a stroke after responding to the riot, and several more died by suicide in the ensuing weeks.

But the political blight that contributed to the attack has only worsened, inside and outside the Capitol. So while leaders feel readier today than they did on Jan. 5, no one is rushing to declare the threat has passed.

“The last thing that I want to do is say, ‘this could never happen again’ and have it sound like a challenge to those people,” said Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger, who took over the department in August after his predecessor's ouster following the siege. “I’m not trying to be overconfident. We are much better prepared.”

The story of that preparation is only partially written, though. Capitol Police officers remain overtaxed and exhausted, logging crushing amounts of overtime as they grapple with a depleted force. Threats against members of Congress are still spiking. A Sept. 18 rally to support certain insurrectionists drew an overwhelming police presence that dwarfed the smattering of demonstrators, raising questions about an overcorrection and quality of intelligence.

And with the atmosphere under the dome as personally corrosive as ever, it's tough to say the Capitol has moved forward from Jan. 6. Many of those who fled from or responded to the violence are indelibly scarred.

“My concern about the Capitol Police is that we're making them work too hard and too long,” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate committee that oversees Capitol security, told reporters recently. “And we need to figure out a way to shift some of those responsibilities ... or to figure out a way to recruit more people.”

Manger says 135 officers have retired or resigned since Jan. 6, and the force as a whole is “probably 400 officers down from where we should be.”

The chair of the House select panel on Jan. 6, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), recently took stock of the challenges facing the Capitol during a police-led tour of sites breached by rioters.

“I am more confident, given what occurred on Jan. 6 of last year, that if something like that occurred this time, the likelihood of anything close [happening again] would be zero," Thompson said in an interview. "The only question is whether or not we have put our intelligence gathering entities on a sharing path ... It was the worst-kept secret in America that something was going to happen, and why our agencies did not pick it up in real-time and be better prepared is one of those weaknesses we have to make sure we fix."

What has changed...

Manger can claim a number of notable improvements in preparation since he took charge.

Every Capitol Police officer now carries a department-issued phone that provides real-time emergency alerts. The phones address what became a crippling problem on Jan. 6: A flood of radio traffic that drowned out key messages and left officers feeling leaderless during the fighting.

The department’s riot control unit, singled out as deficient on Jan. 6, now has more diverse “non-lethal” gear to help with crowd control. Its intelligence analysts now regularly share threat assessments with rank-and-file officers, after many of those officers lamented that their leaders never informed them of prior intelligence about the potential for violence at the Capitol.

Wes Schwark, an operational planning expert who organized Secret Service security during major events, is now on board. Congress gave the department a needed $100 million cash infusion over the summer.

With little fanfare, Congress also passed — and President Joe Biden signed — legislation giving the Capitol Police chief the unilateral authority to seek National Guard assistance, eliminating a hurdle that delayed a request for help on Jan. 6, 2021. Thompson pointed to this policy change and noted the new leadership not just at the U.S. Capitol Police but also in the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, who are responsible for coordinating security for their respective sides of the Capitol.

Manger's also working to beef up Capitol Police coordination with other law enforcement agencies. When intelligence pointed to violence at the Capitol during September's protest in support of some alleged Jan. 6 rioters, he brought together 13 agencies, conducted tabletop exercises and “planned for the worst.”

“The things that went wrong on Jan. 6, the failures within this organization,” Manger said, “those have been fixed to a point where I don’t believe that you’d have the same outcome.”

However, the September protest proved minuscule. And some lawmakers skeptically eyed that day's overwhelming law enforcement presence.

“I don't believe we're in any better security posture today than we were on Jan. 5,” said Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. "I think there's still way too much politics involved in security decisions."

Davis pointed to the mismatch between the security posture near the Capitol on Sept. 18 and the scale of the event that took place as a sign that the Capitol Police has more work to do on analyzing its intelligence.

...and what still needs attention

Manger expects the department will have investigated more than 9,000 potential threats against members of Congress since Jan. 6, a tenfold increase since 2016. He attributes the increase to a cauldron of animosity fueled by social media.

“We definitely need to add staffing to fulfill that responsibility,” Manger said, lamenting “the dynamics of social media and, I think, the lack of civility that a lot of folks have. And just the toxic culture.”

He'll face questions during a Wednesday Senate hearing about other challenges, including whether the Capitol Police has done enough to implement the post-Jan. 6 recommendations of its inspector general.

“[T]he Department still has more work to achieve the goal of making the Capitol Complex safe and secure,” independent watchdog Michael Bolton told senators recently.

Bolton issued monthly reports throughout 2021, identifying problems that hurt the Capitol Police's response to the riot. In addition to insufficient deployment of non-lethal weaponry, a problem Manger has tackled, the inspector general found the department's leaders lacking a cohesive emergency plan. Its intelligence division was threadbare and ill-prepared.

More fundamentally, Bolton wants the Capitol Police to function more like a protective agency — akin to the Secret Service — than a police department. Of the 104 recommendations delivered by his office, the Capitol Police has only fully implemented one-third so far, he told senators. (Manger says Bolton’s tally doesn’t include the fact that another 60 recommendations are substantially, if not fully, complete.)

The inspector general isn't alone in evaluating the Capitol Police's still-unfinished progress on incorporating the lessons from a brutal year. The Jan. 6 select committee, though its primary focus is on Trump and his network, is also eyeing recommendations to protect the Capitol campus.

An outside review ordered by House Democratic leaders, as well as a bipartisan Senate investigation, culminated in more sets of suggested reforms last year. One small but meaningful proposed shift became law last month — it allows a Capitol Police chief to request National Guard assistance without going through the department's oft-criticized board structure.

From inside the Capitol?

While GOP lawmakers have lambasted a few Democrats for suggesting that Republicans gave rioters "reconnaissance" tours or other help, a claim for which no evidence has emerged, the Capitol Police has reckoned with misdeeds in its own ranks. Some officers were seen fist-bumping or taking selfies with people who breached the Capitol, and the department substantiated a handful of the three dozen-plus misconduct reports it investigated.

More significantly, 25-year Capitol Police officer Michael Riley was indicted for attempting to help a rioter erase evidence. That rioter rejected his advice and helped the FBI bring charges against Riley.

Bolton recommended that all officers obtain secret- or top secret-level security clearances, which involve extensive background checks. The inspector general said this would raise the caliber of recruits and guard against potential insider threats; department leaders resisted the move.

Manger told POLITICO that Bolton’s goal may be worthy, but it’s premature and not universally necessary as the department struggles to fill open positions.

“If we require every officer to have a security clearance, we’re slowing down that process,” Manger said, adding that the department conducts comprehensive vetting during hiring.

Possible insider threats, Manger said, aren't considered "a huge problem.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/03/could-january-6th-happen-again-526167

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 panel moving closer to establishing Trump's state of mind during Capitol riot



Congressional investigators are getting closer to building a case for Donald Trump's state of mind during the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to panelists on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) revealed the House select committee has "firsthand testimony" that Ivanka Trump asked her father to call off his supporters from storming the U.S. Capitol, and chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) says the panel has "significant testimony" that the White House was asked to intervene, but the former president waited nearly three hours before half-heartedly urging the rioters to go home.

"Just think about this, his daughter Ivanka asked him twice to do something and intervene to stop the riots, Don Jr. sending frantic texts asking for somebody to do something to stop the riot," said host Joe Scarborough. "Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans begging him to do anything to stop the violence. They thought their lives were in danger and, of course, several of them, including Kevin McCarthy, going on the House floor afterwards blaming Donald Trump for the violence."

MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire said the situation revealed how hollowed out the White House staff was in the final days of Trump's presidency, and he said the House panel was moving closer toward establishing evidence of the twice-impeached one-term president's thoughts about the riot being carried out on his behalf.

"Let's also recall when they finally were able to move the president to release a video he would push out in a tweet, he wouldn't do that," Lemire said. "He was indeed in that private dining room just off the Oval Office, he liked to brag about the 'super Tivo' setup he had and he was watching live footage and sort of cheering on the protesters. They finally got him outside to the Rose Garden to cut a few videos. The first three efforts, we've now learned, he didn't really urge people to go home, he sort of saluted the protesters' efforts at the Capitol. It took until, like, the fourth or fifth take before he finally told them to leave. He even, while doing so, said he loved them."

"So we know the committee is also trying to get its hands on those first few cuts of the video, the unreleased versions, thinking it will also help build the case of the president's state of mind on Jan. 6," Lemire added.

[Rick Plant]

'Bad news for Donald Trump' as House riot committee acquires 'direct knowledge' of White House doings: CNN



According to CNN's Jamie Gangel, the decision by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) to divulge information about what the House select committee investigating the January 6th riot has acquired so far is "bad news for Donald Trump."

Speaking with hosts Jim Sciutto and Bianna Golodryga, Gangel explained that the Wyoming Republican's words were intended as a "warning" that White House insiders are turning on the ex-president.

On Sunday, Cheney told ABC News, "The Committee has firsthand testimony now that he was sitting in the dining room next to the Oval Office watching the attack on television as the assault on the Capitol occurred."

Asked to explain Cheney's motivation to go public, Gangel stated, "First of all, let's put it out there : this is bad news for Donald Trump."

"In addition to what Congresswoman Cheney said, a person with knowledge of the investigation has told me the January 6th committee has information from multiple sources with firsthand knowledge," she added. "So not just one source, and that these sources describe what the president was saying, doing and not doing during the riot."

"The source said 'there's a collection of people with relevant information.' Translation? Firsthand indicates someone with direct contact or knowledge," she elaborated. "It could be someone who is in the room, someone on the phone, someone with direct firsthand information. Bottom-line? The committee has broken through Trump's wall."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

'Seditious conspiracy charges in play' for Trump after damning House committee revelations: former US attorney



Appearing on MSNBC on Monday morning, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said new revelations about what was going on in Donald Trump's White House seem to indicate that sedition charges are being considered by the House committee investigators.

Speaking with host Andrea Mitchell, the former federal prosecutor explained that damning comments made by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) over the weekend seem to indicate expanded possibilities for prosecuting the former president.

"Congresswoman Cheney was saying that there are several criminal statutes in play as to whether or not there could be some enhanced penalties or some issue regarding the former president's actions that day," host Mitchell prompted. "What laws do you think could be used against the former president if it's approved that he was criminally negligent by not calling off the rioters or do you think new laws would have to be enacted?"

"No, I think there are current laws on the books that could be applied there," McQuade began. "I don't know that negligence alone is going to be enough, but as Congresswoman Cheney has recited on occasion, there is a crime making it illegal to corruptly impede or obstruct an official proceeding, which includes proceedings before Congress. If he [Trump] had the power to stop that riot from happening and to permit the vote to go forward, his failure to do that could be that effort to corruptly obstruct the official proceeding. It may be, you know."

She continued, "We've got this 187 minutes when he sat and did nothing despite the fact that he knew that this violence and destruction was occurring. Is it because it was all part of a larger plan? So I think, in addition to that obstruction statute that Congresswoman Cheney has mentioned, I think we could also look at conspiracy to defraud the United States -- that just means trying to impede the normal functioning of government -- all the way up to seditious conspiracy. I think all of those potential crimes are in play."

Watch below:
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-sedition-charges-2656210804/

[Rick Plant]

'The committee has broken through Trump's wall' and knows exactly what he did during riot: CNN's Jamie Gangel



CNN reporter Jamie Gangel on Monday said that the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riots has gained direct testimony describing former President Donald Trump's actions as he watched his supporters storm the Capitol.

Speaking with host Jake Tapper, Gangel broke down what sources have been telling her about testimony the committee has secured.

"The source said, quote, there's a collection of people with relevant information," she said. "Translation, Jake: 'Firsthand' indicates the committee is now hearing from people with direct knowledge. It could be someone who was in the room, someone on the phone, but these are people with firsthand information. I would say, bottom line, Jake, this means the committee has broken through Trump's wall."

Trump had indicted to top allies such as Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon that he did not want them cooperating with the committee, but it seems that the committee has nonetheless gathered testimony from other Trump officials to create a full picture of the president's actions during the riots.

During her talk with Tapper, Gangel elaborated on one potential witness who could have given the committee significant information.

"One witness that we know of who has given a deposition to the committee is Keith Kellogg," she said. "He was former vice president Mike Pence's national security adviser who happened to be with Trump in the White House on January 6th when the riot was going on."

Watch the video below: