1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Richard Smith]

Yes, throw everyone in jail who has a dissenting view.  Investigate them, arrest them, censor them.   You can even shoot an unarmed woman and later claim it was justified due to her political views.  That's the modern leftist view of America.  Divide Americans by race, gender, income, and vaccine status and declare them the enemy.  It sounds a whole lot like Communist China. 

[Rick Plant]

'Dooms him to the trash bin of history': Heartland newspaper bashes Trump's attempted coup in scathing editorial

Reflecting on new reports that Donald Trump was going to extraordinary lengths to undermine the 2020 presidential election results, the editorial board of the highly influential St. Louis Post-Dispatch slammed both the former president and his die-hard supporters.

With the editor's setting the stage by reporting, "The report makes clear that a handful of top administration officials heroically averted this attempted coup by threatening mass resignations if Trump carried out his scheme," they suggested, "As more and more of these details emerge, Republicans who continue to support Trump's false and toxic claims of electoral victory should think hard about how history will view him — and them."

According to the editorial, "The interim report by the Senate Judiciary Committee shows how Trump's Jan. 6 incitement of a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol was only his most publicly visible attempt to overturn an election he clearly lost. In the days prior, Trump was maneuvering behind the scenes, trying to weaponize his Justice Department to validate his already-disproven claims of election fraud."

They then drew a parallel to Watergate which eventually brought down the presidency of fellow Republican Richard Nixon, saying Trump's attempt to subvert democracy is miles worse and that he and his enablers should forever live in infamy.

"No rational American today would defend Nixon's actions — and he was merely trying to get away with covering up an illegal wiretap, an objectively less damnable offense than trying to overturn a valid national election," they charged. "With every new revelation, Trump's attempted coup against democracy further dooms him to the trash bin of history. Those who still don't understand that might well find themselves joining him there."

You can read the whole piece here.

https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-history-will-harshly-judge-trumps-coup-attempt-and-those-who-defend-it/article_38697341-a37e-518b-9aa0-96f9d35a0ffb.html

[Rick Plant]

Jim Jordan handed the House riot commission the keys to subpoenaing him: report

According to a report from Politico, members of the House select committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection are preparing to go into battle with some of their colleagues over their actions on that day and that may put some Republicans in an awkward spot.

One such GOP lawmaker is combative Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who may have inadvertently handed committee members wanting to talk to him about his multiple conversations with former president Trump, the legal pathway to compel him to testify under oath.

As Politico's Kyle Cheney and Olivia Beavers wrote, "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack has so far avoided directly roping in fellow lawmakers, even as it homes in on Trump's inner circle. Yet each of its investigative steps so far has further underscored the roles that Trump's staunchest House GOP allies played in his bid to throw out the election results," before adding, "Those Republicans connected the former president to willing partners in the Justice Department who might fuel inflated claims of fraud. They huddled with Trump to deliver counsel. And they spoke with Trump by phone on Jan. 6 as he watched his own 'Stop the Steal' rally morph into a violent riot that overtook the Capitol."

According to the report, Jordan will likely find himself under the microscope and -- if he can't get around being subpoenaed by his colleagues -- he only has himself to blame.

"That reality became more explicit this week, when Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked the House to investigate Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) for helping Trump pressure the Justice Department to overturn the election. Perry played a key role in linking Trump with a Justice Department official who was willing to aid the former president's quest to overturn the election, Senate Judiciary Democrats found. Their report also referenced Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-Ohio) contacts with the White House during that timeframe," Politico is reporting.

In Jordan's case, his participation into investigations of Democratic foes and the FBI provided a legal pathway that will likely come back to bite him.

"The question of whether to engage with the select panel is a particularly resonant one for Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. He made his name as an aggressive conservative investigator when Republicans dug into allegations of impropriety at the FBI and Justice Department during the 2016 presidential election. At that time, House Republicans fiercely defended the power of the subpoena to compel testimony from executive-branch officials," the report states. "Now Jordan and several of his colleagues are in uncharted territory, facing possible subpoenas from within their own branch."

You can read more here:

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/09/jan-6-investigators-republican-colleagues-515691

[Rick Plant]

I said this was extremely dangerous last year when Criminal Donald ordered his violent right wing militia thugs to storm the Michigan Capitol. That was a "test run" for the 1/6 insurrection coup attempt. Once again, I was 100% correct.

GOP's 'domestic army': How Michigan Republicans allied with paramilitary extremists and paved the way for insurrection



Although Michigan is one of the 2016 Trump states that Joe Biden flipped in 2020, it is also a state that has had a disturbing amount of activity from far-right militia extremists — including those who planned to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year, subject her to a "trial" for treason and execute her if found guilty. Journalists David D. Kirkpatrick and Mike McIntire, in an article published by the New York Times on February 8, takes an in-depth look at the extremism of Michigan's paramilitary militias and their relationship to the Michigan GOP — a relationship that helped pave the way for the violence of January 6.

"Michigan has a long tradition of tolerating self-described private militias, which are unusually common in the state," Kirkpatrick and McIntire explain. "But it is also a critical electoral battleground that draws close attention from top party leaders, and the Republican alliance with paramilitary groups shows how difficult it may be for the national party to extricate itself from the shadow of the former president and his appeal to this aggressive segment of its base."

In April 2020, the Times reporters recall, armed militia members protested coronavirus restrictions in Lansing, Michigan and stormed the Michigan Capitol Building. According to Kirkpatrick and McIntire, "That intrusion into the Statehouse now looks like a portent of the assault halfway across the country months later at the United States Capitol."

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin has said that in light of the events in Michigan in 2020, "We knew there would be violence" on January 6. When Republican politicians in Michigan condone militia members carrying assault rifles during their protests, Slotkin warned, that "normalizes violence."

Kirkpatrick and McIntire report, "Six Trump supporters from Michigan have been arrested in connection with the storming of the (U.S.) Capitol. One, a former marine accused of beating a Capitol Police officer with a hockey stick, had previously joined armed militiamen in a protest organized by Michigan Republicans to try to disrupt ballot counting in Detroit. The chief organizer of that protest, Meshawn Maddock, on Saturday was elected co-chair of the state Republican Party — one of four diehard Trump loyalists who won top posts."

However, Maddock has condemned the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building and told the Times, "When it comes to militias or the Proud Boys, I have no connection whatsoever to them."

Prominent Michigan Republicans who have allied themselves with militias, according to Kirkpatrick and McIntire, include Ryan Kelley — who has announced a gubernatorial run — and Londa Gatt, a Proud Boys supporter who has described the extremist group as "true patriots." Jeff Timmer, a former director of the Michigan GOP and a conservative critic of former President Donald Trump, is troubled by the alliance between militia members and Michigan Republicans and told the Times, "It is like the Republican Party has its own domestic army."

JoEllen Vinyard, a professor at Eastern Michigan University and expert on political extremism, is also troubled by the Michigan GOP's relationship with militia groups and told the Times, "I think there is a fair amount of sympathy in the Republican Party for these people that wasn't there in the past. It's a much closer relationship now."

Maddock's causes have ranged from fighting coronavirus restrictions in Michigan to trying to help Trump overturn the presidential election results in that state. And although she distanced herself from militias and the Proud Boys in her statement to the Times, she has remained a devout Trump supporter.

"When attempts to stop the counting failed, Ms. Maddock, in December, led 16 Republican electors trying to push into the Michigan Capitol to disrupt the casting of Democratic votes in the Electoral College," Kirkpatrick and McIntire note. "During a 'Stop the Steal' news conference in Washington the next day, she vowed to 'keep fighting.' Marching toward the (U.S.) Capitol on January 6, she tweeted that the throngs were 'the most incredible crowd and sea of people I have ever walked with.'"

https://www.rawstory.com/michigan-gop/

[Rick Plant]

FBI raids home of Proud Boys' Philadelphia chapter leader as part of Capitol riot-related probe: report

The vice president the of Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys had his home in Newark, Delaware, raided by then FBI this Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Aaron Whallon Wolkind, 37, had his computer, phone, and other electronics seized by federal agents who were looking for evidence related to the alleged planning of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Although Wolkind was handcuffed during the raid, he was not arrested or charged. According to Wolkind's lawyer, Jonathon Moseley, agents "took all of his computer and computer devices and phones, including an old broken phone."

"The search warrant permitted agents to seize records and information related to people who 'collaborated, conspired, or assisted,' or 'communicated about matters' including their whereabouts, during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, or the 'legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election,' the filing says. They could also collect 'clothing items' associating Wolkind with the Proud Boys, it said. The offenses cited on the warrant are the same criminal charges Rehl is facing," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Read the full report over at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-proud-boys-raid-aaron-wolkind-20211011.html

[Rick Plant]

Even the East German Stasi lacked your enthusiasm to lock up political opponents, suppress free speech, and undermine democracy.  You should be proud Baghdad Rick.   Democracy is not going to be your friend in the upcoming election.  A red wave is coming in the aftermath of Old Joe's endless disasters.  He is living in a doll house with the entire world laughing.  When the shelves are bare soon even the few supporters that are left will be jumping ship. And who could be surprised?  Old Joe is a lifelong establishment politician with no accomplishments.  None.

Richard always brightens my day with a good laugh.   

I thought you believed in law and order Richard? When someone commits a serious crime they are supposed to be arrested. That's how our laws work. It appears Richard wants a set of rules for one group but when the Republicans and their supporters commit treason, defy subpoenas, or are involved in financial crimes he wants them to get off the hook.

The "disasters" you speak of were all created by Criminal Donald and Americans know that because they elected President Biden in an election blowout to clean up the mess left by the orange criminal. The laughing stock was Criminal Donald who was laughed out of the U.N. and don't forget the entire world was dancing in the streets when Criminal Donald lost. Never in the world history has that happened when a U.S. President lost an election.             
The 81 million that voted for President Biden is NOT going to vote for insurrectionist seditious GOP Republicans. The GOP is in the minority and they simply don't have enough votes. That was proven in 2020. There will be millions of new first time voters 18-21 who will join the effort in defeating the GOP.  President Biden is at 50% approval rating and his agenda is massively popular. We all heard about the imaginary "red wave" in 2018 and 2020. Where was it? But keeping going with the phony 2022 "red wave" narrative. The GOP keeps on losing and as long as they are married to Criminal Donald, they will keep on losing.     

[Rick Plant]

1/6 was coordinated, funded, and planned with right wing militia groups behind the attack.

Members Of Right-Wing Militias, Extremist Groups Are Latest Charged In Capitol Siege
https://www.npr.org/sections/insurrection-at-the-capitol/2021/01/19/958240531/members-of-right-wing-militias-extremist-groups-are-latest-charged-in-capitol-si