1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Marjorie Taylor Greene had a days-long meltdown over 'insurrectionist' lawsuit – here are 5 key moments



Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) has been ordered to testify in a lawsuit brought by a group of voters who want her removed from the ballot for supporting an armed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and she seems pretty stressed as Friday's hearing draws closer.

Judge Amy Totenberg ruled this week that the lawsuit, filed by five voters from her district who argue that Greene should be stricken through the U.S. Constitution's Disqualification Clause, could move forward, and she complained bitterly Thursday during an appearance on Right Side Broadcast Network.

"So Friday, I am being forced to go on the witness stand under oath to be questioned about something I have never done, something I have never been charged with -- no one has, absolutely no one has because it didn't happen," she told the conservative network. "I am actually going to have to sit there and answer these questions as the first member of Congress to be put in this situation. So it's absolutely absurd."

Greene used similar language to complain about the deposition during an appearance Wednesday on One America News.

"They are actually putting me on the witness stand on Friday," Greene said. "I am the first Republican member of Congress that is going to be forced to take the witness stand under oath and defend myself against a lie and something I never did."

She complained about her required testimony the evening before on Tucker Carlson's Fox News program, and she snapped at a local TV reporter's questions Tuesday about the suit, which she said should be dismissed.

"I'm not accused of anything because I did nothing wrong," Greene said during the interview with News Channel 9. "I don't care what the lawsuit says I did nothing wrong. And this is a scam, okay? So I'm not entertaining this."

Greene claimed Monday evening, also on Carlson's program, that she was the victim of a political conspiracy.

"The progressives, the people who donate to dark money groups ... they've hired up some attorneys from New York who hate the people from my district and don't believe that they should have the right to elect who they want to send to Washington, which is me," Greene told Carlson. "They've filed a lawsuit because they’re trying to rip my name off of the ballot and steal my district's ability to reelect me."

[Rick Plant]

Courtroom erupts in laughter as Marjorie Taylor Greene gets accused of stealing a line from Independence Day



While being cross-examined during a hearing where challengers are seeking her disqualification from running for reelection, Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was asked about comments she made while trying to get her fans to show up to protest the certification of the 2020 election's results on Jan. 6, 2021, specifically one comment where she said, "We aren't a people that are going to go quietly into the night."

"Now, that phrase ... that's not something that you came up with on your own, is it?" attorney Andy Celli asked Greene.

When Greene replied that she had no idea what Celli was referring to, the attorney said, "Well, that's something that you borrowed from a movie script, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Greene said.

"You borrowed that line from the movie 'Independence Day,' right?" Celli asked.

At that point, Greene began to laugh, as well as others in the courtroom. "No," Greene replied as she continued to laugh.

Celli then played the relevant clip from "Independence Day," but Greene insisted there was no connection.

"I don't recall getting any inspiration from this Hollywood movie like you're suggesting," Greene said.

"So you were not communicating in referencing that film that Jan. 6 was going to be a new kind of Independence Day?" the attorney asked.

Greene replied "all I was talking about was objecting and standing up for people's votes in our election."

Watch the exchange below:

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 committee member reveals 'the six most chilling words of this entire thing I've seen so far'



Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) promised that the upcoming House hearings for the Jan. 6 select committee would provide dramatic revelations from their investigation of Donald Trump's role in the insurrection.

The Maryland Democrat spoke Thursday at an event hosted by Georgetown University's Center on Faith and Justice in Washington, and he said the committee would hold public hearings in June and planned to produce a report of their investigation by the end of summer or early fall, reported NBC News.

"The hearings will tell a story that will really blow the roof off the House," said Raskin, who serves on the select committee.

"No president has ever come close to doing what happened here in terms of trying to organize an inside coup to overthrow an election and bypass the constitutional order," he added, "and then also use a violent insurrection made up of domestic violent extremist groups, white nationalist and racist, fascist groups in order to support the coup."

Raskin said the committee would present evidence of coordination between Trump, his inner circle and his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol to halt the certification of Joe Biden's election win and drive his electoral vote total below the 270 majority threshold, which would then move the election to the House -- where Republicans would have the majority needed because each state would get only one vote.

"It’s anybody’s guess what could have happened — martial law, civil war," Raskin said. "You know, the beginning of authoritarianism. I want people to pay attention to what’s going on here, because that’s as close to fascism as I ever want my country to come to again."

"This was not a coup directed at the president," Raskin added. "It was a coup directed by the president against the vice president and against the Congress."

Raskin suspects the vice president's Secret Service agents were reporting to Trump's agents, and the plan was to take Pence away from the Capitol to corrupt the certification process as part of the insurrection.

"[Pence then] uttered what I think are the six most chilling words of this entire thing I've seen so far: 'I'm not getting in that car,'" Raskin said. "He knew exactly what this inside coup they had planned for was going to do."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-revelations-will-blow-roof-house-rep-jamie-raskin-says-rcna25542

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Attorney lays out 'powerful' insurrection case against Marjorie Taylor Greene in his opening statement



A civil rights attorney laid out the insurrection case against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in a lawsuit that seeks to remove her from the ballot.

Ron Fein, the legal director of Free Speech for People, on Friday gave an opening statement during a court hearing in a lawsuit brought by a group of Georgia voters who want her disqualified for office under the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from federal office.

"This is a solemn occasion," Fein said. "This is not politics. This is not theater. This is a serious case that the voters we represent have brought."

He compared the Jan. 6 insurrection by Donald Trump supporters to the Civil War, Shays' Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion, but he said Greene incited the violence through social media, rather than personally riding into battle.

"The evidence today does not include surveillance tapes, purporting to show that Marjorie Taylor Greene was directing the plotting of the attack," Fein said. "That's not going to happen today."

He told the court that no "turncoat witness" would reveal Greene's role in planning and inciting the insurrection, but he said the first-term congresswoman's own testimony would implicate her.

"The most powerful witness against Marjorie Taylor Greene's candidacy, the most powerful witness in establishing that she crossed the line into engagement of insurrection is Marjorie Taylor Greene herself," Fein said.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Ivanka Trump's actions on Jan 6th scrutinized after investigators obtain 'inconsistent' testimony: report



According to a report from Politico's Betsy Woodruff Swan, the actions of first daughter Ivanka Trump as supporters of her father stormed the Capitol on Jan 6th are being scrutinized due to conflicting tales told by White House insiders.

At issue is how much effort Donald Trump's daughter had to put into convincing the former president to call off the insurrectionists as Capitol p[olice were overwhelmed and lawmakers were forced to flee for their lives.

On the one hand, Ivanka -- as well as some of the White House inner circle -- have indicated she only had to ask once to get Trump to send out a "tweet supporting Capitol Police just a few minutes after she first went in and asked him to say something about the attack."

However, Vice President Mike Pence’s national security adviser Keith Kellogg suggested to the committee that she needed to approach her father multiple times in order to get him to act.

In a letter sent to Ivanka, she was informed, based on Kellogg's testimony, "The testimony also suggests that you agreed to talk to the President, but had to make multiple efforts to persuade President Trump to act," quoting Kellogg being asked, "And so presumably the first time she [Ivanka Trump] went in, it wasn’t sufficient or she wouldn’t have had to go back at least one more time, I assume. Is that correct?” and Kellogg replying, "Well, yes, ma’am. I think she went back there because Ivanka can be pretty tenacious.”

As Woodruff Swan explained, "While it’s a small detail in the context of the whole attack, legal experts have said it could have bearing on Trump’s potential criminal exposure. And the efforts and actions of the president’s closest advisers — including his daughter, then also a senior White House official — are a key focus of select committee investigators working to piece together the definitive account of Jan. 6."

Kellogg has since backed off his assertion, with his lawyer issuing a statement saying, "I defer to Ivanka. She was in with 45 one-on-one. Never saw the transcripts from the 6 January committee so cannot comment on what was in the write-up.”

With Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) already stating, "We know his daughter — we have firsthand testimony — that his daughter Ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence,” former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner claimed any delay by Trump to act could be evidence of a crime.

“That is a president in a very real way, waging war against the United States,” he explained. “Even his own daughter couldn’t stop him. That is deeply incriminating information. Presumably, it’s been provided by Ivanka under oath to the J-6 committee, and if I were prosecuting the case, she would be one of the very early witnesses I called.”

Kirschner added that the Jan 6th committee could be setting a perjury trap for some witnesses.

You can read more here: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/jan-6-ivanka-trump-00027213

[Rick Plant]

MAGA rioter who wept in court faces up to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting cops



A New York man who boasted to his aunt about fighting and macing police officers at the January 6 riot has pleaded guilty.

Cody Mattice, 29, of Rochester, N.Y., pleaded guilty Friday to a count of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers on Jan. 6 – a felony charge with a recommended sentencing range of 37-46 months in prison and up to three years of supervised release afterward, WUSA9-TV reported. The two sides agreed to the sentencing range -- which is below the eight years’ maximum punishment for the offense -- but a judge is not bound by the agreement.

Mattice entered the plea via teleconference before D.C. District Court Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell from the facility in which he is being held. Also pleading to the same charge -- but in attendance in his orange prison jumpsuit -- was James Mault, 30, a friend of Mattice from Rochester with whom he participated in the riot. Mault had drawn attention for having joined the U.S. Army after taking part in the insurrection.

The two men were shown on video having pulled down barricades, attacking multiple police officers as part of a mob surging forward and having sprayed officers with chemical agents. And the judge took note that the defendants’ participation had been spontaneous:

“Howell read several text messages between the two, detailing their plans to travel to Washington, D.C. together in early January with others, bringing pepper spray, baton, and "a**-kicking boots," WHAM, a Rochester TV station reported.

It was not the first time Mattice had to listen in court to incriminating texts he had sent. Last October, there had been this:

“Mattice sent out a text message to his aunt, Rebecca Evert, in which he boasted of his exploits in fighting with law enforcement officers at the Capitol. Specifically, Mattice informed Evert via a text message that he and his allies "fought off like 4 or 5 cops and stand f***ing victorious." Mattice then told Evert that he "also maced a cop."

"Awesomeness!" Evert replied. "I'm trying to find you in the breach videos... what are you wearing?"

As previously reported at Raw Story, Mattice and Mault were not identified in court as members of an extremist group but derived esteem from having fought alongside them.

“It was dope, and James had everyone hyped bro,” Mattice texted another person at 7:44 p.m. on Jan. 6, according to the government. “Even the Proud Boys were thanking us. Legit, bro, it feels like a f***in movie.

But by the time Mattice was in court facing up to 20 years in prison, that tone had changed, as reported here.

“Cody Mattice sat quietly weeping in court Tuesday, his head down, resting on the table in front of him, only lifting it to whisper to his attorney.”

You can read the FBI complaint here: https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-cody-mattice-guilty/

[Rick Plant]

Jan 6th rioter facing 8 years in prison after admitting he used chemical spray on Capitol cops



The Charlotte Observer is reporting that a 30-year-old Fayetteville man confessed on Friday that he used a chemical spray on Capitol police officers while taking part in the Jan 6th insurrection.

James Phillip Mault pleaded guilty during Friday's court proceedings, with the Observer reporting he had been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers during the riot that sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives.

"Court documents said Mault got a small canister of chemical spray from another member of the crowd and sprayed it at officers defending the tunnel. He got a second canister from the crowd and gave it to another rioter, records shows," the report states. "Earlier that afternoon, Mault was part of the crowd that overwhelmed a police line, 'forcing officers to retreat up a central staircase to the Lower West Terrace' at the Capitol, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office."

The report states he was taken into custody on Oct. 7 at Fort Bragg, where he had enlisted in the Army after the attack, and that he faces up to eight years in prison, with his sentencing scheduled for July 15 according to court documents.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article260695227.html