1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Court has a scheduled bond hearing this afternoon in high-level Capitol riot case of Edward Vallejo of Arizona.

Vallejo is charged with seditious conspiracy. His court filings ahead of hearings have revealed a series of alleged plotting conversations among Oath Keepers.

[Rick Plant]

Court sets initial appearance for Next Tuesday in newly unsealed US Capitol breach case against Josh Colgan of Maine.

Feds accuse Colgan of posting on social media in Jan 2021 about "the start of the chaos...the start of a revolution.

Hundreds of more arrested are expected.

[Rick Plant]

'Patriots 45 MAGA Gang’ planned violence on January 6, prosecutors say

CNN — Federal prosecutors have indicted a trio of alleged US Capitol rioters – including one who is accused of assaulting DC police officer Michael Fanone – for planning to be violent together on January 6, according to court records and a Justice Department statement on Monday.

One defendant, Edward Badalian, a 26-year-old from California, allegedly wrote to his co-defendants “We need to violently remove traitors and if they are in key positions rapidly replace them with able bodied Patriots,” according to the indictment.

“We don’t want to fight antifa lol we want to arrest traitors,” he also wrote.

The group communicated on Telegram under the name “Patriots 45 MAGA Gang,” prosecutors said, riffing about their anger toward officials who supported the 2020 election result and gloating about the violence of the siege. They also attended pro-Trump and anti-coronavirus mask mandate rallies in Southern California, prosecutors said.

Before January 6, they collected weapons and gear, including a stun gun, pepper spray, gas masks and walkie-talkies, and traveled together to the January 6 Stop the Steal rallies, according to the Justice Department. The day before the riot, they “joined a caravan” in Kentucky headed toward DC, setting up a radio app on cellphones so the caravan could communicate, the indictment said.

Badalian and another defendant, Daniel Joseph Rodriguez, “used the Patriots 45 group chat as a platform to advocate violence against certain groups and individuals that either supported the 2020 presidential election results, supported what the group perceived as liberal, or communist ideologies, or held positions of authority in the government,” prosecutors wrote.

The prosecutors noted that Badalian told another person he wanted to assassinate Joe Biden.

Rodriguez and Badalian have both pleaded not guilty. Rodriguez remains in jail awaiting trial, while Badalian is released on personal recognizance, according to DC District Court records.

The third defendant’s name is still under seal. The third defendant, on January 6 at the Ellipse, asked another person via text to “roll in force” with the group and texted at almost 2 p.m. “the battle has begun,” the indictment said.

The unnamed defendant and Rodriguez then scuffled with police at entryways to the Capitol with Rodriguez hurling a flagpole and discharging a fire extinguisher and the unnamed defendant telling officers “liberty or death, gentlemen!” according to the indictment. The trio united in a congressional office suite, with two of them rifling through bags and papers after Rodriguez announced they should look for “intel.” He allegedly stole an emergency escape hood from a bag in the office.

This is a notable new conspiracy case in the January 6 dragnet, which has arrested nearly 700 federal defendants. The Justice Department has already pursued several high-profile groups of defendants including members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for allegedly planning or coordinating their participation in the riot. The conspiracy cases and the police assault cases are some of the most serious allegations against January 6 riot participants, and the indictment related to the “Patriots 45 MAGA Gang” group combines both of those types of charges.

Some of the new details in the case appear to emerge out of the cooperation of another January 6 defendant, who is not named in the indictment – indicating how the Justice Department’s investigation has gathered steam as more defendants are arrested and cut plea deals.

In the latest court filings, prosecutors even piece together conversations the group had after January 6. On their drive back from Washington, DC, to California after the riot, Badalian appeared on the far-right call-in show “War Room” on InfoWars, using the pseudonym “Turbo,” prosecutors say.

The Justice Department charged has previously charged Rodriguez with using a stun gun on DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone. Fanone has been an outspoken voice among police injured by the pro-Trump attackers.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/29/politics/patriots-45-maga-gang-fanone-capitol-riot/index.html

[Rick Plant]

The Jan. 6 insurrection, 1 year later | PBS NewsHour presents

Congress is still investigating the people and organizations linked to the Jan. 6 attack  — the most violent assault on the U.S. Capitol since the British attack during the war of 1812. The PBS NewsHour looked back at what happened that day, the lasting impacts on those who survived, where the investigations stand, and the broader effects on American politics, culture and democracy itself.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Oath Keepers leader sought to speak directly with Trump on Jan. 6: court document



On the night of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia asked to speak with then-President Donald Trump, to implore him to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, Business Insider reports.

According to prosecutors, Elmer Stewart Rhodes and other militia members gathered at a D.C. hotel and placed a call over speakerphone to an unidentified individual, where he "repeatedly implore[d] the individual to tell President Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power."

When the person on the other end refused to connect him to Trump, Rhodes said, "I just want to fight."

As Insider points out, the revelation was the result of a court filing in the case of William Todd Wilson, an Oath Keeper who pleaded guilty Wednesday to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.

"Wilson is the third Oath Keepers member to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges. Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2022. Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia, pleaded guilty on April 29, 2022," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The statement continued: "As described in court documents, Wilson was an Oath Keeper member since 2016. He was a leader of a chapter from Sampson County, North Carolina. The Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias. Though the Oath Keepers will accept anyone as members, they explicitly focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement, and first-responder personnel."

"In his guilty plea, Wilson, a military and law enforcement veteran, admitted that he agreed with others to take part in a plan to use force to prevent, hinder, and delay the execution of the laws of the United States governing the transfer of presidential power. He and others used encrypted and private communications, equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer a call to take up arms."

Read more here: https://www.businessinsider.com/oath-keepers-leader-elmer-stewart-rhodes-donald-trump-january-6-2022-5

[Rick Plant]

Donald Trump Jr. testifies before House panel probing Jan. 6 riot
The House committee conducting the investigation has long wanted to meet with the former president's oldest son.

Donald Trump Jr. met with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill.

The meeting, which took place virtually, lasted for a little more than three hours, according to one of the sources. Trump Jr. did not assert his Fifth Amendment privileges during the meeting, the sources said.

One source described the meeting, which was voluntary, as “cordial” and “uneventful.”

Alan Futerfas, an attorney for Trump Jr., declined to comment on the matter. When reached by The Hill, the House panel said it had no comment.

CNN and NBC News reported on the meeting earlier Wednesday.

Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, is the latest family member to speak with the Jan. 6 panel. Ivanka Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter, and her husband Jared Kushner, who served as a top aide in the Trump White House, have both spoken with the select committee.

Trump Jr.’s appearance before the committee had been expected since last month, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News, though it was not clear when the meeting would occur.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump Jr.’s fiancée who spoke at the rally in Washington that preceded the Capitol attack, was spotted entering the building that houses committee investigators last month. That appearance would be her second time before the panel.

Trump Jr.’s appearance before the investigative panel comes after CNN last week published a pair of text messages the former president’s son sent to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows the day of the Capitol riot. The texts were two of more than 2,300 messages obtained by CNN that Meadows provided to the select committee.

In one text, Trump Jr. urged Meadows to get Trump to condemn the Jan. 6 riot at the capitol. In a second, he warned it would destroy Trump’s legacy if he did not do more to stop the riot.

Trump’s Jr.’s meeting with the committee comes roughly one month before the panel is slated to hold eight public hearings.

https://thehill.com/news/house/3477547-donald-trump-jr-meets-with-jan-6-panel/

[Rick Plant]

Ryan J Reilly reports from NBC News

BIG news in the Jan. 6 investigation.

Oath Keepers member William Todd Wilson says he was in a suite at the Phoenix Park Hotel with Stewart Rhodes on Jan. 6 when Rhodes put an unidentified Trump intermediary on speakerphone, and unsuccessfully tried to talk to Trump.

“This individual denied Rhode’s request to speak directly with President Trump.”

In D.C. federal court just moments ago, Judge Amit Mehta slowed down when he got to the part of the agreed upon statement of offense, just to make sure he got it right.

Rhodes on Jan. 6, after unsuccessfully trying to talk to Trump (per Wilson): “I just want to fight.”

"Wilson heard Rhodes repeatedly implore the individual to tell President Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power.”



Wilson admitted tossing his phone in the Atlantic.

https://justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1499056/download



Initial story on the seditious conspiracy guilty plea here. More to come.

Third Oath Keepers defendant pleads guilty to sedition in Capitol riot case
William Todd Wilson, a 44-year-old military and law enforcement veteran, has agreed to cooperate with authorities.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/third-oath-keepers-defendant-pleads-guilty-sedition-capitol-riot-case-rcna27294

An Oath Keeper says that Stewart Rhodes tried to get on the phone with Donald Trump on the evening of Jan. 6, but was shot down by an unidentified individual in Trump’s orbit.

Joined @HallieJackson live from federal court to discuss the breaking news:

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1521955439650484225