1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Rep. Luria said Trump ‘refused to act’ on Jan. 6 to stay in power | Jan. 6 hearings

Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va. gave an opening statement on July 21 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its findings to the public. The hearing focused on what President Donald Trump was doing during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in an effort to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

She began to summarize the timeline of the insurrection and how former President Donald Trump “sat in his dining room and watched the attack on television.”

“On Jan. 6, when lives and our democracy hung in the balance, President Trump refused to act because of his selfish desire to stay in power,” she said.

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Jan. 6 attack ‘emboldened our enemies,’ former White House security adviser says

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., spoke on July 21 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its findings to the public. The hearing focused on what former President Donald Trump was doing during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in an effort to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

Kinzinger mentioned the last tweet Trump put out on Jan. 6 that said “these things” was “what happened when an election was viciously and unceremoniously stolen.”

Former press secretary Sarah Matthews testified that it was further justification of her choice to resign from the administration.

“At that point, I had already made the decision to resign. And this tweet just further cemented my decision,” she said. “I thought that Jan. 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history and President Trump was treating it as a celebratory occasion with that tweet.”

Kinzinger also played what GOP leadership said in the days and weeks after the attack; in that moment, they all condemned what happened. He said that other White House personnel considered resigning, but were worried that Trump, “left to his own devices, would put the country at continued risk.”

Matthew Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, said he stayed in his position, after he sent his boss his resignation, to help protect the national security of the country. But he said the aftermath created new security issues.

“I think it emboldened our enemies by helping give them ammunition to feed a narrative that our system of government doesn't work, that the United States is in decline,” Pottinger said.

[Rick Plant]

DHS watchdog has launched criminal probe into destruction of Jan. 6 Secret Service text messages, sources say
Results of the investigation could be referred to federal prosecutors, the sources said, depending on the results.

Results of the investigation could be referred to federal prosecutors, the sources said, depending on the results.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. 

The results of the investigation could be referred to federal prosecutors, the sources said, depending on the results.

The DHS Inspector General informed the Secret Service on Wednesday evening that the investigation is now criminal and that it should halt all internal investigations on the missing text messages, according to a letter detailed to NBC News.

“To ensure the integrity of our investigation, the USSS must not engage in any further investigative activities regarding the collection and preservation of the evidence referenced above,” DHS Deputy Inspector General Gladys Ayala wrote in a letter to Secret Service Director James Murray on Wednesday evening. “This includes immediately refraining from interviewing potential witnesses, collecting devices or taking any other action that would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.”

The letter was first reported by CNN.

In a statement, the Secret Service said it was “in receipt of the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General’s letter. We have informed the January 6th Select Committee of the Inspector General’s request and will conduct a thorough legal review to ensure we are fully cooperative with all oversight efforts and that they do not conflict with each other.”

However, a Secret Service official said the letter raises some legal complexities, because while DHS has asked Secret Service to halt its internal inquires the agency also faces a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee and a demand for information about the texts from the National Archives.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/dhs-launched-criminal-probe-destruction-jan-6-secret-service-text-mess-rcna39392

[Rick Plant]

Trump didn't act and didn't want to, plus 4 other takeaways from the Jan. 6 hearings
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112324462/jan-6-hearing-takeaways

[Joe Elliott]

Former President Donald Trump went on a massive tirade late Thursday night after the House select committee on the Jan 6th riot concluded their latest public hearing, with Trump ending his night by trashing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as a "disloyal sleaze bag!"

Trump is the ultimate disloyal sleaze bag. The worst American traitor since Benedict Arnold.

In the future, let's not elect a businessman, a TV reality star, an actor, or even a general or admiral. Let's stick with politicians like governors, senators and congressmen. They have worked out ok in the past. A non-politician might work out ok, and has worked out well to very well, in the past. Men like Eisenhower and Grant, for instance. But you never know what you are going to get.

It may be that a narcissist individual like Trump isn't interested in being Senator or Governor. He wants to be head of the company, or head of the nation, or nothing at all. Choosing from the ranks of politicians might weed these people out. It seems to have worked in the past.

Democracy is a fragile relay race. From 1789 to 2012, we had 57 presidential elections, 57 baton exchanges. On the 58th exchange in 2016, we dropped the baton. Entrusted the presidency to someone who wanted to be President for Life. Let's steer away from that in the future. Why take chances?

[Rick Plant]

Former President Donald Trump went on a massive tirade late Thursday night after the House select committee on the Jan 6th riot concluded their latest public hearing, with Trump ending his night by trashing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as a "disloyal sleaze bag!"

Trump is the ultimate disloyal sleaze bag. The worst American traitor since Benedict Arnold.

In the future, let's not elect a businessman, a TV reality star, an actor, or even a general or admiral. Let's stick with politicians like governors, senators and congressmen. They have worked out ok in the past. A non-politician might work out ok, and has worked out well to very well, in the past. Men like Eisenhower and Grant, for instance. But you never know what you are going to get.

It may be that a narcissist individual like Trump isn't interested in being Senator or Governor. He wants to be head of the company, or head of the nation, or nothing at all. Choosing from the ranks of politicians might weed these people out. It seems to have worked in the past.

Democracy is a fragile relay race. From 1789 to 2012, we had 57 presidential elections, 57 baton exchanges. On the 58th exchange in 2016, we dropped the baton. Entrusted the presidency to someone who wanted to be President for Life. Let's steer away from that in the future. Why take chances?

Nice post.

The mainstream media played a huge part in propping up Donnie when he ran for president. They even did the same for Bush back in 2000.

All we heard from the media was the narrative that "Bush is the guy you want to sit down and have a beer with" and Al Gore is "too boring like a college professor". That phony narrative was played up by the media all the way until election day.

We are electing leaders for their intellect and how well they can assume the responsibilities as president. Not someone who can tell stories and jokes at a bar with a beer.

And look what we got with Bush. Two failed wars, massive debt, and an economic crisis.

The media did the same thing for Donnie when he ran. The media used the narrative that "Americans are tired of politicians and want tv stars", the nurse, the doctor, the local baker to run for local and federal office instead.

Would you have your mechanic do emergency surgery on you instead of the qualified surgeon? Of course not, so why would you vote for someone unqualified that votes on the most important laws that affects your life?

Donnie was a total disaster and that's what happens when people vote for an unqualified tv star to assume the the role of the most important job on the planet.     

Now Donnie is only endorsing far right wing MAGA candidates that are 100% loyal to him. These people have zero qualifications to be in office. But Donnie demands that they lie for him and push his fake "election fraud" conspiracies. As long as they pledge a loyalty oath to him and push his lies, he will endorse them.

That is what you call a cult and not a political party.

Any Republican should be outraged that Trump attempted a coup to steal the election from the American people. The Republicans that did speak out were immediately attacked by Trump and his allies. He is currently going after every Republican that didn't help him steal the election by trying to replace them with his loyalists.

Like I said, the GOP is a cult. We saw that when the GOP refused to hold Trump accountable for January 6th as they let him off the hook during the impeachment trial. They also helped him try to steal the election from the American people. And these are the same GOP traitors who want to control our government.                           

[Joe Elliott]

. . .
And look what we got with Bush. Two failed wars, massive debt, and an economic crisis.

Agreed. Bush was a very unsuccessful president. But at least he was not a traitor. And I appreciate his standing with Clinton and Obama (both successful presidents) in supporting democracy.

. . .
Now Donnie is only endorsing far right wing MAGA candidates that are 100% loyal to him. These people have zero qualifications to be in office. But Donnie demands that they lie for him and push his fake "election fraud" conspiracies. As long as they pledge a loyalty oath to him and push his lies, he will endorse them.

And worst yet, if they win office, and Trump runs in 2024, and Trump loses the state they are in, they will try as hard as they can to declare the election was rigged and award their state’s votes for Trump.

The worst mistake Democrats are making are running ads to help Trump’s candidates win Republican primaries. Under the theory this will give them a certain win in November. This is playing with fire. In the words of a 1950’s submarine movie of World War II (as I recall) “They are either being very clever or very stupid. Maybe too clever, too stupid”. This is playing with fire. Who knows what scandal might break out for a Democratic candidate for an important position? I wish, for once, they would just play it safe. It also erodes the moral high ground for the Democrats, which should not be casually cast aside.

. . .
Like I said, the GOP is a cult. We saw that when the GOP refused to hold Trump accountable for January 6th as they let him off the hook during the impeachment trial. They also helped him try to steal the election from the American people. And these are the same GOP traitors who want to control our government.                         

More than a cult. They are traitors. This nation has a higher proportion of traitors in the country since 1860. They see they can no longer win. And with each presidential election, their odds of winning a presidential election becomes more and more remote, even with the advantage of the Electoral College. Rather than accept this and remain loyal to democracy, they resolve to do what ever they can to win the next election. Which might allow them to rig the system so their side can stay in power, regardless of future elections. In the back of their minds, that is what they are thinking. Maybe they just have to win one more time to reverse the course of history.

The problem is not Trump. The problem is not Republican politicians who have sold out (and too many who have not sold out are soon to be out of office). It is with the attitudes of tens of millions of Republican voters. After Trump is gone, they aren’t going to give up. It may look like they have given up, as they drop away from Trump. But they have not given up. They will look for another Trump. Most of them are looking for another Trump right now.

I felt compelled to leave the Republican party in January 2021. My fantasy is that some day I can rejoin it. But that will never happen. I am in my 60’s. This block of disloyal Americans is going to outlive me. I will never join with them.

This is a bad situation. Even if the Republicans never win the presidency, nor the house, nor the senate, it’s a bad situation. We need a two-party system. So both parties can compete with each other. But how can we do this with so many disloyal Americans? Over time, with loyal Americans compelled to vote for the Democratic party, their politicians won’t be compelled to compete for votes. What effect with this have on the Democratic politicians?