1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Sentencing set for October in Capitol riot case of Matthew Bledsoe, who was convicted in less than four hours on all five federal counts by a DC jury

Bledsoe was accused of climbing statue in Rotunda and yelling "Our house. We pay for this s---. Where’s those pieces of s---at?”.

[Rick Plant]

Justice Department subpoenas Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann

He's the latest onetime top aide to the former president to receive a summons from a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/15/justice-department-subpoenas-trump-lawyer-eric-herschmann-00051899

[Rick Plant]

QAnon follower who showed up armed at Philly ballot counting location found in Jan. 6 photos at the Capitol



A QAnon conspiracy theorist who was arrested when he showed up at a Philadelphia ballot counting location with guns has been spotted in footage of the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

NBC News cited the FBI affidavit saying Antonio LaMotta was arrested in Chesapeake, Virginia on Tuesday and charged with four misdemeanor statutes: "entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading in a Capitol building."

LaMotta went to the Philadelphia Convention center in Nov. 2020, driving a silver Hummer with a QAnon sticker on the back. He and friend Joshua Macias were carrying weapons and the car was filled with ammunition. It wasn't until Oct. 2021, however, that HuffPost reported that LaMotta was also the man spotted on Capitol surveillance footage on Jan. 6.

Both men await trial in Philadelphia for the crimes there and LaMotta hasn't been released to Washington to stand trial for his involvement in Jan. 6.

The FBI found that he also posted on social media about his actions.

The Bureau, "which has received an influx of threats since the search of Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago last week, has the names of hundreds of additional Capitol attack participants who have not been arrested, but special agents, federal prosecutors and the court system are overwhelmed by the volume of cases related to Jan. 6," the report also said.

https://www.rawstory.com/january-6-antonio-lamotta/

[Rick Plant]

Menacing voicemails left for congressman played at insurrectionist's trial: 'I have the courage to object with my entire life'



The voicemails left for the chief of staff to Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) by insurrectionist Kyle Fitzsimons were played as part of his bench trial on Tuesday. Fitzsimons could be best described as the Capitol attacker covered in fur pelts and covered in blood.

According to legal analyst Marcy Wheeler, who was live tweeting the trial, Fitzsimons' lawyer made him sound like a religious crusader in defense of the 11 felony charges. The defendant's Dec 29, 2020, voicemails confirm the sentiment.

"Do you have the courage to object on the 6th?" he asked in the voicemail. "Because I certainly have the courage to object with my entire life. My name is Kyle Fitzsimons and I will be in DC on January 6."

Another voicemail: "My name is Kyle Fitzsimons, ... I know you probably didn't win. What's going on with this election fraud? I'll be in DC on Jan 6. Maybe I'll see you there. Maybe I will."

When the staff realized that Fitzsimons was arrested, they went back to listen to the recordings. The chief of staff described them as menacing and that the pauses made it feel intense. The recordings were reported as a potential threat.

Trump announced the Jan. 6 rally on Dec. 19 and continued to promote it in the days leading up to the Capitol riot.

Fitzsimons isn't getting a jury trial in Washington, D.C. the way others have. Instead, he requested a change of venue and waived his right to a jury. The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, who Fitzsimons claimed was part of the so-called "deep state."

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-attacker-voicemails/

[Rick Plant]

Sentencing Thursday in Jan 6 case of Kene Lazo of Virginia. Feds allege Lazo posted ahead of riot "If sh** hits the fan i will get some dead guys gear and guns if it comes down to it".

And he's accused of carrying shield attached to broom.

Prosecutors to seek 3-months prison.

[Rick Plant]

Newly revealed emails show Secret Service was warned about Jan. 6 threat to Pence — but failed to act



Newly revealed emails show the U.S. Secret Service received urgent warnings that vice president Mike Pence's life was in danger from right-wing extremists.

Communications obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington show that in the days before January 6, 2021, the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies were concerned that Donald Trump supporters planned to bring weapons to the U.S. Capitol with the intention of causing violence. But the watchdog group said the agency did not appear to take the threat seriously.

“It’s gonna get violent as we charge the federal buildings and drag out corrupt politicians dead or alive!” read one post shared with the Secret Services and other agencies before the insurrection, while another clearly specified their chief target: “F*** pence sellout traitor we better see him coming out that building in handcuffs or were [sic] going in.”

The National Capital Region Threat Intelligence Consortium circulated those threats in messages and during a January 4, 2021, conference call alerting the Secret Service, FBI, Capitol police and Metropolitan police department to the likelihood of violence surrounding pro-Trump demonstrations on the day Congress certified Joe Biden's election win.

The Secret Service was explicitly warned the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and III Percenters were threatening violence, along with neo-Nazi groups such as Atomwaffen and Storm Front, but they noted “there is no indication of civil disobedience."

"These documents show government law enforcement receiving clear warnings of the violence bound for DC on January 6," CREW wrote. "The Secret Service was fully aware that the Trump supporters coming posed a real threat of violence, particularly against Mike Pence, including the possibility of an assault on the Capitol. What they do not show is why the Secret Service downplayed the danger and threats of violence on January 6."

The Secret Service has faced growing pressure after it was revealed that the agency deleted agents' text messages sent during the January 6 attack.

Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, told Congress in July that his office had difficulties obtaining records from the Secret Service from January 5 and 6, 2021.

The messages could be crucial to the House of Representatives and Justice Department investigations into whether Trump and his close advisors encouraged the deadly insurrection by the former president's supporters at the US Capitol, which aimed to prevent the certification of Democratic rival Joe Biden as the winner of the November 2020 election.

Secret Service agents were with Trump during the day of the uprising, and were also with Pence, who went into hiding at the Capitol after pro-Trump rioters called for him to be hanged.

On June 29 a former White House staffer told the House January 6 investigation that Trump had attempted to force the Secret Service to take him to the Capitol to join his supporters on that day.

"The Department notified us that many US Secret Service (USSS) text messages, from January 5 and 6, 2021, were erased as part of a device replacement program," Cuffari wrote in the letter first reported by The Intercept and later published by Politico.

The USSS erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications" for a review of January 6, he said, referring to the Office of the Inspector General.

In addition, he said, the department has stalled on providing other records to the OIG.

In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi rejected the inspector general's allegation.

He said the agents' phones were being wiped as part of a planned replacement program that began before the OIG requested the information six weeks after the insurrection.

https://www.rawstory.com/mike-pence-secret-service-2657876030/

[Rick Plant]

Legal expert wants 'full investigation’ after report Secret Service failed to share threat against Pelosi

A former U.S. Attorney is calling for a full investigation into the U.S. Secret Service's failure to share intelligence it had detailing a violent threat against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats.

"This is deeply disturbing," says Joyce Vance, who is now a law professor and MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst. She says it "requires a full investigation."

"The Capitol Police are responsible for protecting the Speaker," Vance continues. "If true" that the U.S. Secret Service "failed to pass on intelligence about threats, that's very alarming."

Vance points to a new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) that finds the Secret Service discovered a violent social media based threat on January 4, 2021, two days before the insurrection, but did not share that intelligence with the Capitol Police until nearly 6 PM ET on January 6.

The U.S. Secret Service is an agency under the Dept. of Homeland Security. The DHS Inspector General, Joseph Cuffari, is under investigation by two powerful House Committee chairs who on Tuesday accused him of "obstruction."

In a separate report CREW reveals that "days before the January 6 attack on the Capitol, documents exchanged between the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies outlined 'threats of violence' on the 6th, coming 'predominantly from right wing groups' with 'plans to bring weapons into the District,' according to documents obtained by CREW. The Secret Service knew that Trump’s supporters would be demonstrating around Freedom Plaza and the Capitol with the intent to cause violence, but the agency does not appear to have taken the threat seriously."

"While the Secret Service downplayed threats posed by right-wing extremist groups and Trump’s supporters leading up to January 6, the newly obtained documents reveal just how grave and explicit the threats had actually been," CREW alleges.

Read the report here:

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/secret-service-held-onto-pelosi-threat-until-after-insurrection/