Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Trump is determined to 'throw gas on the fire' no matter what threats his supporters make: Maggie Haberman



On CNN Tuesday, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman weighed in on former President Donald Trump's deliberate efforts to worsen the political climate and pit lawmakers against one another.

"The Big Lie, January 6th, Maggie, which all gets back to the former president, Donald Trump," said anchor John Berman. "What extent does this environment help him control the Republican Party in Congress?"

"Well, look, Donald Trump governs by fear and always has governed by fear," said Haberman. "And to the extent that you have Republicans who are looking not just to him as somebody who is their leader but also looking at a common enemy, in their view, in Democrats. And Trump has certainly stoked that, that is in his — to his benefit and in his favor and it is something that he prefers. He wants Republicans to look at Democrats as their enemy."

"You do hear a lot of complaints from Republicans that the atmosphere is just toxic across the board now," added Haberman. "It is no longer just Republicans, but there are these threats that Democratic lawmakers in particular are facing, and that is part of why the climate is so bad. Donald Trump is very good and has been historically, John, at throwing gasoline on a fire. Not tamping it down. And I think that's what you're seeing here."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

Violent MAGA's are threatening the lives of GOP members in their own party! They are a dangerous cult! 

Trump supporters' death threats lead to Arizona GOP lawmaker not seeking re-election

An Arizona GOP lawmaker who has stood up to Donald Trump and his "big lie" says he won't seek re-election in part due to death threats from the former president's supporters.

Sen. Paul Boyer is one of the few Republican state senators who've criticized his chamber's partisan audit of 2020 election results in Maricopa County. And Boyer is "best known for his role as the lone Republican vote against holding the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in contempt of a Senate subpoena for election equipment," according to a report from the Arizona Agenda.

Boyer told the Agenda that "several factors" led to his decision not to seek re-election, "including anger at Senate Republican leadership (and Senate President Karen Fann specifically)" and "disillusionment with the direction of his party."

"The birth of his first son in 2019 and the death threats he received in the past year for standing up to the lie that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election in Arizona also played a significant role, he said," according to the Agenda, which noted that Boyer's family had to get police protection and temporarily leave their home.

"I had to put security doors on my home because of some of the threats I was getting. Nobody should have to have that worry just because of a vote you've taken or didn't take," Boyer said.

Trump attacked Boyer in a statement on July 22, calling the staunchly conservative senator a "RINO if there ever was one" and "nothing but trouble." Trump also signaled support for Boyer's GOP primary challenger, former state Rep. Anthony Kern, who attended the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Responding to Trump's statement on Twitter, Boyer mocked the former president:

"Had Trump built the wall like he promised, perhaps he could've prevented the 40k #BambooBallots from being imported into Arizona," Boyer wrote. "And if he hadn't started an insurrection in D.C. and gotten kicked off here, I could've responded directly to him. So there's that."

According to the Agenda, Boyer said "he wasn't pushed out by Trump's opposition." But he "acknowledged his re-election would be a lot harder with the former president's personal grudge against him and the farther-right wing of the Republican Party's bloodlust for anyone who doesn't toe the Trump line on election fraud."

[Rick Plant]

Thanks to the GOP, any nut can walk around with semi automatic weapons and threaten store employees over a pizza.

Tennessee man holds up Little Caesars with AK-47 after being told of 10-minute wait for pizza



On Tuesday, WVLT reported that a Knoxville, Tennessee man held up a Little Caesars in Cedar Bluff with an AK-47 rifle after being told his pepperoni pizza order would take ten minutes.

"Officers responded to the restaurant just after 9 p.m. Friday where they were told that the suspect, identified as Charles Doty Jr., 53, became upset when he was told that his pepperoni pizza would take ten minutes to make. According to the report, 'he got upset and demanded a free bread stick order and went outside the business to wait for the pizza,'" reported Camruinn Morgan-Ramsey. "When Doty Jr. returned, he had the rifle in hand and was pointing it at employees, demanding his pizza immediately, the report reads. Doty Jr. reportedly stopped an employee who was trying to leave the Little Caesars, asking 'where in the hell he thought he was going,' and a woman waiting in line ended up giving him her pizza in an attempt to get him to leave."

According to the report, police later tracked him down and arrested him. He is charged with aggravated assault and especially aggravated kidnapping.

"He comes walking back in and hasn't pointed at anybody yet. I was taking care of a female customer and she was just getting ready to leave, then he gets the gun. He pointed at me saying where is my damn pizza I want my pizza," said former Little Caesars employee Kimberleigh Smith. "I was shocked it was over a six dollar pizza."

Tennessee's Republican-controlled legislature recently enacted what is known as a "permitless carry" law, allowing people to carry handguns without any training or licensing from the state — although that law does not apply to long guns like the AK-47. Federal background check laws still apply, although these can be circumvented by buying guns through private sales without the involvement of licensed dealers; websites like Armslist.com exist to facilitate these unchecked gun sales.

https://www.rawstory.com/gun-crime-tennessee/

[Rick Plant]

January 6 organizer demanded aides buy burner phones with cash to talk with Trump officials



Organizers of the Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally reportedly used "burner phones" purchased with cash to communicate with former president Donald Trump's team — including his son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law Lara Trump, chief of staff Mark Meadows, and campaign consultant Katrina Pierson.

"Kylie Kremer, a top official in the 'March for Trump' group that helped plan the Ellipse rally, directed an aide to pick up three burner phones days before Jan. 6, according to three sources who were involved in the event," Rolling Stone reported Tuesday night. "One of the sources, a member of the 'March for Trump' team, says Kremer insisted the phones be purchased using cash and described this as being 'of the utmost importance.'"

While Kremer used one of the phones to communicate with Trump's team, another was given to her mother, Amy Kremer, who was also a key organizer of the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the Capitol insurrection, according to the magazine. It is unclear who received the third phone. The three sources told Rolling Stone that "some of the most crucial planning conversations between top rally organizers and Trump's inner circle took place on those burner phones."

"That was when the planning for the event on the Ellipse was happening, she needed burner phones in order to communicate with high level people is how she put it," the March For Trump team member said of Kylie Kremer. "They were planning all kinds of stuff, marches and rallies. Any conversation she had with the White House or Trump family took place on those phones."

Kylie Kremer reportedly directed an aide to purchase the phones in Palm Springs, California, one week before the Jan. 6 rally. In addition to the nationwide "March for Trump" bus tour that culminated in the "Stop the Steal" rally, the Kremers led "Women for America First," which obtained the permit for the Jan. 6 event.

"Burner phones — cheap, prepaid cells designed for temporary usage — do not require users to have an account. This makes them hard to trace and ideal for those who are seeking anonymity — particularly if they are purchased with cash," Rolling Stone reported. "The use of burner phones could make it more difficult for congressional investigators to find evidence of coordination between Trump's team and rally planners."

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-capitol-riot-2655785834/

[Rick Plant]

Manhattan DA is investigating the Trump Organization-owned 40 Wall Street for changing its valuation from $527 million to just $16.7 million a few months later

Investigators are reportedly probing swings in valuations of properties owned by the Trump Organization

In 2012 it valued 40 Wall Street at $527 million, according to the Washington Post, but months later said it was worth only $16.7 million

The scrutiny follows the indictment this summer of the company and its chief financial officer on charges of running a scheme to evade taxes

The Manhattan district attorney is investigating how the Trump Organization gave widely differing valuations for a number of its properties, it emerged on Monday.

Prosecutors appear to be examining whether the company broke the law by giving low values in tax assessments, while using high ones to generate tax breaks or bolster loan applications, according to the Washington Post.

In particular they are looking at 40 Wall Street, which in June 2012 was described by the Trump Organization as worth $527 million in a list of assets - making it among the most valuable in New York.

But months later the company told tax officials it was worth only $16.7 million, according to city records.

The scrutiny follows the indictment this summer of the company and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who have been charged with a scheme to evade taxes.

Weisselberg and the company deny wrongdoing and are contesting the charges.

The company says the investigation is a witch hunt and a waste of resources while New York is coping with surging crime. 

In recent weeks, it was reported that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has convened a new special grand jury to hear evidence against the company.

Along with New York Attorney General Letitia James, it has been investigating whether Trump valued his holdings one way when seeking loans and a different way when preparing taxes - allegations raised by Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen in congressional testimony.

'It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes,' Cohen said in 2019. 

The New York Times also reported last month that Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah had launched a probe into whether the Trump Organization misled officials to secure tax cuts for a golf course.

Among other properties reportedly under investigation are the former president's California golf club - allegedly valued at $900,000 or $25 million depending on the audience - and an estate in suburban New York, valued at $56 million through to $291 million, according to the Washington Post.

'This is way, way beyond anything that's believable,' Norm Miller, professor of real estate finance at the University of San Diego, told the newspaper. 'I've never seen anything with a gap that extreme.'

The 72-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street was among Trump's proudest acquisitions, but Reuters last month reported that problem that pre-dated the pandemic were getting worse.

After the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, tenants began exploring whether they could abandon their leases.

And occupancy was 84% in March 2021, well below the average of about 89% for that downtown New York office market, according to Mike Brotschol, managing director of KBRA Analytics LLC.

The rents Trump has been able to charge are lower, too – between $38 and $42 per square foot in a market where the average runs closer to $50, he said.

The property's financials have tumbled into risky territory, the reports say.

Trump took out a $160 million loan in 2015 to refinance 40 Wall Street – personally guaranteeing $26 million. Last year, the building was placed on an industry watchlist for commercial mortgage-backed securities at risk of defaulting, according to reports by KBRA and Trepp, which also monitors real-estate loans.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10230275/Manhattan-DA-investigating-Trump-Organization-widely-varying-valuations-properties.html

[Rick Plant]

We may be at an inflection point for political violence in the U.S.



Political violence is on people's minds now that Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted. According to USA Today, far-right groups celebrated last week's unsurprising verdict. "Kyle Rittenhouse is the hero we've been waiting for" was posted on the Gab profile for VDare, a self-consciously fascist organization headquartered in the foothills of Washington, Conn. The takeaway appears to be that it's now OK to shoot anti-racists as long as the shooting can be credibly characterized as "self-defense."

Protests broke out in Kenosha, Wis., where Rittenhouse traveled two summers ago to "protect" property while demonstrators, including some violent looters, protested the police murder of George Floyd. These newest protests were accompanied by a father-daughter duo carrying the same long gun Rittenhouse did. Instead of being white, though, they were Black. Instead of protecting property, they were protecting "anti-Rittenhouse protesters," said the New York Post.

Political violence is on people's minds. The right to petition the government for redress of grievances enshrined in the First Amendment seems to be running against the grain of the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment. After Rittenhouse's acquittal, anti-racists may feel it's too dangerous to petition. (The fascists are taking it to mean they can shoot first and often.) But some won't let the Second Amendment nullify the First. They'll arm up.

When racists with guns meet anti-racists with guns, it's likely the results will be bad, bad, very bad. USA Today, citing a study by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, said "armed protests are six times more likely to turn violent compared to protests where no guns are present." That study examined more than 30,000 public demonstrations over 18 months between January 2020 to June 2021.

Lead researcher Roudabeh Kishi told USA Today: "Oftentimes guns can kind of play a role with just increasing tensions. They're used as intimidation and kind of makes a tense environment even more tense. And so sometimes we'll see other types of violence breakout, not necessarily always a shooting," she said. "So it's like an indirect way arms can actually contribute to violence and destruction."

Political violence is on people's minds. Lee Drutman, a political scientist and New America fellow, said today that "violence is the alternative to politics. By normalizing violence, we undermine politics."

But what if political violence is normal? What if it should always be on people's mind. And what if our democratic politics is always already being undermined in some way by political violence. I suggest Rittenhouse's acquittal will not be the cause of future political violence. It is the effect of past political violence always already at work. We don't see it, though. Political violence is so normal it's practically invisible.

Political violence is the predictable consequence of democratic politics seeking to advance the cause of liberty, equality and justice for all coming into conflict with conservative politics seeking to maintain a social order in which white men rule American society with impunity.

Because democracy won't stop, and conservative politics won't stop, that means political violence is always already there. It's better to see Rittenhouse's acquittal not as a cause of future violence but, I think, as an inflection point after which private political violence goes public.

Private political violence? What we are seeing now, in the potential for armed racists to silence free speech through intimidation or murder, didn't come from no where. It started at home, in the family, especially between husband and wife. When women challenge "authority," when children challenge "authority," conservative politics does not turn to democracy as a means of resolving conflict. It turns to violence.

It also covers it up. When a husband hits his wife, when a father hits his kids, our discourse almost never calls it political violence though the maintenance of the man's authority over his wife and children is almost always the reason he hits his wife and children. We call it "domestic violence." We call it "child abuse." These terms are accurate but incomplete. Suffering is a political problem in democratic politics. Suffering is a political goal in conservative politics. Without suffering — without punishment for those people who deserve to feel their pain — anything can happen. Even liberty, equality and justice for all.

Political violence has been growing acutely since we elected a Black president. The violence was enabled by Republicans loosening gun laws after Barack Obama's reelection. The Supreme Court is considering whether to make carrying a firearm openly a constitutional right. The NRA never gloried in mass murders. It did after Rittenhouse's acquittal. The private political violence that inspired the nation's worst shooting massacres is inspiring the institutionalization of public political violence. Where that leaves democratic politics, God only knows.

https://www.rawstory.com/america-political-violence/

[Rick Plant]

FBI probes another election data breach linked to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell



The FBI is investigating a second local election data breach linked to conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell, this time in Ohio, after raiding the home of a Colorado election clerk accused of leaking voting system passwords last week.

FBI and state investigators are looking at an attempted breach of an Ohio county's election system at the office of John Hamercheck, the Republican president of the Lake County Board of Supervisors, The Washington Post first reported last week. The incident appears to be similar to a data breach in Mesa County, Colorado, where election clerk Tina Peters is under federaI investigation after voting system passwords were leaked to right-wing blogs and QAnon conspiracy theorists. Data from both breaches were featured at the MyPillow founder's conspiracy-laden "cyber symposium" in August. Both Hamercheck and Peters discussed voter fraud claims with Lindell's sidekick Douglas Frank before the breaches, according to the Post.

State and county officials told the Post that no sensitive information was obtained in the Ohio breach but they determined that a private laptop was plugged into the county network at Hamercheck's office. Routine network traffic data obtained in the breach was distributed at Lindell's event.

The FBI confirmed that it is investigating the breach. A spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, told the Post that investigators believe that a government official "facilitated the attempted breach."

Officials said several layers of security prevented the laptop from accessing sensitive information.

"It's concerning that somebody would — especially somebody in a government office, somebody who is an elected official, or somebody who's part of county government — would not realize all of those safeguards exist and would try to engage in some sort of a vigilante investigation," LaRose told the outlet. "The good news is that our system of cybersecurity in Ohio is among the best in the nation."

Hamercheck denied any knowledge of the breach during a board meeting on Tuesday, saying there has been "much false or misleading information" about what happened.

"To my knowledge, there was never an attempt to access or breach the Lake County Board of Elections computer network that day," Hamercheck claimed, though he did not elaborate.

Hamercheck said he has not been interviewed in the investigation but vowed to share more information "as soon as we are finished gathering and verifying the appropriate materials."

The breach came after Frank, a part-time math and science teacher who has claimed to have discovered secret algorithms used to rig the presidential election against former President Donald Trump, traveled the country to recruit local election officials into Lindell's conspiracy theory campaign, ostensibly aimed at undoing the 2020 election result and "reinstating" Trump. (There is no constitutional pathway for doing that.) Frank previously told the outlet he had traveled to more thant 30 states and met with 100 election administrators, claiming that his presentation had convinced Peters to pursue his baseless conspiracy theory. He told the Post he had no recollection of speaking with Hamercheck but the newspaper reported that Frank took part in a phone conversation with the official earlier this year.

"Do I remember that call? No," Frank said. "Does it sound like me? Yes."

County records obtained by the Post show that Hamercheck, an engineer, used his security badge to swipe into the offices where the breach originated multiple times and that a private laptop was connected to the county network.

Local resident Lois Osborn pressed Hamercheck on the breach during Tuesday's board meeting after saying she was "very disturbed" by the news reports.

"There was a breach coming from John Hamercheck's office," she told the board, calling for him to be censured. "In my mind, this was something very inappropriate for an elected official in Lake County."

Ron Young, one of the other commissioners, told Osborn it was too early to consider sanctions.

"We have very sophisticated, very skilled law enforcement — nationally, state level, locally — working on this issue," Young said. "And I think it'd be absurd for me to stand up and offer some sort of censure of this gentleman, who at least from my observation has always performed ethically, morally and properly."

The FBI and state authorities last week raided the home of Peters and three others, including Sherronna Bishop, who previously worked as campaign manager for Rep. Lauren Boebert's, R-Colo. Bishop has spoken at events with Peters and introduced Frank during a recent event in Colorado. Search warrants in the raid suggest the FBI is investigating potential wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and damage protected computers.

State investigators say Peters shut off surveillance in her office and allowed an unauthorized person to access voting machine servers, data from which were later leaked to conspiracy theorists and featured at Lindell's August symposium.

A judge last month barred Peters from overseeing elections. Peters has denied wrongdoing and accused the Justice Department and state officials of political bias.

Lindell has used the leaked data and Frank's "research" to push wild conspiracy theories that Dominion voting machines were set up to flip votes from Trump to President Joe Biden. Dominion sued Lindell and other TrumpWorld conspiracists for $1.3 billion over the false allegations earlier this year.

After his August "cyber symposium" failed to show any evidence of a massive election-fraud conspiracy, Lindell on Tuesday announced that he would hold a 96-hour "Thanks-a-thon" live stream on his web channel to rehash his claims.

Lindell promised over the summer to bring a fantastical lawsuit to the Supreme Court "before Thanksgiving" that would overturn the election and reinstate Trump. Lindell claimed that "tons" of state attorneys general were ready to sign on to the suit, though he did not name a single one. On Tuesday, Lindell appeared to reverse field once again, claiming that attorneys general had backed away from his case under pressure from Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, who admitted last week that Biden won the election — which Lindell sees as another part of a grand conspiracy.

"You can't tell me why Ronna McDaniel, the head of the RNC, made a statement saying Biden won three days before this Supreme Court complaint was supposed to go to the Supreme Court," he said. "What about the timing of that, America!"

https://www.rawstory.com/fbi-probes-another-election-data-breach-linked-to-mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell/