1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Roger Stone's links to Jan. 6 revealed after panel IDs his phone number in 'Manhattan Madam' call logs: new book

The House select committee mapped out a detailed overview of Roger Stone's contacts after identifying his phone number.

The longtime Republican political operative refused to turn over his contacts to the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, but panel members worked backwards through his associates and were able to identify his number after obtaining the call records of "Manhattan Madam" Kristin Davis, according to excerpts from a new book published by The Guardian.

Davis, who went to prison for running a high-end prostitution ring and dealing drugs in the 2000s, was with Stone at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, and had previously lived with Stone, who had previously managed her ill-fated campaign for New York governor in 2010.

After identifying his number, investigators learned that Stone had called Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio before and after Jan. 6, and he called Oath Keepers chief Stewart Rhodes nine days after the U.S. Capitol attack.

Both Tarrio and Rhodes have been charged with seditious conspiracy for allegedly planning the attack.

Calls from Stone's number were also made to a number of Republicans involved in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election results, including Texas attorney general Ken Paxton and Arthur Schwartz, an aide to Donald Trump Jr.

https://www.rawstory.com/roger-stone-jan-6-2658341623/

[Rick Plant]

If Trump had walked to the Capitol Oath Keepers' actions would have been completely different: ex-spokesman



Elmer Stewart Rhodes III goes to trial this week for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the U.S. Capitol.

Jason Van Tatenhove, the former Oath Keepers spokesperson told MSNBC that had Donald Trump walked down to the Capitol on Jan. 6 things would have gone a different way.

"I think they were absolutely serious. I think if things had gone just a little bit differently, we would be living in a different reality right now," he told MSNBC's Joy Reid. "You know, if you look at his words and his messaging he was putting out just the night before, at the speeches, with what has been released with the prosecution, the messaging that were happening, specifically on Signal and behind the scenes, I think that's really where we see where his state of mind was. And you know, if things had just gone -- if Trump had walked down to the Capitol building, I think Stewart's actions would have been completely different."

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson relayed a story that deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato told her about Trump attempting to take the wheel of the SUV to drive up to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse. Trump said that it was impossible for him to reach the wheel.

Hutchinson also testified to the committee that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone told her that they had to do whatever it took to keep Trump from going to the Capitol and that if he did, arrests among administration officials would quickly follow.

Van Tatenhove also said that he thinks there were lines of communication open between the militias and the White House and the Trump campaign.

"I think that they were actively trying to open those lines both from the militia side and from the White House side, from the campaign side," he said. "I think that they probably connected up a while back. I think without that type of connection, you know, he may have shown up as like a protester, but nothing like he was there. Because it seemed like he was getting messaging like he was taking orders from Trump."

He also agreed that the kind of attitude Roger Stone had about "shoot to kill" was the same as Rhodes.

"I mean, he was talking about how we don't get out of this without a Civil War," said Van Tatenhove. "This is the messaging he's been, you know, putting out there, time and time again since, you know, the early days. It's just gotten more and more extreme and more and more violent. Before, he was talking about what would be termed a cold civil war. But really, he's talking about a hot civil war now, and that's part of the messaging. That messaging is ratcheted up over time, and we saw that with the culmination of Jan. 6th."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Giuliani's son received messages from high-ranking Oath Keeper charged in Jan 6: report



On Monday, NBC News reported that Andrew Giuliani, son of longtime Donald Trump ally and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, received text messages from a high-ranking member of the paramilitary group the Oath Keepers, who is now facing several charges related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"That same Oath Keeper member, Kellye SoRelle, also tried to text a White House number on Dec. 20, according to a new book from Denver Riggleman, a former Republican congressman from Virginia, and journalist Hunter Walker. That text message went to a White House switchboard line, so it could not be delivered," reported Ryan J. Reilly and Ben Collins. "Riggleman, who lost renomination for his congressional seat after expressing opposition to then-President Donald Trump in 2020, joined the Jan. 6 committee after leaving office. He served as a staffer for the committee from August 2021 to April."

The younger Giuliani ran for governor of New York earlier this year, but lost the Republican nomination to Rep. Lee Zeldin.

"SoRelle, who was also a volunteer for Lawyers for Trump, a coalition of lawyers that was put together ahead of the 2020 election, told NBC News that she was in touch with Giuliani, who was a White House public liaison assistant during the Trump administration," said the report. "SoRelle said she only recalled being in touch with Andrew Giuliani in November 2020 but said that she could not check because the FBI seized her phone in September 2021. She also confirmed her December attempt to text a White House contact."

SoRelle reportedly only sought to discuss supposed election irregularities, not anything about upcoming efforts to breach the Capitol.

This comes as several members of the Oath Keepers face charges of seditious conspiracy for their involvement in the attack on the Capitol, where their members allegedly former "military stacks" to push through into restricted areas.

Read More Here:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/oath-keeper-charged-jan-6-attack-texted-andrew-giuliani-election-rcna49483

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 supporter profanely insults former DC cop in court during Capitol rioter's sentencing hearing



An apparent supporter of January 6 defendants on Tuesday profanely insulted Michael Fanone, a former United States DC officer who was brutally attacked during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

As reported by NBC News' Ryan Reilly, the sympathizer called Fanone a "piece of s***" in the courtroom after the former DC cop told defendant Kyle Young that he hopes he suffers while serving his prison sentence.

Young, who pleaded guilty to grabbing Fanone as another rioter repeatedly assaulted Fanone with his own stun gun, faces several years in prison for taking part in the deadly January 6th riots at the United States Capitol building.

During a victim impact statement before the court, Fanone asked the court to throw the book at Young and give him a ten-year prison sentence.

"This is not my first rodeo... but this case is unique," he said, according to Washington Post reporter Rachel Weiner. "The assault on me by Mr. Young cost me my career, it cost me my faith in law enforcement and many of the institutions I dedicated two decades of my life to serving."

Read More Here: https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1574818313900900352

[Rick Plant]

Roger Stone sought another presidential pardon after J6 violence: NYT

New information is coming to light about the actions of Roger Stone before and after the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported Stone texted Trump attorney David Schoen asking for a presidential pardon.

"The text messages are part of a trove of video evidence Danish filmmakers have turned over to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, which also shows Mr. Stone threatening violence and spelling out plans to fight the election results. Some of the material was expected in the panel’s next hearing, which had been planned for Wednesday but was postponed abruptly on Tuesday afternoon, with committee members citing the impending impact of Hurricane Ian," the newspaper reported.

Trump pardoned Stone two weeks before the Jan. 6 attack.

"If he can be the only president impeached twice maybe you should be the only person pardoned twice," Schoen replied.

Filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen reportedly said the Jan. 6 select committee was focused on Stone's relationships with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

"Mr. Stone, a Florida resident, has long maintained close ties to the Proud Boys, especially to Enrique Tarrio, the group’s former leader who lived in Miami before his arrest in March on seditious conspiracy charges connected to the Capitol attack. Mr. Stone has also been associated with another top member of the Florida Proud Boys, Joseph Biggs, who was arrested two weeks after the storming of the Capitol and is now part of the same sedition case as Mr. Tarrio," the newspaper reported.

Watch;

[Rick Plant]

‘Completely wacko’ MAGA rioter faces 63 to 78 months in prison for spraying Capitol cops with chemicals



A Texas man described to the FBI by witnesses as “a "huge white supremacist" and a "complete wacko" has pleaded guilty to assaulting officers with a deadly weapon during the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, of The Colony, Texas, entered a guilty plea that recommends a sentencing range of 63 to 78 months in prison, plus fines, under federal sentencing guidelines. That is subject to the determination of a federal judge when Caldwell is sentenced on February 1, 2023.

Video shows Caldwell pepper spraying officers who were trying to hold back the mob that day on the Capitol steps. The guilty plea indicated that injuries to officers was one of the factors enhancing the punishment range.

One of the witnesses who reported Caldwell to the FBI had met Caldwell while playing “Airsoft Military Simulation (MilSim), which is a live-action, in person simulation of armed conflict scenarios conducted by civilians that involve airsoft plastic projectiles launched from replica weapons, but do not involve actual firearms.”

But in Caldwell’s case, the witness said, “he would bring a real firearm to the course and had to be corrected on multiple occasions to return the firearm to his vehicle.” And there was this:

“(The witness) described the individual as a “huge white supremacist” and was “a complete wacko.” In a video taken after the riot, Caldwell said officers sprayed him with chemicals and that in response, he had sprayed “around 15 of them.”

https://www.rawstory.com/completely-wacko-maga-rioter-faces-63-to-78-months-in-prison-for-spraying-capitol-cops-with-chemicals/

[Rick Plant]

Capitol rioter gets four years in jail -- but government blew opportunity to nail him on stronger conspiracy charge



Texas militia leader Lucas Denney will serve 52 months in prison for assaulting a Metropolitan DC police officer with a dangerous weapon during the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, WUSA 9's Jordan Fischer is reporting.

Judge Randolph Moss agreed with the government request for a sentencing enhancement due to Denney’s use of a dangerous weapon, based on Denney using a long PVC pipe to strike an officer who was deploying crowd-control spray on the west side of the Capitol building.

As president of the Patriot Boys, a militia based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Denney was initially charged alongside Donald Hazard, the group’s sergeant at arms, with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. But the government missed the deadline to obtain an indictment for conspiracy and other charges, and then hastily indicted him on the lone assault count earlier this year. Denney then pled guilty to the assault charge before the government could bring additional charges.

Despite Denney’s conviction as a standalone defendant on a single charge, his case highlights significant coordination in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6.

As the government noted in a sentencing memorandum filed on September 21, Denney “undertook a significant level of planning and preparation for January 6, 2021, including fundraising, recruiting others to take up arms with him, and procuring weapons and protective gear for himself and others. And he engaged in repeated instances of assaultive conduct, in several locations on Capitol grounds, over the course of more than an hour and a half.”

Judge Moss took his involvement in planning the attack under consideration in Denney’s sentencing, WUSA 9 reporter Jordan Fischer reported.

A statement of offense filed by the government last month captures the militaristic posture taken by Denney, an Army veteran and former law enforcement employee, after the 2020 election.

“For me, it was really only a matter of time before I dusted off my boots,” wrote Denney, signing off as the “president of DFWPB chapter.” “I’ve hunted the most evil men the world has ever seen and they don’t scare me. I loved it. The time is coming to choose a side. And they’re 3 sides to choose from The right side, the wrong side and the side where you’re aren’t doing s*** but sitting on the sidelines watching. DFW Proud Boys are now recruiting. We also have a few guys that are doing martial arts training, weapons training, and field training. We are very active in countering ANTIFA, BLM and any other communist radical groups that decide to pop up. We also hold pro America rally’s, pro Trump rally’s and back the blue rally’s. We show the communist that Patriots are here and are not hiding. PM me any questions you have about membership.”

Denney developed extensive ties with the Proud Boys, the neo-fascist street-fighting group whose leadership faces charges of seditious conspiracy. On Dec. 3, 2020, according to the statement of offense, Denney told another individual on Facebook that he planned to go to Washington, DC “because I have to meet with the PB chairman,” apparently referring to one-time Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio. Denney didn’t ultimately make it to DC for a Dec. 12 pro-Trump rally, because he got stuck in traffic in Dallas, according to court documents, but he continued to mention ties to the Proud Boys.

On Christmas day, Denney told Hazard in a Facebook message: “So the 6th is going to be bigger than the last rally. I can’t tell you everything I know over media here but it’s gonna be big. Millions and millions will be there I can tell you that.

“We will need linking up with proud boys though,” he added. “I’ve been in contact with a few different chapters and they’re helping us out with safe hotels to get.”

Three days later, Denney confirmed to Hazard that he had booked a hotel for them, adding, “It’s the same place everyone else is getting in the Proud Boys crew and the other militias until it gets full.”

While planning for the trip and recruiting others, Denney raised money to cover the costs of travel and tactical gear.

“Hey DC is definitely on,” Denney reported to Hazard on Dec. 26, according to court documents. “We are going for sure. Have plenty of money now. I just got a 1 thousand dollar donation from just one person for the trip. I have more donations coming in to.”

Although the statement of offense makes extensive references to Denney’s remarks about working with the Proud Boys, the government’s failure to obtain an indictment for conspiracy represents a missed opportunity to explore evidence of coordination among the militant groups and potential direction from someone higher up the chain of command. For example, the identity of the person who made a $1,000 donation to the Patriot Boys has not come to light to date.

The evidence presented in the statement of offense shows Denney was attuned to the larger picture surrounding Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, although it does not disclose the source of the information. As Trump allies were pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to set aside electoral votes from states narrowly won by Joe Biden, Denney articulated a role for the militants on the ground at the Capitol in a Dec. 29 Facebook message to an undisclosed recipient.

“Trump is calling this rally himself,” said Denney. “It’s the day that Congress is going to try and certify the electoral college. But pence can deny the ones coming from the states where fraud took place. So we are thinking Trump wants us there to keep the area from being burned down by ANTIFA thugs when they get mad.” In another message the following day, Denney said, “There’s so much going on behind the scenes though.”

By Jan. 2, Denney appears to have learned that Pence was not inclined to interfere with the electoral certification, although he would not issue an official statement about his intentions until Jan. 6.

“I’m hearing some bad stuff today about Pence,” Denney reportedly commented on a Facebook post. “First everyone thought he was going to be a hero and now I’m hearing he’s stabbing Trump in the back through backdoor deals. The 6th in DC is going to be interesting.”

The statement of offense also includes graphics Denney allegedly posted on Facebook on Dec. 30 that include the hashtag #OcccupyCongress. One reads, “If they won’t hear us, they will fear us. The great betrayal is over. Election fraud is treason.”

Reflecting coordination with other militant groups, Denney reportedly sent a Facebook message on Dec. 31 declaring, “It’s 209am. I’m still up chatting with all my brothers that going to DC. All the Presidents have been so busy organizing, planning and talking lol.”

In another message to an undisclosed recipient on Facebook, Denney wrote, “I’m in other chat groups and one for the president’s of other groups and there are certain plans being made right now. It’s gonna be historic is all I can say. And we will be taking back the country on the 6th up there.”

In the early morning hours of Jan. 6, after “fighting” with left-wing counter-protesters, Denney reported to one of his Facebook contacts: “We made it back to the hotel safe and ready for tomorrow. Trump speaking to us around 11am and then we march to the capitol and after that we have special plans that I can’t say right now over Facebook. But keep an eye out for live feeds tomorrow from me. Tomorrow will be historic.”

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-sentence-2658355696/

[Rick Plant]

If Meadows' texts he turned over were that bad — imagine how damaging the ones are he didn't turn over: Riggleman



WASHINGTON — In April, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress revealed that Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, turned over 2,319 text messages that showed the conversations he was having from the November 2020 election through the insurrection.

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman's (R-VA), who joined the Jan. 6 committee staff after being voted out of Congress, penned a book that detailed his piece of the investigation, which centered around phone calls, text messages and multimedia messages.

"If this was what Meadows was willing to turn over, I can’t imagine how bad it got in the messages he didn’t want the committee to read," wrote Riggleman. "The sprawling spreadsheet left me with an uneasy feeling that everything the messages were telling us about extremism and authoritarianism in the Trump-era Republican Party was just the tip of the iceberg."

He detailed a Nov. 4 group text with Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Meadows and Sunny Perdue, where Perry outlined the idea that state legislatures in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia could simply declare Trump the winner before the counting was over.

"Interesting," Carson responded.

A large text was sent from Donald Trump Jr. on Nov. 6, which purported to be "the strategy." It was the same strategy as Perry, even mentioning the same states. The text was previously reported in April, but Riggleman noted that after not responding, Don Jr. sent the text to Meadows a second time. It was

“Much of this had merit,” Meadows belatedly replied. “Working on this for pa, ga and nc already (sic).”

Riggleman wrote that the Meadows conversations brought together every conspiracy on the darkest parts of QAnon websites and message boards.

"The texts showed Meadows eagerly searching for examples of fraud to provide a basis for challenging the result. He didn’t seem to care how questionable the source was or how thin the evidence was. It was all-hands-on-deck and Meadows wanted anything that could be used to question the vote," Riggleman wrote.

Riggleman dared to click the links that were being shared with Meadows. Somewhere in between diet pill ads and doomsday food supplies, were conspiracy theories that made it all the way to the White House.

"I was truly astounded that some of our government officials were getting their information from such far-out sources," the book detailed. "Republican Arizona congressman Paul Gosar sent Meadows several texts between November and December 2020 warning about 'dead voters' and Dominion, the voting machines destined to become a lightning rod in the months to come. (It was a line of inquiry that even Meadows repeatedly indicated he doubted in emails to other associates.) One of Gosar’s texts included a link to a movie about 'cyber warfare' and voting machines from an anti-vaccine conspiracy blog called 'Some B**ch Told Me.' Republicans in Washington mined briefings from very dubious sources."

While Riggleman may have described it as QAnon "buffoonery," he noted that the horrifying reality was that this was the "digital virus" that took over "the psyche of the Republican Party."

https://www.rawstory.com/mark-meadows-get-worse/